Let’s hear a story. The story is true, but elements have been generalized and fictionalized for simplicity, and so’s not to call out any individuals. This story has happened several times, you see.
Story Time
A few years ago, an election was held for positions on the PASS* board. Several well-known and well-liked community members ran, among them a fellow named Jack Smith and a lady named Jill Brown. Both Jack and Jill had been active in the SQL community for years – volunteering and speaking for conferences, helping organize and run user group meetings, and running their own blogs / podcasts / books / what have you. They contributed a lot, and their support was recognized: they won! Jack was the new, oh I dunno, Superior Organizer of Finances, and Jill was Mentor to the Region Formerly Known as “Over There”. Or something. Just go with me on this.
Several weeks after the election results were announced and the new electees took office, I started noticing something odd. After new PASS announcements, tweets and blogs would follow with vaguely disgruntled undertones, and mild criticisms of Jill’s new programs, or some rule change that had Jack behind it. The programs and other changes were mostly fine, some debatable…but people seemed to find sinister notes in everything.
Then the annual summit came. There had been the usual debate and commentary on the usual things – the speaker choices, the vendor arrangements, the level of communications, and so on. Then, on the morning of the second keynote, Jill sent an email to the members of a large, two-day panel**. It reminded them brusquely to use their assigned seats while sitting the panel.
The panel blew up, sent angry emails and tweets. It was appalling to be treated like children! Jill was suddenly (a rather milder version of) public enemy #1. I was on that panel, and was angry too, so I went and talked to Jill. She explained that one of the panel participants was disabled, and it was difficult for him to file past all the chairs. The day prior, someone had taken his seat and refused to move…her intent was to send a gentle reminder, and she was upset at the backlash to a poorly worded email.
I started passing around the word that Jill had meant no harm, and things calmed down.
Odd…didn’t we just elect that guy?
Yes, the story is simple, and that exact scenario never happened. But the general scenario has happened again and again – upwards of 5-8 times in the last several years, by my count and in my personal experience. And it puzzles me.
The part that’s confusing is this: These people we elect to board positions (etc.) are our friends and colleagues. They’re almost universally well-known and well-liked. And almost the moment they step into place, they are regarded with distrust, or even hostility. I’ve seen the emails, the tweets and blogs, the town hall meetings. I’ve watched how people question them. It’s not at all my imagination. Somehow, “elected official” here automatically implies “potentially nefarious”.
I suppose it has to do with people’s distrust of power. And an elected official is somebody with power, right? Jack or Jill could (I suppose) ruin the Summit, kick you out of a group, mess with the resources that are currently available, and so on. I suppose I can understand that nervousness. But it doesn’t make sense to me to just accept that as the status quo. Fight against injustices, not the vague possibility for injustice.
Speakers, SQL Saturday helpers, UG boards, and the PASS board members and representatives are volunteers. They give up their time to do work, for no pay. Board members (etc.) aren’t automatically the enemy. Of course, volunteering and contributing should absolutely not pay for bad behavior, but volunteering and contributing shouldn’t work AGAINST the people who do it, just because of some perceived “status” it garners them.
I’m on both sides of the equation: I’ve done enough volunteer work, and spoken enough, to have apparently gained some kind of status in the community. And I’ve been singled out unjustly from time to time, apparently because of that status. At the same time, I’m also just a regular nobody with a job and a weird habit of studying and learning from others outside of work hours…and I’ve found myself fighting that same tendency** to be hostile to someone who’s in charge of the association I’m in.
I guess I just wanted to open up the discussion. Have you seen this, too? Am I missing some key elements?
Happy days,
Jen McCown
http://www.MidnightDBA.com/Jen
*While I didn’t generalize PASS out of the story, it applies to other organizations I’ve been in, as well as PASS itself.
**Don’t get me wrong…when someone actually screws up badly, or acts unfairly, I’ll be the first one on the front line to tell them. And possibly you. And maybe everyone else…
When I was an infantry company commander in Iraq, I knew that there would come a time that someone wrote something nasty about me on a porta-john wall. It eventually happened to pretty much everyone in leadership. And it did finally happen. I cringed. But I knew that it just came with the territory. I had arrived as a leader… I was on the sh*!!er wall!
My point? When you accumulate power (even “social” power gained within a volunteer group), you have an enhanced ability to offend. What once were minor fuax pas are suddenly subject to harsh ridicule. I actually think that, in a general sense, this is OK. We all fear power (unless it’s our own) and have an (justified) expectation that those in power meet a higher standard. When the complaints are delivered with sufficient tact, I say treat them seriously and respectfully; don’t overreact. You can’t make everyone happy. Talk about why you did what you did. Apologize if you feel it justified. When the critics are outright rude, nasty, and harsh, let them go…they speak more about the person who sourced them than they do about you.
In my case, I was told, the effect of the graffiti was reduced by the fact that the commentator misspelled “Captain”. Angry (overly emotional) people tend to make mistakes. I did not seek out that porta-john and never happened upon it. Part of me wonders what it said…but the wiser part is glad that I don’t know.
Regards,
Captan DeRobio
“When you accumulate power, …you have an enhanced ability to offend.” This is so fantastic, I’m having a difficult time explaining how fantastic it is. Yes, this, ^1000.
I think “an enhanced ability to offend” is going on my website and business cards, so thank you double.
Michael, in the unlikely event that we ever meet in person, the drinks are on me.