Broken Promises Result in Disillusionment
I was once on the board of a local nonprofit service organization. When my stint ended, I didn’t qualify for a second term, but there were two roles I could move into.
One was a task I disliked. The other was a challenge I relish—strategic planning.
I told the executive director I was interested in leading the strategic planning initiative but was concerned about forming a committee.
My interest gleefully excited him, and he assured me he would put together the committee for me. All I had to do was lead the team and guide the plan development.
I waited, and I waited. After weeks of silence, I asked the executive director how he was doing at finding committee members.
“I was thinking about that,” he said. “You don’t need a committee. You can handle it just as well by yourself.”
I knew in my gut he was wrong. I knew that better results occur from a group decision-making process. Yet I also knew that navigating group dynamics would take much longer.
Bubbling with overconfidence, I believed I could produce a great strategic plan by myself. I accepted his assessment.
I went to work right away, thrilled with the challenge before me. Few things would have excited me more. I kept him apprised of my progress, sending monthly email updates.
Several months later I presented him with my finished strategic plan. It was innovative and would move the organization forward in fresh ways.
Though his response to my plan was tactful, I doubted he liked it. In retrospect, I suspect he wanted a plan that would merely affirm what he was already doing.
But that’s not what I gave him. I had presented him with something unconventional, something groundbreaking.
Assuming I was on the right track, I waited for the opportunity to present my strategic plan to the board. That opportunity never came.
Without my knowledge, the executive director forwarded my strategic plan to an academic who was outside our organization. The man soundly dismissed my ideas with disdain.
He did this largely because I had the audacity to form my recommendations without group input. Never mind that doing this solo was exactly what the executive director had told me to do.
I persisted in trying to get traction with my strategic plan, but nothing happened.
Though the executive director gave me a brief time during each board meeting to talk about aspects of my vision, he controlled the scope of what I could cover and limited discussion.
My year-long stint as their strategic planner ended quietly, with no acknowledgment.
Over the years, I had heard whispered implications that the director was at times underhanded and not to trust him. I dismissed those as rumors, but now I had experienced them firsthand and knew them to be correct.
Though I was behind what this organization stood for and did, I’d lost respect for the director and therefore interest in the organization’s mission.
The director’s inconsistent instructions to me and poor leadership turned a once-passionate supporter into a disillusioned dissenter.
Leadership and Management Success Tip
Every person we interact with can choose to support our cause or oppose it. Therefore, it’s critical to treat every person with respect and not do anything to abuse or misuse your relationship with them.
Read more in Peter Lyle DeHaan’s book Sticky Leadership and Management, featuring his compelling story-driven insights and tips.
Peter Lyle DeHaan is an entrepreneur and businessman who has managed, owned, and started multiple businesses over his career. Common themes at every turn have included customer service, sales and marketing, and leadership and management.
Peter shares his lifetime of business experience and personal insights through his books to encourage, inspire, and occasionally entertain.