If you’re not proud of where you work, go work somewhere else. You don’t get the benefit of the brand when it’s hot without accepting the blame of the brand when it’s wrong.
Source: Seth Godin, “All I do is work here”

“I don’t agree with this, but my boss said it, and he expects me to pass it on,” said my Assistant Superintendent, a suave Hispanic gentleman who managed a technology department with no background in technology at all. We were at a district meeting and he was selling an unpopular decision at the top levels. He had all sorts of artificial filters that got in the way of his authenticity. But then, that wasn’t so surprising after I learned more about him.

He’d been sent, as he often told us, to the department as a career-ender, with no expectation of success. It was a convenient way to put him out to pasture, an area superintendent the Super didn’t like anymore. It pleased me that, in the end, he turned the tables on the Super, outlasting him and then becoming his own Super in another district and state.

Check out this Reddit on “What is your ‘I only work here’ Story?”

Being a leader is tough. Seth Godin’s quote at the top of this blog entry reminds us that when who we are is out of alignment with where we work and what we do, there are consequences.

Ride for the Brand

Growing up reading Louis L’amour westerns, one of the expectations for cowpokes was to “ride for the brand.” It meant you did what needed to be done, that you exhibited loyalty to the organization. You said what needed to be said, did what needed to be done to make it better. If, at the end, you didn’t agree with the way the outfit was run, then you collected your pay and hit the trail.