I am impressed with the response of PASS leadership to the controversy surrounding the 2014 Board of Directors election. Others have covered the topic much better than I will here, but a short version is PASS responded to the PASS Board 2013 election controversy (members with multiple email accounts receiving multiple ballots) by requiring members to identify a primary account / email address.
The issue? Not everyone got the message.
The initial response from PASS leadership was in line with previous responses from PASS leadership; “We’re not going to change anything” (paraphrased). I was disappointed in this response and said so. But then PASS leadership reversed this decision. In a blog post late Friday evening, PASS President Thomas LaRock (blog | @SQLRockstar) posted Board of Directors Election Update on the PASS blog, outlining the procedure and use cases for those who were hitherto excluded from the 2014 election process; a procedure that would allow them to vote.
I agree with this decision but I was not impressed. This is what leaders are supposed to do. It’s doing what their constituency elected them to do.
I was impressed by something I haven’t seen in PASS leadership before. (Maybe it was there and I missed it…) It’s this second paragraph from Tom’s post:
Before I get started I want to make something very clear: I accept full responsibility for all issues with the current election process. Together we had, and still have, the very best of intentions. On behalf of myself and the entire PASS Board, I offer the sincerest of apologies for all of the frustration caused.
Two things:
- Accepting responsibility. I’ve seen plenty of dictates handed down from the PASS Board in the past, especially when PASS leadership made unpopular decisions. I’ve been reminded of their authority. I don’t recall seeing anyone take responsibility – especially publicly. In my opinion, owning the issue is essential for leadership. I’ll go further and state that I believe not owning the issue is a failure of leadership.
- An apology. I believe this apology deflates the harm caused by this issue. More than that, I think this apology puts this issue to rest. Combined with doing the right thing and accepting responsibility, the apology offers closure. Unclosed issues hang out and contribute to the next controversy; they’re “stored fuel” for the next fire. That’s why it’s best to apologize early and often (bad election analogy…).
I’ve been hoping to see changes in PASS leadership for a while now. Doing the right thing here was admirable. But accepting responsibility and apologizing was one kind of change I’ve been hoping and waiting for.
Well done, PASS leadership. Well done.
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It was actually good. In my case I did not get the email inviting to vote :). Now I got the chance