Not Oz-Some

This might be a little weird, but bear with me; I think this is worth your time.

While walking the dog one morning this week I found myself thinking about the Mayor of Munchkinland.

Try, just for a moment, to imagine the leadership challenges…

For years you are subject to the controlling whims of a wicked witch who shows up whenever she feels like it, makes demands, wreaks havoc, and flies away leaving you to deal with the chaos.

In some ways, that’s a manageable leadership situation. It’s difficult to deal with that kind of uncertainty but if you’re able to keep the rest of the munchkins onside you can all function with the unity that comes from a shared enemy.

It’s not healthy, but at least there’s someone to blame for everyone.

But then, Dorothy shows up. And with her accidental destruction of your oppressor, soon followed by the same for her equally dangerous sister witch, your people are ready to celebrate: Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead!!

But imagine what happens next…

After a period of joyful relief you have to figure out how to function as a community on your own. (Even the Wizard has been exposed as a sham).

You’ve never really had the freedom to make your own decisions, or at least to see them through. Everything you’ve done has been profoundly affected by the looming presence of your wicked authority.

Now when there are issues, conflict, or disagreements there’s no convenient villain to blame. Now it’s really on your shoulders. Now you have to find a new purpose and motivation and convince people to come together for it.

This is when it really gets tough.

In the last few years I’ve seen some organizations who have lost trust in their leader. Regardless of the reasons, there is something unifying about agreeing that the boss is the problem.

But when that person leaves, you have to figure out how to unify a group that often haven’t developed the ability to solve their own problems. When the scape goat is gone there are always some issues exposed among this that remain. And they hurt more because they dissolve the closeness that was driven by shared opposition.

The season after the witch may just be the hardest for the mayor.