She speaks from a business perspective on complainers adding the age old advice of "You can't win them all."
I immediately thought it was a great blog because it is so true and so simple, but so often overlooked. In the age of customer choice, experience, and honestly network power we are all afraid of what will happen to us if we don't do exactly what the customer wants or says? Will they leave us? Will they tell everyone in their network not to work with us???
Maybe, but it is probably OK.
I think we all focus an exorbitant amount of time on the bad apple without realizing that the bad apple is indeed spoiling the barrel.
I vividly recall working with a volunteer that was consistently negative. We finally decided that after a 5 year stint we were going to ask her to leave her volunteer role. The conversation was awkward and difficult, but as you may suspect it was a conversation that we should have had years earlier.
I am sure we all have these things in our own nonprofits, businesses, and personal lives. My take-away today is a challenge!
Take-away: Throw out your bad apple!
The true challenge is leadership. Sometimes this means having the guts and confidence to "throw out your bad apple." However, this may mean that what appears to be a bad apple at first may only be an apple that needs to be better informed, or educated. A favorite quote of mine that applies is, "sometimes you win, sometimes you learn." Whatever you do, don't lose! Keep up the good work, and good partner programs!
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