I was talking with an MLS Exec the other day, he told me that they had to call the police because a member was upset at a recent change they made to their MLS system and made threats about what he was going to do when he came to the MLS office. In this day and age with what happens in schools I don’t blame them for calling the police.

I heard another story about an MLS/Assn how a member organized a “march on the association offices”, in this case, the MLS was accused of making too many changes in a short time. Yikes! They even started a Facebook group. Imagine that, a Facebook group, I wonder what name they gave the Facebook group? “Hands off our MLS system!”, “Back to the MLS Books!”, or maybe “You’re doing too much, STOP!”

Of course, you have to plan. These changes have to be thoughtful. But no matter what members will complain that “we didn’t have enough time”, “we weren’t notified”, “it’s not the right time of year” or “we wanted more training”. That is always going to happen, no matter if it’s 3 months or 3 years. To me, those are table stakes that any organization has to deal with when they move forward.

Along with all the drama on social media, MLS staff, and execs are berated with emails, phone calls, and name-calling. You really can’t blame any MLS exec who doesn’t do much and keeps the status quo. I mean it is the safe thing to do if you want to keep your job.

But there are others that press forward, who know the risks, but know the rewards as well, and press on. Because if we aren’t growing, we are dying. You don’t want to “change for change’s sake” but we have to try new things if we want to progress. We all need to fight to move our organizations and the industry forward.

That’s leadership.

So when presented with a new idea you want implemented, or a decision you need to make that should have been made long ago, don’t be discouraged. Remember what the Spartans said when the Persians told them if they fought they would unleash enough arrows that would “black out the sun.”

“Good,” the Spartans said, “then we will fight in the shade.”