Today’s “Motivational Monday” LinkedIn post shares the lessons learned from a REORG (reorganization) at a City government organization when I was the Director of Finance in 2005.
It was quite frustrating to me, back then, when the REORG required that I work through a new level of management. Previously I could go directly to the City’s CEO (the City Manager).
This REORG CitySpeak post came about from a conversation I had with my high school daughter this weekend, as I tried to explain my experience with management of organizations.
My 15-year old daughter boldly told me, as teenagers are so capable of doing, “dad, maybe it was your ego that got in the way”.
She was right, and this was a hard lesson for me to learn, which I still regret to this day. I apologize to the Assistant City Manager for making his job tougher than it already was, thought I’m sure he also learned a little of what it means to “earn your stripes”.
Anyway, there are three (3) lessons I learned from this REORG I would like to share with you today:
Put aside your ego during a REORG, the organization is more important than just your opinion.
The CEO / City Manager has the authority to make whatever decisions he/she believes are best.
Don’t burn bridges, if you can’t handle the REORG changes, graciously move on to another organization.
Listen in to the video of my experience with the REORG at the City of Imperial Beach and give me your comments.
Thanks for listening in.
John Herrera, CPA
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CitySpeak Blog/Podcast