I once had a work colleague who took extreme relish in disparaging my predecessor. He showed no little contempt in the way he regarded him. At the time I was tempted to think, “Well, that was that guy, but I’m different. He’ll like and respect me.” No, such was not the case. I got the same treatment as he undermined everything I was doing.
What is the case is that the people who discount and defame the ones who preceded you will do the same thing to you. And then to the person who comes after you. It’s a pattern. They are the problem.
I remember during graduate school serving as an intern in a large church not too far from the seminary. A small little man – let’s call him Bob – told stories of how his father destroyed the minister during his time. Bob laughed as he told it. And then Bob went about trying to do the same to my supervisor, a well-respected and long-serving person who Bob would not be qualified to untie the thong of his sandals. It’s even generational.
So think twice: When you hear language and watch behavior that tears down the people who came before you, know that there is probably more at work than meets the eye. Don’t get paranoid, but don’t be vain or proud, imagining that such things cannot happen to you. What you can do is never, never hop on the criticism bandwagon to tear down the one who preceded you. Don’t do it.
Because you’re next.
vitalwholeness 