By TOM HONIG
Obviously I've been reading too many stories about political candidates -- the bragging, the taking credit, the never making a mistake.
That's why it was so refreshing to read a blog today by Nina Simon, executive director of the Museum of Art and History in Santa Cruz. She marks her one-year anniversary by relating not only the "Things I'm Most Proud Of," but also "Mistakes I Made" and "Things That Surprised Me."
For anyone who celebrates honesty -- especially at the executive director level -- Simon's examination of her first year is refreshing.
Don't you wish that more executives and more politicians were capable of giving themselves an honest self-examination? I especially like how she excoriates herself for saying that the museum was basically "failing." She says: "This narrative worked well in the press—especially when we had early impressive results—but it was demoralizing and offensive to some of the staff and volunteers who had worked hard to deliver the best museum experiences possible in the years prior. Staff members led us in reframing our language to talk about the museum as transforming from a “traditional model to a 21st century model” instead of failing and then succeeding.
Any government or business leader would do themselves a favor by publishing this kind of yearly self-examination.
