L&T Publisher Earl Watt

People succeed in Seward County all the time.

There are a handful of people I expect to agree with that assessment at any given time.

I believe in Seward County and the City of Liberal. I have dedicated my life and career to the community, and it’s an uphill battle to try to make our slice of the world better for those who choose to call this place home.

Some people have a dim view of our part of the world, and there are some who simply embrace the pessimistic “It will never work” mentality.

For anyone who may be considering a move to Liberal and Seward County, I want you to know that you will love it here. We have strong churches, civic clubs, great parks, wide open spaces for those who seek the country life, great youth programs, a diverse dining scene, sports, a six-screen theater and the list goes on and on.

Those who would say that coming to work in Seward County would be a “path to failure” are not offering a true assessment of any organization in Seward County.

It’s true that some people enjoy drama, and perhaps they are currently living their dream by ginning up some artificial crises.

But the facts are those voices are few and far between.

There are a handful that may listen to that, but they, too, are few and far between.

Most of us focus on how to improve our community, not how to pass blame or scapegoat others for ineffective or intentionally obstructive leadership.

I’ll always remember what Al Shank once told me about how we work hard to make our community a better place — “We get nice things here. We have to crawl through glass to get them, but we get them.”

While my faith in certain community leaders has been shaken, I would offer this advice — find the good. Evaluate your own role in why an organization is operating the way it is before throwing generalities about “a house on fire.” What can you do to reduce the temperature? What can you do to create an environment that is a place people want to work?

When it comes to our city and county, nothing can happen without the consent of three commissioners. If an employee or leader is not happy with the culture at the organization, then they have to be at odds with at least three commissioners.

No one commissioner has the authority to do anything. That includes having the ability to affect the culture of the organization. If something isn’t going the way you believe it should, you have to question why you are not working within the vision of the majority of the commission. And for those who lead these organizations, the job requires you to implement the wishes of the commission who are by extension representing the wishes of the people.

They won’t always agree, and that is by design. We, the voters, select the commissioners who usually come from varied backgrounds with different visions on how we move forward.

Once three make a decision, it is the job of administration to implement that policy, like it or not.

The administrator isn’t the union rep. Their job isn’t to “go to bat” for the employees by creating an adversarial relationship between staff and elected officials.

The job is to be the conduit between the people’s representatives and the staff who was hired to accomplish the goals of the public.

And the culture of the organization starts with the hired administration. What the people decided in elections is no longer relevant to the staff. The people have spoken, elections have consequences, and administration has to be able to pivot with the will of the people.

Goals change, finances change, and it is the role of leadership to navigate those changes.

All the while, the role is to be positive as the face of the organization. It’s the role to believe in who we are and what we want to accomplish. Administration should be on board with elected leaders, not chastising them.