What Comes Next? Another Leadership Lesson from the Middle East

The Arabic Knowledge@Wharton newsletter for March 8, 2011, features a piece on, "Room at the Top: How Will the Leadership Vacuum in the Arab World Be Filled?"  The author(s) include a quote from our blog about leadership lessons from the current turmoil in a much longer and more forward-looking article.  

Among the Wharton points I like is the important lesson that changing leaders is easy, but governing, including taking care of the business of government, is always a challenge.  It is one thing to oust a leader (or a country, company or school), but quite another to deliver the services required of civil governments, let alone create entirely new electoral institutions.

The point is not that leaders shouldn't be toppled--sometimes that is exactly what must happen--but rather that what comes next should be a matter of careful forethought, not just an afterthought.  In Egypt, Tunisia and elsewhere, as in your organization, this is no easy task.