Lead with Grace

2 responses to “Is It Yours to Fix?”

1. 

   JanBeek

   2019-05-08

   I so agree! I am a fixer, too. When I was an elementary school principal, I followed a principal whose background was counseling. Teachers were used to coming into the principal’s office and pouring their hearts out. She would just listen and send them on their way, feeling better because they had been heard. My style was so different from hers. I had spent 24 years as a classroom teacher whose job it was to teach and to pose problems the students could solve – and to solve problems myself. When teachers came in to complain about something to me, I went about trying to fix the problem. I discovered (after waaay too long “pissin’ ’em off” – as I was told) that they didn’t tell me their troubles because they wanted me to step in… they just wanted a sounding board. That frustrated me to death! Eventually they learned to go to a teacher-leader to vent… and come to me when they wanted something done! I needed to have read your blog years ago… That last paragraph in this post is worth its weight in gold!! <3

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   1. 

      gracelead

      2019-05-09

      It took me far too long to learn this myself. It’s still tempting to go into fix mode. It’s a struggle to just listen, but I know that is often what is best.

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