Critics

I must admit, I've started and stopped this post on four different occasions now, just trying to process my thoughts and how to say what I wanted to say without being all negative, because after all the idea of criticism or critics, isn't a popular or positive one.

When my husband and I began serving as the Children's Pastor at our small church 8 years ago now, our Head Pastor's words to us were, "When you're in leadership, everyone will have a better way for you to do things."  These words translate to every type of leadership role I can imagine or have ever been in.

What I've experienced is that no matter your role, there will be critics.  As a Teacher, an Instructional Specialist, and now Testing Coordinator, there are those who will be a critic or tell you how to do your job differently, aka "better".  But something else I've recently come to realize is that, as an administrator, the same is also true.

I had the opportunity recently to attend a district training with both my AP's and our Diagnostician.  During lunch, I watched one of our APs deal with a crisis back at school, by phone, while trying to eat.  Now, mind you, I told my husband when we got married nearly 17 years ago, "I don't understand subtlety, so don't use it on me."  But over the years, I learned to read body expressions, and man, I could tell that this AP was having a time on the phone and trying to eat simultaneously.  Not a fun position to be in.  Once the crisis was done, my question to both my APs was this, "How do you make that mental division of school and home/life?"  You see, administrators are just like teachers and any other professional, they have a life outside work, so how does one just simply "turn it off"?  Their response?  Choices...sounds so simple, but not so.  They make a conscious choice to not check email, leave tomorrow's work for tomorrow, set a schedule and live by it faithfully, but to also be flexible, and lastly to make their families a priority after school hours.  To be fully present wherever they are.  So, then my question to myself becomes, "How do they deal with all the critics?"  And my answer is again, it comes down to choices.  We have the choice to let someone bother us or not.  We can let criticism roll off like water on a duck's back or let it set in and steep in our bones.  We can let it ruin our day/week/month, or not.  Choices, plain and simple, not always easy, but necessary.