Thursday, March 15, 2012

The Popcorn Machine Debacle

Today was kind of a rough day.  I had to apologize to my department chair for being rude to her in a meeting.  I had to apologize to another professor for being rude on a discussion board.  I had to apologize to three other professors for welcoming them with a bunch of popcorn crumbs on the floor from my use of the department popcorn machine last night (truly, I believed the custodians vacuumed every night).

At times like these, I am grateful that I have a colleague who will speak candidly to me.  If he has not already seen it first hand, I tell him about the mess I have gotten into and he advises me on how to respond.  Sometimes, he tells me I am being too hard on myself, and sometimes he tells me I am being too hard on others.  Regardless, he speaks the truth to me.

One of the better decisions I made with respect to this relationship was to invite him to critique me.  He knows he is free to criticize my actions, and while I will not always agree with his assessment, I will respect it.

Do you have someone like that in your corner?  If not, do you need to extend that invitation?

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