It’s quite an interesting thing how people respond to advice or constructive criticism. I’ve certainly been on the receiving end of both and haven’t always responded as well as I should have.
This week I met a young newly qualified teacher who is looking to go and teach overseas. The first step in dealing with teachers who want to go and teach outside the country is to compile their portfolio of documentation. I first call for their CV and if they qualify and I think we can help them, I ask them for other documents such as their degree, academic record and passport. What I’m hoping for, but don’t always spell out, is scanned copies of the documents. What I often get is dreadful photographed copies with thumb nails visible, creases and shadows which make some parts of the document illegible. When Y sent me her documents and they were photographs, I sent her a bit of a stern email. Simply, I said that a professional set of documents is one that is scanned in PDF. I said it was good to see that she had the documents, but that she would do well to pop into Postnet and ask them to scan them and email them to her. She would then have properly scanned professional documents for any submission in the future. While it may not look so harsh here, I didn’t really preempt it in the email, so it may have come across as rather stern.
She wrote back very apologetically.
That was the right response.
But the even better one came when I Skyped with her.
She was profuse with gratitude on how kind I had been to her . She appreciated so much all that I was doing to try to find her a job.
By now I was groveling inside for being so stern with this delightful, enthusiastic applicant. She’s turned out to be a wonderful teacher and hopefully will be easily placed.
The Y Principle – respond humbly to constructive criticism. Show appreciation and gratitude to those who give it, understanding that they are trying to help.
Good lesson for me to have learned.
Today I hardly did any work! It’s been a good day! I had Bible study and then this afternoon, did an hour of work before enjoying the rain showers and lying on my bed doing a Sudoku. Yep, it was very relaxing.
#781 of my 1000 thanks is for my plum down jacket that Riana persuaded me to buy last year. It has kept me so warm this winter – I wear it all the time. 🙂
Psalm 119:160
All Your words are true; all Your righteous laws are eternal.
These are the days.
Keep the smile going.
God bless you.
In His Grip,
Helga xx 🙂
Gym:
- 26 minute fast walk
- 30 minutes grid – heart rate was 155 at the end
- 5 minutes cool down cycle