Have you ever regretted reading a book — which one and why?
I wasn’t originally going to answer this prompt today. I saw it and immediately thought, “Another book question?! Really?!” There’s either a librarian or a Barnes & Noble employee coming up with these prompts lately.
But then I received a text from my supervisor after I got home from work and now I have an answer for this.
I regret reading all the books on leadership that I read in grad school when I was pursuing my Master’s degree in school administration. Because nowhere in those books did it describe the kind of leader I currently have as my boss. Sure, she’s not a principal, but she knows how to lead. I joke a lot that she’s only 25. I mean, she is. And I am very much not 25. Also, her degrees aren’t in leadership. So she didn’t learn how to be a leader from any book like I did. Her leadership style, I am sure, is from her just wanting to be a good human and treating us with kindness and fairness.
Case in point…today, at my job, we had a virtual event with prospective students. Without getting into details that could identify what exactly I do, it was a 4 hour event with multiple parts that were carefully scheduled and it was important that we adhere to the schedule. It also involved moving groups of people into and out of breakout rooms on Zoom at precise times in order to keep to the schedule. This event will be repeated multiple times. Not just multiple, but many times over the coming months. Today was the first day of it for this year and there were some significant delays in the schedule due to technical difficulties. We are a 3-person team and we tried our best. It was stressful. It was obvious that she was stressed too.
It was over at 4:30. I got home by about 5:00. At 4:57, she had sent a text to my coworker and me that said: “Thank you both, sorry if any of my frazzle came outward. We’ll get it ironed out!”
My first thought was, what did I do to deserve a boss like that? I know immediately what I did. I put up with a boss that is her complete opposite for way too long. My old boss did say thank you when it was due. But she never apologized for anything. An…y…thing.
The books I read in grad school on how to be a good leader did not mention apologizing for a bad mood, or a stressful day, or if something goes wrong. It didn’t tell us to send reaffirming texts like that when we know something didn’t go according to plan. There were other things it told us to do in order to be a good leader, but that wasn’t on the list. Our professors didn’t even tell us to do it. It wasn’t a part of any of the lectures or other notes they gave us. I don’t think they would have even considered doing this. Many of them were as old school as my old bitchy boss.
Shoot…since I’m a writer, maybe I should write my own book on leadership. The real do’s and don’ts of being a leader. Because I’m telling you, my current boss? She knows what’s up. She knows how to do it for real. And like I said, she didn’t learn it in a book. I don’t think real leadership can be learned that way anyway.
I feel a tangent forming here. I could go on for a while about leadership. What it is and what it isn’t, etc. So I’ll simply conclude by saying, I may joke that my boss is just a baby. She says she’s just a baby. In fact, she has a bumper sticker on her car to that effect. But that baby of a boss is the best one I’ve had in my 25+ years. I’ll never not be grateful I work for her.
Want to help me accomplish my dream of being a paid writer? Buy me a coffee!
Leave a Reply