I have to tell you about a miraculous transformation that I witnessed this week. I have a client in Missouri that I’ve worked with for a bit now and there is one teacher at one of the elementary schools who has not participated in professional development, arrived late to work, left early, bad-mouthed the district…negativity oozed from her and everyone knew it.
Well, I ran into her this visit and here’s what I found (and everyone confirmed): she’s had a miraculous conversion. She was still her opinionated, self assured self (which is kind of fun to work with actually!) but she was POSITIVE. She walked with a spring in her step. Her teaching was excellent – of the highest quality. She accepted feedback graciously. She asked questions. I couldn’t believe it!
So, at the end of our debriefing I just blurted it out: WHAT CHANGED?
She just laughed and said, “I made a decision.”
She went on to say that there were a series of situations that she encountered that made her think about her attitude. To quote her: “I realized that I’m going to go home tired, but I should be going home tired because I worked hard, not because I bitched all day.” So, she changed. She said that her husband told her, “I don’t know what you’re doing, but keep on doing it. I like it.”
Boy did she change!
Here’s the message: People can change! People can have a re-do!
Here’s the other message: We need to LET THEM change. We need to GIVE THEM room to change. We need to BELIEVE THEM when they show us they’ve changed.