Being OK With Being the Bad Guy

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Never, Never, Never stop by Petsmart on a Saturday, unless you are OK with being the bad guy! All I needed to do was pick up the flea medicine for our cats Bob & Marley. Boy did I make a mistake, and now I am the bad guy in my house!

This reminded me that I had recently been the bad guy in my school...

Let me back up a step. I was a classroom teacher for 10 years before moving over to administration. I can’t think of a single teacher, to my knowledge that I upset. I was the guy that helped arrange Happy Hours, first one there last to leave. I’m quick with a joke, have the ability to tell a reasonably funny story, and I have a loud laugh that usually causes others to join in. Rarely was anyone mad at me!

Lately though, I’ve had some teachers mad at me for a variety of reasons. At first I found it very unsettling to have people angry with me. I’m a friendly guy!  

Why you ask are these staff members miffed at me? Well, I’m still relatively new to the building and the previous person was in my position for almost 14 years. People were used to her way of doing things and things had been stable for a long time.  I’m full of ideas and I want to change things and shake them up! Now I’m not changing things for the sake of change. I’m changing things because these changes will increase the effectiveness of the teachers, thus increasing student success.

Not everyone is happy with me and I have to be OK with this!

As long as I am keeping the main thing, the main thing (and students are our main thing) then I will own the frustration my staff feels. Now I will coach and support my staff. I will provide them with the resources they need to implement the changes with success and I will be Ok with being the bad guy.

To finish my Petsmart story…

I forgot that on Saturday, all of the adoption groups are there trying to find homes for the most adorable cats and dogs. Of course we (and by we, I mean my three girls) see a dog that all of my girls just LOVE! To top it off, it is the exact breed of dog that my wife has always wanted. I had to say no. It wasn’t the right time to bring another dog into our house. I am currently the bad guy, surrounded by four women giving me dirty looks, sighing loudly, occasionally stomping out of the room. Me? Well, I am owning the bad guy persona, and I am OK with it.

My girls begging for the dog!