Difficult Situations

I served as the GCC Professional Staff (PS) President for a couple of years and sat in many meetings with PS employees and HR to discuss difficult situations. I always maintained a professional demeanor, which helped me in these often uncomfortable and emotional situations.  I put myself in the employee’s shoes to do what was best for them. I supported them and ensured their rights were met. I spoke up to managers a couple of times which wasn’t easy, but I did it for my colleagues which made it easier.

I believe putting the best interests of the people who need help really gives me the backbone and courage I need to endure difficult conversations and situations.

For me, 1983 was the best and worst year of my life. The very best things and the absolute worst things in my life happened that year. It was then that I learned the mantra “this too shall pass.”  I realized that I could get through anything that year. I learned that for better or worse, time passes and everything flows down the river, the good, the bad, and the ugly. It all becomes history. I think back on times when I would obsess over something, usually a negative thing and the hours and energy I would waste in  worry. A few weeks later I recalled being very upset and agitated about something, but couldn’t remember what caused all of the angst. This too shall pass.

Sometimes just knowing this is enough to get me through.

Fostering and sustaining healthy relationships is one of the greatest skills and challenges in the workplace. Ask a person who leaves or retires what they miss about the place, and the answer is always the people.

We spend the biggest part of our lives at work. Work consumes most of our time, so the people we work with are some of the most critical relationships we will ever have. There are many kinds of relationships and some are unhealthy. I need to honestly evaluate and analyze my work relationships to see how they sit with me. Am I OK with them or do some require work and remediation? Are some relationships unhealthy and require my taking steps to protect myself or to fix them, or do I learn to let go and form a polite truce?

I like to think I have formed some good, healthy, and productive relationships with my colleagues at GCC. I try to be that person who says she will do a thing, and then does the thing, preferably in a very timely manner. I try to be kind to people, because really, what does it cost me? I used to do telephone registration during peak enrollment periods and it was a stressful time for the students and for me. My goal was to somehow, someway, lighten every conversation I had. I was polite, cheerful, and efficient. I wanted to hear a smile in their voice by the end of our conversation. Most students responded positively to my attempts, but every once in a while I would get someone who wasn’t having it. I never had a really grumpy person, but I could tell my plan wasn’t working. In those instances, I would quickly process their transaction, wish them a good day and send them on their way. I guess I learned in the few minutes I had with people that I was there to fulfill their needs and did that to the best of my ability.

I try to do this with everyone I meet. I don’t have a lot of interaction with students, but when I walk across campus I try to make eye contact and smile or say hello. I don’t always do this, I try to be alert to non-verbal clues, but again, what does it cost me to be nice?

I find the old adage “you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours” is so, so true in relationships with my work colleagues. I also find the practice of going out of my way to help another comes back to me ten-fold when I get on the phone to ask for help.

I don’t go to other colleges very often, so I find that is my next frontier. My plan is to build bridges and relationships with employees outside of GCC. Who knows what future friends are just waiting to be found?

Maybe you’ve read the Reason, Season, Lifetime piece. It’s a rather cutesy idea about why certain people come into your life. When I thought about work relationships, the Reason, Season, Lifetime thought came to mind.

Let me start by saying that I don’t buy into the over-simplified idea that everything happens for a reason. But after re-reading the Reason, Season piece and thinking about work/friend relationships over the years, it is sort of a cool concept.

Read Reason, Season (click below) and then think about people in your life that fit each category.

Even more interesting – think about yourself and what categories you fit in according to your experiences with family, friends, coworkers, and students. In addition to all the great people who have impacted your life, think about those who presented a struggle. Sometimes difficult experiences move us to grow or change. At the very least, we can re-frame our intentions in tough relationships as an opportunity to practice patience, tolerance, or model acceptable behavior for others.

So now you’ve had your daily dose of sugar-coated philosophy. Best wishes to everyone for a fantastic spring break.

(Sorry I’m so late with my entries, life is getting cray cray!)

If we are talking dreams, I have to go big, right? I am working on my Master’s degree, acquiring better writing skills that I hope to use to GCC and MCCCD’s benefit. I would love to be in the position where I could promote and facilitate staff workshops and events. I believe if done right, they will help build staff engagement in the GCC community. There is a lot of good work happening across campus and district at the student and faculty levels, and I would like to play a bigger role in promoting staff engagement.

To that end, I am exploring grant writing. I believe adding that knowledge and skill will go hand-in-hand with my dream of project managing workshops. My dream is to find many small grants to help with the fabulous work done at GCC and to create events and workshops for any and all, students, staff and faculty. I don’t believe professional development is a high priority for staff members at Maricopa. A lot of attention falls on faculty and “MAT” employees to attend conferences and increase knowledge, but I feel we staff members do ourselves a disservice when we are content to punch in, do our jobs, and punch out. Day after day of doing the same work gets boring and monotonous and leads to apathy. Most professional growth occurs with employees completing higher degrees, which is admirable, I take advantage of this myself, but I see a larger group of employees who don’t participate in professional growth or development activities.

I’ve had the luxury to work on many wonderful events like the Human Library, Human Trafficking Week of Awareness and Call to Action, and the Junior Gaucho outreach events. I have learned a lot and become more engaged with the campus and its future. I would like to promote this among our staff and to the rank in file employees. I know we have a district training and development office, but I would like to explore some different, creative ideas and opportunities.

Let’s see what dreams may become realities.