What Did I Do Wrong?
Be specific . . . when giving positive reinforcement, you can never be TOO specific.
Wrong, apparently, in one case.
Having experienced great teaching by my new continuing ed. teacher, I wrote an email to the teacher, her boss, and her boss’s boss, with a 1-7 numbered list of specific actions she had taken to make the class valuable for me.
She didn’t mention receiving my email for several days. Finally I asked if she’d read it. She said, “Yes, thanks. But I felt like I was being evaluated by my own teacher.” Red-faced, I slunk into the corner and hid.
What did I do wrong?
July 23rd, 2009 at 4:21 pm
That’s the sort of “attaboy” that would make ME feel 10 feet tall! However, everyone is different. Perhaps you could have written her an introductory attaboy, telling her how proud you were of her achievements and asking her if she’d mind if you wrote to supervisors and told them how you felt, and why you felt that way. Then copied her on the letter to them. One idea …