Reset and Moving on

A few weeks ago  I was pretty frustrated as it became increasingly clear that I had overfilled my plate and was feeling stuck.  Then as I walked into my office, I received a text message that I incorrectly scheduled an important meeting. Immediately, I stopped in the doorway of my office, I  let out a big groan and started tapping the door frame of my office back and forth with both hands.  In my mind I was alone, and I was tapping the door frame lightly as I tried to center myself and figure out what to do.  While I was definitely frustrated, I eventually laughed at myself, regrouped and moved on to the rest of my day.   However, my assistant who was not in the near vicinity at the time, later asked me if everything was ok.  Clearly, my frustration was more public than I had previously thought.  Usually, when I need to reset I close my door, take a few deep breaths.  But that day, I was moving too fast, I had too much to do, and as a result, my frustration was more apparent.

Acting in this way, publicly felt like a mistake and I was embarrassed.  Additionally, I felt like I had too much on my plate to be productive.  I subscribe to the belief that one of the most essential parts of the principal's job is to be energized and to energize others.   But at the same time, it's also important to show people that we are humans as well.  And that day, I was vulnerable, made some mistakes, and demonstrated my humanness.

In yoga teachers remind us that when we fall out of a pose, we should just get right back into it.   There is no benefit to dwell on why you fell out of the pose or get annoyed with yourself.  If you don't get right back into your pose, you miss an opportunity for growth. 

During this moment in my office there as no reason to dwell on my frustration, but to reset and problem solve on how to resolve my mistake and move forward.  After chatting with my assistant, I reflected on that moment and I was able to regroup.   I'm thankful for my meditative practice that I have learned to allow for my frustrations to surface but to also to let my frustrations leave as well. After that moment, I began to focus on one problem at a time.   By the end of the day, I realized that I had resolved several of my situations and more importantly felt good about how they were concluding.

Leadership Lessons from that Experience:

• Allow your frustrations to bubble up, but then let them go
• Make mistakes, but then reflect and reset
• When you are having a bad day, remember you have a choice to dwell on what's going wrong or move on