Leadership.
If you have been part of leadership in community mental health, then you know what a whirlwind it can be!
Starting out as line staff in residential facilities, I always thought to myself, “Well I can do that better than them” or “Why in the hell would they decide to do that” or “They don’t know anything”, “They have no idea what they are talking about”, “They don’t care about us”, “They only care about money and productivity.” They, they, they, they. Of course, “they” meaning “leadership.”
Then I became the “they“, and I suddenly realized, “Oh shit, this is hard!” I remember one of my first experiences that really threw me for a loop. I made a decision as the leader of the team, and I suspected two people on the team had been talking about how they did not agree with my decision but neither one of them approached me directly about it. I had the same name as one of the team members and I got this text one day that was NOT meant for me but was about me. That was rough! I went to my supervisor, who was also my mentor, and he said “Lauren, it is easy to judge, but hard to lead.”
From that moment on, it became my motto and helped me get through some tough moments, not only as a leader but as staff as well.
So the next time you are the “they” or you are referring to “them”, I want you to take a deep breath and say to yourself, “It’s easy to judge, hard to lead.” You just may have a shift in perspective…
