Member-only story
It’s OK, You Are Gonna Mess Up
I don’t care how perfect you are or how careful you are; you are going to fuck up.
I began writing this article about two minutes after I backed a truck into a tree on my second day of work as a beach shuttle driver. It was my second “oopsie” in as many days, and I knew that I was gonna get canned. Actually, my boss was a retired tug boat captain and it was his truck I dinged, so I was hoping being fired would be the extent of it and he wouldn’t kick my ass.
I fucked up, and I knew that the job I really enjoyed was suddenly over.
Mistakes are a fact of life: It is the response to the error that counts.
-Nikki Giovanni
As a school leader, you are going to screw up sometimes. It could be a bad moment where you were not as diplomatic or tactful as you could have been. It could involve hiring the wrong person for the job, or maybe even waiting too long to call an angry parent back. The list of ways that you can screw up is endless, but I am here to tell you, it’s gonna happen, and it’s gonna be ok.
The majority of the mistakes we make as a school leader are not life and death, thankfully.
Mistakes are lessons.
Some of my favorite lessons, I’ve learned over the years.
