May 24, 2006A Rude Remark from My Assistant
Dear Meryl,
I manage a service to the community that needs coverage when I am gone.
Before leaving last week I asked the department members if they had all that was needed to hold down the fort while I was gone. My part time assistant shoots me the comment ” Yeah, for you not to make any mistakes before you leave.” This is not the first time for this kind of statement which I find very hurtful. It’s like a knife was stuck in my gut and twisted.
I said nothing, got up and left but found that it bothered me. As I dug out of the work that was waiting for me, upon returning to work, a few responses came to me for the next time I am in that position.
What are your thoughts … ?
“It must suck to be perfect.” “It sucks to be perfect, it is so boring.” “Perfection is so dull.”
Am I just too thin skinned or should I consider the source and let it pass?
Meryl Responds
My first thought was -
- If I never made mistakes, I wouldn’t need you.
But my second thought was that you need to have a talk with her where you go into her issue.
- Your comment about my mistakes sounded biting and led me to believe you have an issue with my errors. We’re here to support each other, not take snipes, and if you have any issues or suggestions about how I do my job, let’s put them on the table.
She just might hold some resentment that you make careless errors she needs to fix, or she might hold resentment over normal human errors, in which case you need to be clear about your expectations of each other.
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