Being Wonderful, Being Credible

In an article in the Exchange book, Places for Childhoods: Making Quality Happen in the Real World, Jim Greenman talked about the challenges directors face in building credibility....

"One mistake directors often make is to assume that because we are wonderful people, because we work very hard, and because we are doing a great job, this will automatically translate into credibility.  We assume that our experience, dedication, and professionalism always show.  Then when a crisis is encountered, when we try to fire Sally, we may suddenly discover, much to our horror, that we have deluded ourselves.  We haven't built a sound base of credibility.

"There are many reasons why performance doesn't always translate directly into credibility.  Foremost among these is the fact that everyone connected with a center sees only a small piece of what we do.  Teachers see us for part of the day, primarily in our supervisory role;  our accountant sees us in terms of our budgeting skills;  parents see us in terms of our relationship with them; etc.  No one person sees the complete picture; and, unfortunately, everyone tends to evaluate us in terms of the piece they see.  Thus, the director may be performing exceptionally well, accomplishing 90 tasks out of 100 when completing 50 tasks would be good.  But if in the fraction of uncompleted tasks is what the teacher or bookkeeper sees, she might well assume the director is doing an inadequate job...

"Many of us are also handicapped by inordinate modesty.  We feel some need to hide our light under a basket.  We may be dedicated professionals with a solid record of accomplishments and well-established credentials, but we do not let staff members know this.  In an effort to create an egalitarian atmosphere, we may act as if knowledge and expertise is more widely dispersed among the staff than it really is.  In trying to be just one of the gang, we may make it difficult for staff members to accept our authority without resentment."

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