I start a new semester today- my fifth at UMBC and my umpteenth in my career. Even after all this time, I get excited and a little bit nervous to begin the journey again. This semester, perhaps more so, as I am coming off the heels of last semester’s evaluations.
As I read through my students’ comments, the disparities seemed more…well, disparate this time around. Some students shared that I was the best professor they’d ever had. Others so much as said I should never step foot in a classroom again. It was the same me, and my students’ experience of that professor me were wildly different.
Since I started teaching I have always thought about this and struggled with it. 20+ years later I still do. How can a teacher be equally effective for all the students in their classroom. Students with different strengths, needs, and preferences. It’s an impossible task, isn’t it?
Is it?
Every student in every class deserves the very best we have to give. And what if that very best works great for some and not for others. What then?
It’s the same way I feel about my role as a supervisor. I have had staff tell me that I am the best supervisor they have ever had. Other staff, while not saying the actual words to me, would have quite different things to say, I am most certain.
Like students, staff have different strengths, needs and preferences. And every staff deserves the very best supervision we have to give. And what if that very best supervision works great for some and not for others. What then?
Can one supervisor be all things to all staff?
It’s an impossible task, isn’t it?
Is it?
We know that to be effective supervisors, we need to adapt to the individual strengths, needs, and preferences of each of our staff. Some shine working independently while others prefer to collaborate. Some prefer direct feedback while others might need a little cushioning. Some take too long on the planning part without the actual doing while others dive right into the doing without any of the planning. Some cannot wait to move up to the next level and others are perfectly content where they are.
As best as we are able, we are meant to adjust and adapt and support each of these staff as the individuals that they are to help them become the best they can be in their own individual way.
But is there ever a way to do it equally? Or equitably?
What are the expectations?
Different personalities will naturally respond to different personalities differently. Some students, some staff, some people, are simply going to like you more than others. I do not know how much there is to be done about this. You certainly can’t change your personality or your sense of humor with each and every staff member, though you may choose to adjust the way you interact with them. But in the end, it seems pretty inevitable (if not ideal) that some staff are going to personally like you more than others do, and it is likely that some staff are not going to like you at all. Can you still be an effective supervisor to someone who doesn’t like you very much? Does the old “I don’t care if they like me as long as they respect me” still hold true? Does it work?
In the name of equality and fairness, some supervisors take the approach of enforcing all expectations equally with all people. Clearly, firmly, and transparently. There is something to be said for this approach. It is simple to implement, and it prevents accusations of favoritism or playing to personal grudges since every person gets the same treatment all of the time.
Except we know that treating everyone exactly the same is the same as treating people differently because everyone has those different strengths, needs, and preferences. It’s like always taking staff out for Mexican when it is their birthday. It might be equal but some staff are going to be a lot happier than others (although, who doesn’t like Mexican food, really?)
So where is the line?
I continue to ask myself this question over and over again. Where is the line? Between adjusting and being consistent? Between respecting differences and being fair? Between allowing exceptions and not playing favorites? How can we know?
I’m not sure we can ever get it perfectly right. And I think it is important to let go of that expectation, particularly the expectation that we and we alone need to be the ones getting it right.
Because the key to serving all staff as effectively and equitably as possible is to provide the space and opportunity for them to help manage their own growth and performance.
Depending on their personality, strengths, and goals, staff will be at different levels in their confidence and capacity to do this, so your role is one of support for each and every one (differently but equitably) to step into the proverbial driving seat of their own career. To become comfortable being honest about what they need from you and taking accountability of when they do not meet expectations. And, importantly though often neglected, to learn to celebrate and share their accomplishments.
When I made the transition from teaching children to teaching adults, I had to learn that my role had changed. Adult learners need agency over their own learning (which children do too but this necessarily looks different). The same is true of your staff. They are adults and professionals. They do not need an overseer checking off boxes to ensure compliance. They need a leader who is going to work with them to help them leverage their strengths to reach their goals all of which they have input on and ownership of.
This approach will provide the best opportunity to support each of your staff as effectively and as equitably as possible. Take the pressure off of yourself to figure it all out on behalf of your staff and work with your staff to provide an environment that is supportive, impactful, and enjoyable.
