When my boss asked me to talk with her for a moment in her office, I wasn’t too worried, though I was a little curious.
I work as a tennis instructor for 10-and-under kids. I thought my boss would ask me to make an adjustment to my schedule or tell me something about one of the kids that would help me coach them better.
Instead, she told me that she had gotten an email from a parent about me. A slightly unpleasant one.
The parent had complained that I was too hard on the kids. They were there to have fun, not to be constantly critiqued.
This parent was mad at me, a tennis coach, for coaching the kids I was paid to teach.
Was that sentence a little confusing? So was the complaint.
My boss told me she was totally on my side. She’d informed the parent that she had no issues with my method and that the kids were improving much faster than if it was just my boss. She then suggested I try to be extra encouraging and bubbly during the class that parent usually watched. Though I’ve been known to be both of those things, it’s not exactly my default mood.
So what can be learned from this? Well, a couple things.
No matter what you do or how well you do it, someone will always be unhappy
Even if you’re doing something that works and has been proven to work, someone will always have a different perspective and opinion.
I’m no award-winning coach or tennis player, but I’ve seen more than a few kids improve drastically under my instruction. I didn’t get offered a job because I was a poor teacher.
Choose who you take advice from carefully
Not everyone who has a different opinion than you is wrong, but sometimes their opinion is wrong for you.
This parent valued their child being built up and encouraged no matter what, even if that meant they never got better. I value pushing for improvement and encouraging or praising them when I think they deserve or need it, even if that means risking hurting a few feelings every once in a while.
It’s important to listen to the customer, but it’s equally as important to stick with your gut and listen to those who know the situation just as well or better than you do. Don’t take criticism to heart.
Take every situation, even the negative ones, and try to learn something from it.