I had a moment of enlightenment last Friday evening.
I was at class and feeling restless. Firstly, it had been an extremely long day at work. Secondly, it WAS a Friday evening. Thirdly and most importantly, my lecturer was droning about mean, median, mode and asking us to compute the mean for the sample of scores shown in the frequency distribution table he had drawn up on the board.
He might as well have been speaking Greek as far as I was concerned. Looking at the clock, it was barely 8pm...... could I last till 10pm in my exhausted state? It also didn't help that my buddy sitting next to me was equally fidgety. We contemplated leaving the class during break for we knew our attention span was maxed out that evening. We rehearsed several plausible excuses and how to say them convincingly without violating the rules or offending our lecturer.
During break, I approached him about my research paper topic and asked for his opinions. I then sheepishly asked if we (my course mate & I) could leave earlier? Before I could say anything further, Dr Woo smiled his usual benevolent smile and said "Sure, go ahead. If you need to go, it's OK with me."
Huh, really? I was stumped as all the excuses died in my throat. He was so understanding and magnanimous that I almost regretted my decision to cut his class. I was tempted to stay on. Although he is as typical a lecturer as you could find..... a distinguished gentleman in his 60s who is unfortunately not very animated during lectures, he has taught me a lesson in management style that night.
I learned that we do not always have to probe for reasons and justifications in people's decisions or actions. I learned that a quiet steadfastness sometimes works better that a full-on power struggle when managing people. I learned that Dr Woo's magnanimity has hit me with a stronger impact than if he had insisted on a reason for us leaving his class. I also learned that I have resolved to pay even greater attention henceforth!
This would be the first and last time I cut his class.
I was at class and feeling restless. Firstly, it had been an extremely long day at work. Secondly, it WAS a Friday evening. Thirdly and most importantly, my lecturer was droning about mean, median, mode and asking us to compute the mean for the sample of scores shown in the frequency distribution table he had drawn up on the board.
He might as well have been speaking Greek as far as I was concerned. Looking at the clock, it was barely 8pm...... could I last till 10pm in my exhausted state? It also didn't help that my buddy sitting next to me was equally fidgety. We contemplated leaving the class during break for we knew our attention span was maxed out that evening. We rehearsed several plausible excuses and how to say them convincingly without violating the rules or offending our lecturer.
During break, I approached him about my research paper topic and asked for his opinions. I then sheepishly asked if we (my course mate & I) could leave earlier? Before I could say anything further, Dr Woo smiled his usual benevolent smile and said "Sure, go ahead. If you need to go, it's OK with me."
Huh, really? I was stumped as all the excuses died in my throat. He was so understanding and magnanimous that I almost regretted my decision to cut his class. I was tempted to stay on. Although he is as typical a lecturer as you could find..... a distinguished gentleman in his 60s who is unfortunately not very animated during lectures, he has taught me a lesson in management style that night.
I learned that we do not always have to probe for reasons and justifications in people's decisions or actions. I learned that a quiet steadfastness sometimes works better that a full-on power struggle when managing people. I learned that Dr Woo's magnanimity has hit me with a stronger impact than if he had insisted on a reason for us leaving his class. I also learned that I have resolved to pay even greater attention henceforth!
This would be the first and last time I cut his class.
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1 comment:
Naughty student huh u sister??? Kekeke... 加油, 加油, 加加油!
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