September 24, 2024
Words of Wisdom
When asked to write this week’s Tuesday Letter article, I struggled with choosing a topic to focus on. So, after much consideration, I figured since it’s almost October, performance reviews would be rather appropriate.
I think extension professionals are known to be their toughest critics. We hold ourselves to extremely high standards and scrutinize our programs, always thinking we could have or should have done more.
We should have offered a program in another school.
We should have held one more producer meeting in the off season.
We should collaborate with more community partners.
We should have found the time to write one more grant.
I’m just a few months into my new role as Western Region Director, and I’ve leaned heavily on my previous experiences to help guide me. So, I will share with you two sets of “wise words” given to me by colleagues over the years.
The first is: “Don’t should yourself.”
There will always be opportunities to do more. More programming. More reporting. More partnerships. You get the idea. But there is only so much time in a day. Not to mention that extension work is all about the people and building relationships. And that takes time and intentional effort. And sometimes those results take a long time to see.
The second piece of advice that I think really pertains to performance review season is this: “When you know better, you do better.”
In a conversation with a local unit director the other day, I found myself referring to this concept. This is applicable to all parts of life, but boy does it resonate loud and clear this time of year.
Maybe you discovered a policy that your program was not in compliance with. Or perhaps you’ve not captured the correct demographics of your audience to input into PEARS. Our extension system has so many layers and moving parts with a very steep learning curve. And while it’s a steeper curve for new folks, things are always evolving, so even us “seasoned” professionals have a lot to learn.
“When you know better, you do better.” Keep that in mind this performance review season and I think you’ll be able to appreciate the process more. Extension values lifelong learners. Let’s take this time of year to be exactly that: Professionals who are committed to learning ways to create impact in their local communities, and open-minded enough to receive feedback to do so.
Before I close, I need to give credit to sources of those wise words. I need to thank my colleagues, the late Rod Buchele and Beth Hinshaw for sharing these sentiments with me years ago.
Both of them would probably say that they heard it from somewhere else…but extension has a way of putting people in your path that make you better professionals, and I’ll gladly give them the credit!