Week 5 Conflict

This is a very new and ongoing conflict. On Tuesday morning I had an immediate family member pass away. When I found out, I knew that I would not be able to take off work without really putting up a fight. It happened to another colleague of my mine a few weeks ago.

On Wednesday morning I went to my director and she totally understood that I needed to leave for Florida on Thursday morning. I needed to be there for my parents and sister. She told me she would work it out and that I could go home and that she wishes I would have called her, but understood my concern about our head boss! He come around once every two months to just check in on the place and this was the few days he was here. If he was not around, I feel like I would not have to worry as much. That afternoon I was headed to NYC to  wait on the next available flight or wait for my flight when I got the call from my boss saying he did not understand why it had to be so urgent if family was there and it was not a parent. I was shocked and hurt that he said that. I took a deep breath and said, "Where I am going is where i need to be. You take the actions you need to take. I will be back Monday, but I will keep in touch" I was really hurt by how he handles things like this. He does know what the situation was and that I would not just get up and leave if it was not necessary and that i am a professional. However, my family comes first. To conclude the story, he called me this weekend and said that he was sorry for how he handled the situation. I was calm and over how he treated me. He said that how he treated me was unacceptable and needs to work on the fact that things happen where there are emergencies. He said he is a business man with a hot head. He offered his help and that to keep in touch about when I was to come back that Jess our director will take it from here.

I love working there but working for a private owner is hard. He has never owned a center and is a straight up business man. Throughout the year or so that I have been involved in his organization, there have been times we had to bring him to the understanding of that running a child care center may need to be different compared to how he has handled other transactions.

So now that things have settled down this week, and before I go home to deal with homework and school again, I am struggling dealing with going back. I am still slightly hurt more bruised, actually. I think about the 3S skills: See, listen and speak from the third side. I already have that mind set and really do use this method in most walks of life. However when it really cuts deep in my personal life, I dont know how to move on. Is this conflict over? Especially if I stil feel hurt? He did apologize and I know he was sincere. I see why he gets upset and what brings it on and where it comes from. I know what he is going to say monday. Maybe when my emotions go back to normal, I will be able to move on. I love where I work! We have a great program and great kids. I love that our program is growing and we have new centers opening. I love that my boss and director support me and my education to be able to grow within the company, however, in times like this really bring me down.

I think the best way to look at it through what i have read this week, is to resolve conflict. If i feel like it hasnt been resolved, resolve it!!! I am going to go into a meeting with my boss with clear thoughts and use the 3S skills.