Negative, Sarcastic and Rude in Public = Same in Private

In my coaching role, I present to groups of all sizes, all across the country. From one-on-one sessions, to large conference halls with as many as 1,500 educators. On the whole, at least 95% of the audience that I present to is attentive, professional and enthusiastically participates in the planned activities and discussions. 3% of the audience is distracted, usually by a text, e-mail, or phone call. 1% of the audience will try to sneak in something else to work on, which quickly gets put away. But it is the last 1% that I want to address. The last 1% is made up of negative, sarcastic, and rude braying mules.

I’m not whining about the fact that sometimes there are mean people in the audience. Personally, I find the public displays of ignorance somewhat humorous. But, whenever I get the chance, I’ll do some follow up. At first, I would just ask an administrator about the person. I would usually get the following answer, “Well Mr. Jones can be difficult, but he is a great teacher and gets good results.”

Invariably, I would except the answer and just chalk it up to the person having a bad day or my presentation style.

But over the past year, I have changed my tactic, now I make it a point to try to get by the person’s school (if an administrator) or classroom (if a teacher). And here’s what I have found. If you are an obnoxious jerk in front of an audience, you are even worse when you think people are not watching. And the supposed good results are either due to the lack of objective performance data or fear and intimidation.

If someone has a rare bad day, forgive him or her and move on. But if you have someone who can’t get along with adults and treats kids like livestock, save your students and your staff and get that person off your campus, ASAP.

Think. Work. Achieve.

Your turn...

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