Sort of Relief

Not everything is resolved, but at least I feel a bit better about things.

Yesterday, I went to see the VP. I didn't go because I thought she could do something that the principal wouldn't, but I just thought it might help to hear from another perspective (I did get his permission before talking to her). I laid out the situation for her (yay! I can talk to someone about it and have them understand the personalities involved) and asked for her interpretation and advice in moving forward. When I did this exact same thing for the principal, all I got was very neutral language and nothing that felt like support.

What the VP did was not anything all that special. She heard my concerns, repeated key points back to me, gave her impression of the situation, and suggested a few things I could do to improve my position in the future. She then reassured me that I was doing a good job, that she valued my contributions, and that I did not have any fundamental personality flaws (how sad is that? I SHOULD have enough self-worth to know that without being told!). She said "You have high standards for yourself and your team, and I expect nothing less from you." In my head I was doing a little dance.

She also assured me that the principal feels the same way about me, but just cannot express himself worth beans. Like I said, not exactly rocket science, but it made the proverbial world of difference to me. Why the difference in approach between her and the Principal? Is it a woman thing? Is it because she is closer to my age? More recently in the classroom? Who knows?

Okay, so at this point I was feeling MUCH better about life. Sure, not everything was resolved, but at least I felt like I could cope with the situation. Little did I know that there was more to come.

The next part was where the VP told me that the problems with Lazy Man and Evil Woman are both known issues. She feels that there is not so much you can do about Lazy Man, but that Evil Woman is the one doing the real harm to our team. She (the VP) has been trying to get Evil Woman removed as leader for some time. Given this fresh set of problems, she is doing everything she can to have Evil Woman relieved of all leadership positions. Of course, the principal has the final say, but given this latest situation, she feels confident that she will finally get her way. Halleluiah! I absolutely will not smirk when the news comes down.