Rewrite Your Story
Sometimes it’s up to you to rewrite the story. For me, I hope to rewrite the story of a building at Georgia Tech that caused me great stress as a student.
This week marks start of the spring semester and the first time since I passed my last physics exam over 25 years ago as an undergrad that I walked into Howie (formerly known as Howie Physics building). I love almost everything at Tech, but that was one of the few places I hoped I would never have revisit (because Physics and I don’t have a great history). This semester, however, the lecture for my class has been moved into Howie, so in I went.
I’ll be honest, I probably had more feelings than I should as I walked up the stairs into that building before the first lecture of the semester and then, to add insult to injury, the doors I chose to use to enter the building were locked and for a moment, I couldn’t believe that the building was mocking me…I couldn’t even get inside!
Luckily some gracious students noticed that there was a faculty member in distress and they came to let me in. They also informed me that those particular doors are “always locked.”
I then proceeded to walk the halls, attempting to find my lecture room, and when I walked in, it was almost exactly as I remembered it (although nicely remodeled)…and the view from the front is not that different than the view I remember from the back. I certainly had all the feels as I completed that first lecture.
The experience made me think about how our perception really does shape our reality. Leaders don’t determine what experiences their employees come with, but we, as leaders are obligated have the power to create experiences that can shape reality.
Sure, not everyone in my class is going to have a great experience. I know my class is required (and therefore not necessarily the top of everyone’s list based on what they want to do after graduation) but throughout this semester, I am committing myself to working towards creating positive experiences for my students, and in the process, rewriting my own history with that building. That’s the other cool thing about being the leader, we don’t only get to shape the experiences of our employees, but we have the power to shape our own experiences as well.