The Conversations You Chose to Have
A teacher's been refusing to lock their door when the classroom is empty. This is a safety situation in so many ways and has been a directive at your school since you have arrived but not everyone agrees and considers this an inconveinence. You don’t say anything and say you are giving them time to figure it out.
That's not patience — that's the absence of a decision. Wellness advice loves to tell administrators to pick their battles, but nobody tells you how to pick them, so most of us default to whichever feels less exhausting that day. That's not a judgment call. That's avoidance wearing a judgment-call costume.
Here's the actual test: is this a skill gap or a boundary problem? Skill gaps get coaching, time, and a follow-up date on your calendar — that's watching, and it's legitimate. Boundary problems — the ones where someone knows exactly what's expected and is choosing not to do it — don't get better with more watching. They get worse, quietly, while you wait for a moment that feels less awkward than this one.
So put a date on it. Literally. When you decide to watch and wait, write down what you're watching for and when you'll check back — three weeks, not "eventually." If you can't name what you're waiting to see, you're not watching. You're stalling.
Accountability isn't the opposite of grace. Stalling is.
Leading with Logic
