Author Topic: To Much Possitive Feedback?  (Read 3869 times)

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Caroline Naveen

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To Much Possitive Feedback?
« on: Nov 16, 2013, 11:17 pm »
Hey Everyone,

Just opened my first show yeah! However, ever since the first day of tech everyone has been going on and on about how amazing I'm doing and how professional I am. I love the positive feedback and appreciate their support a ton, but really really don't want my head to swell with it. It's been close to a week now and it's different people every time...but for example the head of the theatre made a special trip over just to watch me at work and to tell me I'm doing an amazing job. I really want an internship at this theatre and am trying to use this wave positive attitudes to see if I could get a paid job there...but has anyone else been in a situation where they feel that they might be receiving to much positive feedback? It's not fake I can tell that much it's just that my main concern is that it's going to get to my head if it continues for to much longer. Thoughts?

~Caroline Naveen -16 Year Old Stage Manager

jbreezy

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Re: To Much Possitive Feedback?
« Reply #1 on: Nov 16, 2013, 11:37 pm »
I am in a similar position as the youngest person at my company. It is like a performance - you have to forget the best/worst parts of a performance after they are done. Don't expect the great things to happen again; but by the same token, don't expect the worst. Prepare for both, but don't expect either. It's about getting out of your own head.
I like to let performances  go as I type the PR. It means I will not let that performance be the standard by which I judge all others.

I think this method applies to your situation. Let the compliments stay in the moments in which they are received. Yes, it is good that you are doing enough good work for it to be acknowledged. But if you consistently do a good job (which you should!), it will become expected of you. It may be surprising to many of your coworkers now because of your young age. But once they grow accustomed to your level of work, you will be expected to improve.

 I believe any praise you are currently receiving should be taken as such: "You are doing a great job of being consistent with you work, and I see you improving steadily. Keep up both the good work and the improvement!"

Remember, no matter where you are or what you are doing, you never stop learning. So learn from your triumphs as well as your mistakes. And believe me, mistakes will come.
The moment you decide to stop learning is the moment you become bad at your job.

aherold

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Re: To Much Possitive Feedback?
« Reply #2 on: Feb 03, 2014, 10:06 pm »
I totally understand this- I hopped on the stage management track sophomore year (currently a senior ahhh!) and ever since I've had a lot of opportunities and therefore a lot of compliments. I always want to swallow my tongue when people compliment me, because I'm not doing this for the recognition but because I genuinely love this job. Just take the compliment in stride and like what jbreezy said, know that it's complimenting the work you're doing now but you always have room to grow and learn. Best wishes to you!

Mac Calder

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Re: To Much Possitive Feedback?
« Reply #3 on: Feb 04, 2014, 06:52 am »
I am experiencing something like you at the moment. I am an Operations Manager in our 3rd largest venue - which in 2 years will be our 2nd largest venue. I am 28 years old, so I am also the youngest operations manager the company has. I've worked hard to get to where I have - I have had a fairly good mentor, but I still have a long way to go to becoming the manager I want to be. (I cannot believe I just said that...) I am also our states senior most vision technician, equal first most senior lighting technician and probably rate in the top 10 across the country. I am one of those annoying overachievers who until recently had no concept of work/life balance - although I am learning to enjoy life now....

These last 2 months, both our venue and the largest venue we are contracted to released the tender documents as our contract is nearly expired. Both of these venues are owned by the same company and are currently working hard to merge the two into a single entity.

So I was pulled into the tender process primarily because they recognised I would be the best technician on the floor to operate the tender presentation and because I knew both venues really well, as the contract is worth approximately $30m over the next 5 years the team putting together the tender included our CEO, CFO and every other senior manager they could find across the country. The venue threw a number of curveballs at late notice in the process so we were all doing 16hr days of tele&video conferences 7 days a week. So there I am, the next youngest and least experienced in the room is 38 and he has gone through this process twice before, and I am holding my own in these meetings, debating my points and winning on a number of them - not just sticking to the bits they bought me in for, but interjecting where I saw issues with their approach to making a point, I end up coming up with the concept for our presentation of the pitch and operating multimedia for it and it was a resounding success.

Throughout the entire process I kept getting compliments thrown at me - I find it really hard to cope with to be honest, I don't take compliments well - but to me the thing was that I recognised that what they were really complimenting me for was that I rose above their expectations - many of which were set too low because of their assumptions based on my age and experience with presenting tenders (which is to say, I had none). I love the fact that they recognise I put a lot of effort in - but I also temper that with knowing that I did well for my age and experience - as my experience and age increase, so will the expectations for my performance. Basically the compliment = "You did better than I expected" - the overachiever in me tends to believe I don't deserve the compliment, because it just means that whoever gave it had set the bar too low.

SO yeah - you are doing well, be proud of that, but never ever let that stop you from looking for the next challenge, for aiming to meet that next goal and for continually seeking avenues to improve yourself. And when you do start to get a big head - remember that no one is irreplaceable. I had a really skilled employee tell me the other day that if he didn't get what he wanted he would resign and we would be screwed without him. When he didn't get what he wanted, he handed in his 4 weeks notice and so many people panicked, thinking we were up the creek without a paddle. I won't lie - it did hurt a little bit - I worked about 45-60 hours a week for 3 weekson the floor getting things done as we trained his successor. 2 months later it was like this employee never existed - there was no hole that needed filling, we experienced no drop in customer satisfaction and we had no decrease in revenue.

hbelden

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Re: To Much Possitive Feedback?
« Reply #4 on: Feb 06, 2014, 01:14 pm »
Live theater is a tightrope act.  Like airport traffic controllers, 90% percent of our job is routine, but what we really get paid for is the *other* 10% of the time.  So it's great that things are going along swimmingly, and I relish those shows when they come along, but my mantra during them is "Be ready for the hairpin turn to hell."  When things get bad, I feel that it's my response within those situations that really makes my reputation.  When I get it right, those are the moments I'm most proud of in my career.  When I get it wrong, learning why is what lifts me to the next level of my profession, and accepting responsibility for my failings deepens my trustworthiness with the company. 

I guess what I'm trying to say is, when things are going smoothly and you're getting compliments for that, bank those compliments up for the confidence you're going to need when you're neck deep and sinking.  If people are complimenting you, that means you're creating space for experimentation and no single failure will be a catastrophe. 

Try to keep looking ahead for the next hurdle, and do what you can ahead of time to lower that hurdle.  As stage manager, you want the entire process, from first meetings to closing night, to be a satisfactory and rewarding experience for all your colleagues, and you are uniquely situated to make that possible.

Finally, accept that the tools that you bring to the table, even though they're easy for you (for whatever reason) are rare, in-demand qualities in the general population.  Don't confuse effort with productivity; accept the compliments as a benchmark of productivity without feeling guilty that you haven't (yet) "worked" hard enough.

Sorry about the rambling, hope this helps.
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Heath Belden

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