Here is something I think about.

We co-op managers are sensitive, good-hearted folks who are looking for a new way to live in a world that often seems cruel and heartless.

We feel the pain of the oppressed and we’re determined to make it better in any way we can.

In our own way, we’ve dedicated our lives to not take part in the injustice we see in the world. We feel it in our emotions and are committed to responding to unfairness when it rears its head and to simultaneously keep an open mind to our own blindness.

These are wonderful traits we aspire to and at the same time -let’s be alert.

Because of these traits, there are times when we can get thrown off our pins by some of our staff who try to make it seem like our efforts are not enough and that we are somehow being negligent, exploitive, and failing to meet their expectations of a caring “non-corporate” boss.

This is when we want to be alert. Because these kinds of accusations and critiques can stir up a boatload of confusion and uncertainty so that we end up losing our confidence and true understanding of the actual facts of the situation called into question.

We wobble, pause, question ourselves, and over prioritize trying to find a way to shore up this accused lack to prove we are not one of those managers on the wrong side of the line. 

We end up managing from a place of being demoralized, exhausted, and feeling hassled and beaten up by our circumstance – running a race we can never win.

I’ve seen this dynamic play out with managers in different co-ops all across the country.

And unfortunately, this pressurized situation has us losing sight of some important things we need to see.

We need to see that we are reasonable in the context of a working environment and provide enough for those who wish to learn, grow, and work with others productively to achieve outcomes.

We need to see that we are trying our level-headed best to provide a good working environment. 

We need to see that we all give a lot, all we can.  

We are not deficient. We have a lot to learn and we are committed to getting better as we go.

When staff criticism surfaces, we need to calibrate it to the reality of working in an intense retail environment.

Acknowledge and appreciate what we are doing and not let baseless accusations turn everything upside down so that we now carry the imagined burdens of the co-op on our shoulders.

We need to learn to hold firm in our strength. 

The strength that I see when I look around the country and see managers with a deep desire to do right by staff and their communities.

Everyone I know has paid a price to be in their co-op and stay in them.  

So let’s make sure we take stock of the many ways staff and the co-op are amazing right now. 

When some staff ask for more than what can reasonably be done or accuse us of not doing enough, let’s keep a perspective of what we do and who we are. 

Let’s take stock and stand tall in all that.

Grateful for you,