If everyone just does what I tell them to do then no one will get hurt...

I have a certain amount of responsibility at work and I accept that. I kind of like it, actually. But I get incredibly frustrated when those people I supervise just do the bare minimum to get by. Normally, I would tell you that I have a bunch of dedicated case managers and I do! But every once in a while, I find one or two that are just slipping by in their work and that angers me.

In working with the mental health community, I work with people learning to deal with how to live with a serious and persistent mental illness and that alters their lives in many ways. These are not people who can afford top end mental health care because, for the most part, they are all disabled, living on only Social Security benefits and struggling day to day. They struggle not only with their mental health symptoms but with simply getting their basic needs met. So it makes me upset when I come across a case manager who doesn't get that and who wants to put demands on these folks that they may not be able to live up to. While I do think having high expectations is good, demands are not. First of all, it's not about what we want for our people - it's all about what they want for themselves. And our job is to teach them the skills they need to achieve those goals, whatever they may be. I get really pissed when I hear a case manager say "I told him to do this and this and this and this and he just doesn't listen!" My first question to them is "Are YOU really listening to him?" Because overall they are not. Unreasonable demands are usually made to make the case manager's life easier and that's just not how I roll.

Today I have to have a talk with one of my workers. She's not cutting it and this is the part of my job I dislike. I know that most of the time people are really trying to do their best but when I see someone who is slacking I have to stop it and get them to step it up. The clients we see deserve more than shoddy care and I have to make sure everyone understands that. This agency is the one place most of these folks have where they are guaranteed to be treated as human beings with unconditional positive regard. Out there, in the world, they are avoided, called names, given funny looks or taunted. The stigma of mental illness is overwhelming! No one wants to be "crazy" and to be seen as that on a daily basis must be incredibly heart breaking. So I won't have it inside these agency walls. Least of all from the very people our clients need to be able to trust.

So, that's my day. Giving a colleague what for. Not a great way to start the day but, in this case, entirely necessary.