Quote-A-Day: Day 155

#Denial serves no purpose, other than to move us further from where we want to be. #QuoteADay #Day155 #edchat #edu #OwnUp

Denial is a funny thing.  Sometimes, due to embarrassment, or simply because our defense reflex takes over, we get in a habit of denying things.  Denial serves no purpose (other than to complicate matters further) and when it comes down to it, nobody benefits from a denial made.

Why do we deny things?  Often because we feel that people will change their opinions of us if we admit to mistakes or to something we did that didn’t seem problematic at the time, but in reality, becomes an issue later on.  It is extremely rare, at least as adults, that we deny things as a way to get away with them.  When most leaders and learners make a denial, it is more from surprise, then a purposeful choice.

Regardless of whether we’ve made a mistake or we’ve done something that became problematic later on, there is no reason to take a denial stance.  In fact, by representing what we have done, we’re better prepared to help solve any problems that arise.  In addition, we tend to stop any future problems in their tracks.  It’s hard to dig a deeper hole for yourself once you’ve removed the shovel.

As leaders and learners, we have to avoid denying because we’re embarrassed or worried.  We tend to garner more respect when we own up to a mistake, or explain our rationale for originally taking certain steps.  While we’ve all been deniers at some point in time, we should make a resolution to ourselves to stop being deniers today.