I’m going to try to write, on occasion, a short post.  A collaborator once referred to me as a “treatise writer”.  There is a place for treatises, and a place for short thoughts.

One of the things I value most about my departments is that I can feel the respect my colleagues have for me.  Moreover, if I ask for help or advice, they are eager to provide it, and without judgment.  They take me seriously.  They care. They inspire me to be the best version of myself.

What does this mean for my work like?  I feel like I can work and not worry what people think of me, or feel like I have to defend my turf, or shore myself up for criticism.  I can just be.  And I feel delighted and inspired to pay it forward.

There are plenty of other contexts where I have not or do not always feel that, which makes me value the respect and helpfulness of my faculty colleagues toward me even more.

How do you know you’re in a good work environment or relationship?  When you feel that it enables and inspires you to be the best version of yourself.  How do you know it’s bad and time to get out?  When you work out of fear, when you’re always watching your back, when you feel downtrodden instead of elevated.