Standards for Option Institute Staff

So. The next part of my life has truly begun. I do Son-Rise Child Facilitator training for about 20 hours a week, and then for the other 20 I earn my keep by being, officially: the Administrative Assistant to the Director of Administrative Services and Son-Rise Program, or unofficially: Dane's assistant. Dane is very cool. The other 3 trainees are very cool. Our teachers are very very cool. I get free lunches, always with a vegetarian option, like stuffed zuchinni or brocolli cheese lasagna. Of course, I have to walk partway up a mountain to get it. Actually, except for one chunk, its a pretty mild grade of hill. I'm slightly nervous because no trainee class has every graduated with all its original members. But I hear that mostly people get asked to leave because they aren't dedicated to change. I'm afraid, but dedicated and willing.
The Option Institute itself is a really different kind of place to work. Here's the "Standards for Option Institute Staff" they give everyone at their orientations:

• Support the Option Institute- in words and actions.
• Respect and lovingly serve our guests and staff.
• Deliver excellence... with accountability.
• Be honest.
• Receive feedback openly and act on it.
• Demonstrate energy and enthusiasm.
• Bring comments, questions, and concerns directly to your supervisor first.

And here's what those standards mean, as explained to us and as I've either experienced or heard the stories of other's experiences:

• When in public or around program participants on campus, don't say things that can be construed as negative about the Institute.
• Seriously, lovingly. Like, with hugs and greetings all the time and always smiling and saying hello when you pass people or they pass you. Because you mean it, not because you have been told you should.
  
• There are no excuses at Option. You did it right, or you did it wrong, or you didn't do it. Whatever the reason is, it's still your responsibility, and you will be asked how you plan to not mess up in the future. Sometimes your reply has to be in written form.
• They don't mean "don't be dishonest," they really do mean "be honest." Like, say what you are thinking and feeling at the time that you are thinking and feeling it. And act on that.
• People will critique you. In training, its their job. In work, its their responsibility. People have been fired for being defensive about being critiqued. And these people tell you what they think too. And some of them are not very gentle. Not that anyone would ever say "you are a bad person," 'cause no one there believes that. But they have no problem saying "you did a really bad job."
• Energy. Enthusiasm. No matter how late your night was or how bad your headache is or how much work you have to do. And no fake enthusiasm either, they want the real thing. And they ask you why you aren't enthusiastic if you aren't. And make you answer. And then talk about it.
  
• Yeah, taking concerns to your supervisor makes sense. But the hidden part is, if you have a concern you don't take to your supervisor, and someone finds out its a concern that your supervisor doesn't know about, you get asked why. And made to answer. And then talk about. They are big on that.

So: awesome, its a really open, honest place. And yikes, its a really open, honest place. Ain't no hiding from anyone, especially yourself, at the Option Institute. I expect (and so do they) that I will change a lot, rather quickly, and definitely for the better.