Relationships, Relationships, Relationships

In real estate the phrase is “location, location, location.” I believe in education the phrase is “relationships, relationships, relationships.” As a person in a leadership position within a school district or other organization, it is imperative that you create and continually nurture the relationship that you have with colleagues, members of your community and others.  I’d like you think about a number of actions that you can take to build positive relationships.

Barbara Bray wrote an article entitled “12 Ways to Build Positive Relationships”. Following are examples of actions that Bray suggests you employ to build positive relationships:

• Build Trust – Trust is the foundation of every good relationship. If you build trust, you can be open and honest with your thoughts and actions.
• Develop Mutual Respect – When you respect people, you value their input and ideas, and they value yours.
• Be Mindful – Mindfulness means taking responsibility for our words and actins. Those who are mindful are careful and attend to what they say, they don’t let their own negative emotions impact the people around them.
• Welcome Diversity – People with good relationships not only accept diverse people and opinions, but they welcome them.
• Schedule Time for Relationship Building – Devote a portion of your day toward relationship building.
• Appreciate Others – Show your appreciation whenever someone helps you. Everyone wants to feel that their work is appreciated.
• Be Positive – Positivity is attractive and contagious, and it will help strengthen your relationships. When you have good relationships, you can also reach out to others when you are having a bad day.
• Practice Active Listening – People respond to those who truly listen to what they have to say. Focus on listening more than you talk, and you’ll quickly become known as someone who can be trusted.

By practicing these actions, you can build and nurture positive relationships.

I look forward to seeing you at the 2019 MASA Fall Conference in Duluth. The conference will run Sunday evening, October 6^th to Tuesday noon, October 8^th. The MASA Foundation Golf Event will be held on Sunday, October 6^th starting at noon. Registration materials are available at www.mnasa.org.

I hope each of you has a rewarding and successful 2019-2020 school year! Please ALWAYS remember that all of us at MASA are here to support and assist you! We are your professional organization and strive to meet and exceed your professional learning needs. Please contact us if we can be of service to you!

Thanks for all that you do!

Gary A.