Prepared: Preparation Can Mean the Difference Between Winning and Losing
Guest Blogger: Courtney Montague
Favorite Quote: "Relationships help us to define who we are and what we can become. Most of us can trace our successes to pivotal relationships." - Donald O. Clifton and Paula Nelson
As I was sitting down reading this chapter before Spring Break I must admit it was bittersweet for me. The entire chapter was on building relationships and how important those relationships are to your own personal success and your success as a team. How sad it is going to be next year when we are all placed in different locations creating new shared experiences, developing trust in our new colleagues, and earning their respect. As a team we have experienced so much together from changes in administration to deaths in our families to the hilarious things our students do on a daily basis. All of these experiences have helped form a cohesive team that, judging by our most recent MAP scores, have increased student performance beyond what we even imagined.
Maxwell talks about 5 characteristics that should be present in a team and I am going to take a minute and reflect on the one that hit home the most with me. The 5th characteristic is Mutual Enjoyment. If you know me then you could probably guess that was my favorite. As a school employee we all experience hard days and I think the best way to overcome those days is through our mutual enjoyment of being together. In the last 28 days I believe this needs to be the focus of our Kellett team. We have put in the time to earn each others respect, and trust, we have shared many wonderful and trying experiences together and now it is time to enjoy the time we have left. There is nothing like a good laugh to get us through the final days of school. I wish everyone the best of luck as we are earning respect, trust and forming relationships with new colleagues in the future. This has been a great team to be a part of!
5 Characteristics of a good relational team member
1. Respect- Show it to others regardless of whether they have earned it but at the same time fight to earn others respect.
2. Shared Experiences- You can't be relational with someone you don't know.
3. Trust- It is the foundation of good leadership and is also the foundation of a good relationship.
4. Reciprocity- One-sided personal relationships don't last.
5. Mutual Enjoyment- When relationships grow and start to get solid, the people involved begin to enjoy each other.
Courtney, thank you so much for your insight regarding our last 28 days together here, focusing on the enjoyment of being together. With that statement, I would include children and parents as well. We can all be proud of what we have accomplished together AND look forward to the future. When the doors finally close June 3, all us us can look back and remember fondly our time together. That doesn't mean we won't have any more of those hard conversations with each other as colleagues, parents, or students. It just means that they will be based on the mutual respect and trust built from our times of enjoyment together as members of a school family.
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