At the end of October, the Rowland Foundation offered their one-day conference at the University of Vermont. It is a tremendous event where students and adults meet to learn from others, be inspired together, and grow our commitment to Vermont education. One of the highlights for me each year is to meet people in person who I follow on Twitter. Twitter (and any social media) is a way to connect with people based on the merit of the idea (Mike Martin). Even in such a small state, there are plenty of people who I follow that I have never met. For the first time this year, I was able to introduce other people who follow each other on Twitter - and it was wonderful. Seeing the look on people's faces as they make the connection between a Twitter handle and the person standing in front of them. It's about relationships.
In my work, I spend a great deal of time being present. I spend a great deal of time listening. I spend a great deal of time caring about the people I work with in Montpelier Public Schools. As part of this, I often learn a great deal about people and their lives. Occasionally, people share things with me that are deeply personal and meaningful to them. There was one such moment this week when I found myself listening to someone share a part of their life that I was unaware of. As it was happening, I found myself humbled that I was being let in to this person's life. Later that day, I got a note from this person saying, "Thanks for having my back." It's all about relationships.
Another moment took place in my office. Someone came to speak to me as a follow-up to a question that I had asked. We ended up speaking for a bit and at the end of the conversation, this person stood up, extended their hand, looked me in the eye and said, "I'm sorry." It's all about relationships.
Finally, all this reminded me of a Twitter conversation I had a couple of weeks ago during #satchat. For those of you new to Twitter, read up from the bottom, that's where the conversation starts.
Technology is a great way to be introduced to people and learn about who they are. Then we need to be present, to listen, to learn and to take care of the people who are around us. We need to do that in person, face to face. The holiday season is almost upon us and what makes (or breaks) this time of year are the people around us. Take good care of those people and be sure they take good care of you.
There will be a new sign on my door this week: It's all about relationships.
The in-person conversations you mentioned in your blog post bring to mind, ironically, what I have learned recently about the choice several companies have made to institute a "no internal emails" day each week, or notably, the Italian textile company, Gabel, which recently experimented with an "internal email free" week. Corresponding by email is so ingrained that this habit has proved difficult to change, but apparently people are rediscovering the meaningfulness of interpersonal relationships with their colleagues AND it is reducing stress caused by overflowing inboxes. Yet, here I am posting a comment on the internet! Perhaps if we try to pause and reflect on whether it might be better to drop in on someone rather than send an email, then we might find that we widen the scope of those with whom we normally converse and, thereby, feel like a more tightly connected community. Like you said, Brian, it's all about relationships; and I will drop by to chat more about this!
ReplyDelete