25
Aug
2013

Week 4 – The Importance of Trust #SAVMP

categories: Weekly Updates

“Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It’s the foundational principle that holds all relationships.”
― Stephen R. Covey

“The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them.”
― Ernest Hemingway

Trust is the single most important thing that you can build as a teacher or administrator, and it is imperative that we look at how we develop trusting relationships within our organizations before we look to move forward.  I am a big fan of Stephen Covey’s work and he talks about the importance of “character and credibility”.  We will look at the notion of “credibility” later, but basically if you do not have the “character” that people trust, then it does not matter how smart or knowledgeable your staff finds you.  You will lose them.

So based on those notions, here are a few ideas of things that you can blog about for this week (always optional):

  1. How do you work to build trust starting in a new place?
  2. When you lose trust, what do you do to try to regain what you do?
  3. In a world with social media so evident, how do you use that technology to create a transparent culture within your community?

Hope you are having a great week!  Most Canadian educators will be back within a week if they are not already so mostly everyone in the program will be in full swing at school.

2 Comments on Week 4 – The Importance of Trust #SAVMP

  1. raine adams
    August 25, 2013 at 11:54 pm (11 years ago)

    How do you work to build trust starting in a new place?

    This question (among many others) has been on my mind a lot lately…. I am moving into a new school tomorrow. Actually I moved into my office mid July, but tomorrow is when “work” really starts. I’m replacing a principal who opened the school 7 years ago. Many of the original staff are still there and it is clear to me that a deep trust and respect was developed with the principal…. so I have my work cut out for me and some big shoes to fill!

    My entry plan involves a lot of walking around, a lot of asking focused questions, listening to what people want to share with me, watching and learning about the culture that exists in the building. I don’t plan on making any big changes for a while….. at least not until I understand the people and the climate that I’m now working with.

    I often use Covey’s habits to help guide my way…. I’ll be focusing on “seeking first to understand” and “synergizing” to combine the strengths of all of us. On my new desk I have a poster of the “7 Grandfather Teachings”…… to remind me to model and promote a positive and inclusive teaching/learning environment.
    (link:http://pc4lnewsletter.pbworks.com/f/NTIP%20article%20on%207%20Grandfather%20Teachings.pdf)

    Will this help me to build trust in my new work place? I guess only time will tell.

    Reply

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