My personal belief system that I hold to is this: life is about two things – relationships and communication. First, I believe that in order to survive in any sort of experience, you must build relationships with people. Building relationships does not have to convey an intense, lifelong personal relationship that one may have with a family member, good friend or spouse, but does mean that you seek to meet a person where they are and build a sense of trust and respect with them. This belief system follows the old cliché that “people don’t care how much you know, they just want to know how much you care.” This belief has served me well both in the classroom and as the department coordinator. I seek daily to build relationships with students, teachers, administrators, parents, and community stakeholders. I have seen problems reduced and/or eliminated and negative circumstances turned to positive circumstances.

The other portion of my belief system is communication. We all know that communicating with each other is crucial. However, I also believe that the way we communicate is crucial. So often times in our electronic age, we fail to communicate with each other face to face. In this era of texting, social media, and email, it becomes almost unnecessary to speak with another person face to face. I find this to be true not only of our students, but as leaders and staff members in the education system. I make a daily choice to go and personally see each of my special education teachers and the students in their classrooms. I make the effort to speak to people (faculty, staff, students, parents, etc.) when I see them in the hallway and attempt to make eye contact and smile at them. In the long run I believe this has helped others to see me as approachable and willing to listen.

A belief system that I need to eliminate from way of leading is that conflict is something to be avoided. No one likes conflict; however, since taking on the leadership role of department coordinator, I am immersed in daily conflict. It has taken me a while to go away from avoidance to confronting, and I work on that daily. I am learning that conflict can be a tool to help rebuild relationships and transform organizations. When I confront conflict with the understanding that I am in control of me and my responses, and seek to be professional and understanding, often the conflict is a tool that brings about positive outcomes. It is still a daily task for me, but it is becoming something that I no longer fear and avoid.