I haven’t yet written about a really powerful conversation I had this past week.
I had the opportunity to chat with one of the leaders of an organization that I care a lot about, and that has helped me to continue to grow as an educator and as a person.
This leader made a reach out that he didn’t have to make. It was a conversation that was likely, from the start, going to end in a situation where neither one of us was completely happy with the result, and often, when those conversations arise, it can be just as easy to walk away from them, knowing that it won’t result in a positive ending for everyone.
But, like great leaders often do, this colleague recognized that continuing to build the relationship was most important, and through what must have been a fairly challenging conversation to lead for him, we talked about the situation at hand, and while I hung up feeling disappointed, I understood the organization’s rationale and thinking.
In order to be the best leaders we can be, we must take the time to continue to build and sustain relationships, even if we know that the conversations we hold won’t be easy ones. But that is what reach outs are all about, right? About continuing to show that regardless of how a given situation turns out, it is the people that are most important, and we must represent that through our words, and our actions.