Assignment 2: Communication Skills
Many people interested in seeing a change
think that simply having the opinion, and voicing it loudly, is all that is
necessary to see the change take place.
This is why real change does not happen as often as it could. I have always worked under the philosophy
that if I go to my principal with a problem, I go to him/her equipped with a
clear description of the issue, the reason it is an issue, and a possible solution
to the problem, ready to present. This
applies here. A solid catalyst of change is someone who can sell the need, someone who can convince
stakeholders, policy makers, influential community members, and a wide variety
of audiences about the need for a specific change and their ideas of how this
change could happen.
“Selling the need” requires an array
of communication and networking skills. First,
they have to be able to build rapport by being open-minded about socio-economic,
professional, and cultural diversity. Before
someone can see the need with equal enthusiasm, the initiator needs to find a
middle-ground to reach their audiences at, an understanding of where they are
coming from. Second, they need to have
within them an understanding of where their support is coming from exactly, and
how they intend to support the cause. If
I wanted to reestablish uniforms at my workplace, for example, I would need
skills networking with business where the uniforms may be coming from. Once those partnerships are developed and the
capability to build rapport is there, “having the opinion and voicing it” may
actually make a difference.
Personally, I feel fortunate to have
had plenty of exposure to many different types of people as a result of being
in a military family, and moving throughout and in and out of the country my
whole life. I already have an open mind
about people from the start, because that is how I was raised. Unfortunately, and ironically, I was also
raised to find solutions and solve problems myself. Since my time as a teacher began, I have been
working on building my networking skills, and have come to the realization that
education simply does not happen like it should without networking skills.
Through my school, my church, my exposures in groups in the community, I
have become extremely comfortable with it, and often wind up being a sort of “go-to”
person if someone wants to find support for their initiatives. Nonetheless, as I tell my own children every
day, we learn something new every day.
