<div dir="ltr"><div>Nick,</div><div><span style="white-space:pre"> </span>I appreciate the candid manner in which you responded to the prompt, and I, too, struggle with empathizing with those around me. For example, this year I had a student in my class who had previously failed the course. Instead of getting to know him, I began to make assumptions based on his previous performance. Likewise, my tendency to be introverted leads me to avoid interacting with people with whom I should be empathizing, which is a quality that will not serve me well as a principal. Building effective relationships with direct reports, administrative colleagues, students, and community members is an integral aspect of an effective principalship. In fact, the most desired form of power--referent power--is founded on the idea of getting along and building relationships with others. Empathy is key, and when we show it to others, we will certainly reap the benefits.</div><div><br></div><div>To help increase my empathy toward others, I have to remind myself on a daily basis that other individuals I encounter likely are facing or have faced greater hardships or obstacles than I am facing or have faced. Continually, the words “give them the benefit of the doubt” resonate within me. Not only is that mindset characteristic of authentic leadership, as you noted, but it is also a principle of servant leadership, which can lead to healing and a fostered sense of trust. In the situation with the student I previously mentioned, when I opened my mind and gave him the opportunity to share his story, his burdens, and his struggles, I was able to put myself in his shoes and build a relationship with him that enabled me to meet his needs and let him know I cared. Ultimately, as principals, we must strive to build up our school communities, and as you mentioned, building empathy is a great place to begin. </div><div><br></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Jun 20, 2018 at 8:31 PM, Nicholas Turon <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:nicholas.turon@gmail.com" target="_blank">nicholas.turon@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><b style="font-weight:normal" id="gmail-m_4350379333182155958gmail-docs-internal-guid-684326a0-1fc0-818d-892a-f573b2750768"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">I believe the relations-orientation may provide the most barriers to me, personally, as an administrator. I think I will set and accomplish goals just fine. I believe I can rally people around a cause, paint a crystal clear vision of a brighter future, and maintain momentum towards change. However, I sometimes have the hardest time getting along with certain people.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">On a surface level, I can get along with almost anyone. However, I have found that in the back of my head I can be incredibly judgemental, especially toward incompetence. I like to think I have gotten better at holding back assumptions, but it is still something with which I struggle.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">The phrase “presume the positive” has helped me quite a bit since starting teaching. When I have one-on-one meetings I am quite good at keeping my judgements at bay. However, I have much to work on when I don’t have time to mentally prepare. When students surprise me with “I’m not going to the concert tonight” it is difficult for me to not fire back “than you will fail” before hearing or even asking for the why.</span></p><br><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt"><span style="font-size:11pt;font-family:Arial;color:rgb(0,0,0);background-color:transparent;font-weight:400;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap">This is very important for me to work on as I want to be as authentic as possible. And it is difficult to maintain and grow an authentic positive working relationship when I actively believe a untrained monkey could do their job better. This issue has led to many internal struggles and a long reading list and is what I believe will be my biggest struggle in balancing the three orientations.</span></p></b><span class="gmail-HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><br class="gmail-m_4350379333182155958gmail-Apple-interchange-newline"><br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr" class="gmail-m_4350379333182155958gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Tahoma"><font face="Helvetica" size="2"><span style="font-size:16px"><font face="Arial" size="4" color="navy"><b>Nicholas Turon</b></font><font face="Arial" size="2" color="navy"><br>Director of Bands<br></font></span></font></div><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Tahoma"><font face="Helvetica" size="2"><span style="font-size:16px"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="navy">Paint Valley Local Schools</font></span></font></div><div><font color="#000080" face="Arial" size="2"><a href="mailto:nicholas.turon@gmail.com" target="_blank">nicholas.turon@gmail.com</a></font></div><div style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:Tahoma"><font face="Helvetica" size="2"><span style="font-size:16px"><font face="Arial" size="2" color="navy"><span title="Call with Google Voice"><span title="Call with Google Voice"><span id="gmail-m_4350379333182155958gc-number-239" class="gmail-m_4350379333182155958gc-cs-link" title="Call with Google Voice">(740)-816-8266</span></span></span></font></span></font></div></div></div></div></div></div></font></span></div>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font color="#000000">T<font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">hank you,</font></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000"><br></font></div><b style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">Jessica Orr</font></b><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">English Teacher</font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">Department Coordinator</font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">Chillicothe High School</font></div></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">Phone: (740) 702-2287, ext. 16231</font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">"You don't write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say."</font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><font color="#000000"> --F. Scott Fitzgerald</font><br style="color:rgb(51,51,51)"></font></div></div></div>
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<br></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font color="#000000">T<font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">hank you,</font></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000"><br></font></div><b style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">Jessica Orr</font></b><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">English Teacher</font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">Department Coordinator</font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><div><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">Chillicothe High School</font></div></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">Phone: (740) 702-2287, ext. 16231</font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000"><br></font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#000000">"You don't write because you want to say something, you write because you have something to say."</font></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><font face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"><font color="#000000"> --F. Scott Fitzgerald</font><br style="color:rgb(51,51,51)"></font></div></div></div>
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