I knew a lot about self-determination before I entered the program, but there is a huge difference between knowing from afar and living in the program. It has been a learning experience for me, at times very humbling. I may still oversee my program, but I still benefit from the advice people give me, the power of listening. Listening occurs when there are high levels of trust and open communication among the team members. I am not sure why I did it but from the start of my involvement in self-determination, I have placed building trust and open communication the highest priority.
Let me say a few words about building trust and open communication. Neither is an entitlement because it must be earned and built. When I was young, I just gave people my trust, especially people in authority. Life experience has taught me to be more guarded in whom I give my trust to.
Trust begins with respect. Do I feel safe with the individual? Do they have my best interest at heart? Are they being open and candid with me, or do they have a hidden agenda that they are operating under? Anybody can be friendly at first, but it takes time to see if they are being genuine.
Do they value what I have to say? I am not sure if you feel this way, but it takes courage for me to be open and forthright especially with people in authority. I am afraid that my words will be dismissed and not be taken seriously–that hurts and undermines trust. With trust, you don’t have to agree with everyone, or even like everyone, but everyone needs to respect and value everyone. I can’t stress this point enough.
In my book, character plays a huge role in building trust and open communication. Are they honest? Do they have empathy and compassion? Do they have integrity? Do they follow through on what they say they will do? Are they fair? To answer the question, I first posed in this post, a successful SDP team needs trust and open communication.
I knew a lot about self-determination before I entered the program, but there is a huge difference between knowing from afar and living in the program. It has been a learning experience for me, at times very humbling. I may still oversee my program, but I still benefit from the advice people give me, the power of listening. Listening occurs when there are high levels of trust and open communication among the team members. I am not sure why I did it but from the start of my involvement in self-determination, I have placed building trust and open communication the highest priority.
Let me say a few words about building trust and open communication. Neither is an entitlement because it must be earned and built. When I was young, I just gave people my trust, especially people in authority. Life experience has taught me to be more guarded in whom I give my trust to.
Trust begins with respect. Do I feel safe with the individual? Do they have my best interest at heart? Are they being open and candid with me, or do they have a hidden agenda that they are operating under? Anybody can be friendly at first, but it takes time to see if they are being genuine.
Do they value what I have to say? I am not sure if you feel this way, but it takes courage for me to be open and forthright especially with people in authority. I am afraid that my words will be dismissed and not be taken seriously–that hurts and undermines trust. With trust, you don’t have to agree with everyone, or even like everyone, but everyone needs to respect and value everyone. I can’t stress this point enough.
In my book, character plays a huge role in building trust and open communication. Are they honest? Do they have empathy and compassion? Do they have integrity? Do they follow through on what they say they will do? Are they fair? To answer the question, I first posed in this post, a successful SDP team needs trust and open communication.