Connected Educator: Chapter 4

 Building a Collaborative Culture

Within chapter 4 the author, Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach discusses ways we can collaborate more within our field of work and create a kind of trust with others while creating relationships. Within my blog, I will touch upon a few of these topics and relate them back to my future career. 

Put Relationships First:

Although my future career is going to be online based I believe that creating a relationship whether it is virtual or not is extremely important. Getting on a friendly basis with clients, employers, co-workers, etc. is so crucial for any career. As Sheryl says, "These interactions become the bases for getting to know each other and finding common perspectives and experiences" (Beach 59). Sheryl mentions congeniality, which refers to the polite and friendly relationship you have with someone. Relating this to my career this can be sharing resources with a co-worker and getting on a personal basis with them. For example, talking about a popular TV show or attending happy hour. This is a great way to create a close bond and relationship. I find the relationships I create within my workspace are what will really help me achieve what I want and work my way up.

Establishing Trust:

Trust is something I will not only need to gain within my company but also with the people viewing my work. As I want to go into social media and marketing trust is a HUGE part of this field and is something that will really help me stand out. Creating relationships online and having a more real bond with people is what will gain their trust. Although there is always a purpose and strategy behind what people put out on social media platforms doing it in a way where the viewer sees it as realistic as possible will only gain their trust even more. You see a lot of sports teams and different companies sending out tweets or commenting on posts, making them funny and relatable. This allows followers to see there is actually a person behind that screen making them want more. Being transparent and taking the correct actions will only help me in my field. 

Creating A Shared Vision:

It seems like creating a shared vision needs to start with leadership. Now starting out I am not sure if I will have that leadership role right off the bat but hey who knows! Either way, I have no problem working together and bouncing ideas off of each other. I actually really enjoy that at times, I love learning new things and hearing people's ideas. Sheryl states, "The advantages of involving others in creating a vision are a greater degree of commitment, engagement, and diversity of thought, all attributes of healthy learning organizations" (Beach 66). Collaborating with people of similar interests will only help me learn and grow within my career and that is what's most important. Not only sharing ideas with co-workers but with people within the field and companies within the US and overseas. Everyone will do things differently and I will be able to learn from them to form my flow and the way I want to work.