People are important.

“An organization’s most valuable assets are its human resources, the skills, motivation, and loyalty of its personnel.”

I do not know who said the above quote but it was something that has stayed with me for forty years. It was written in the beginning of a textbook for one of my first college classes on organizational behavior. Since that quote and that class, I always wondered why people were treated a certain way, why some people were self-serving, and why people were unhappy at work or school.

When I became a teacher, I always wanted to make the students feel welcome. I wanted them to feel like people and not just a desk number. I wanted them to feel they could accomplish their goals. Some of my students went on to accomplish some amazing fetes and some not so much. I can honestly say that I always made a conscious effort to achieve my goal.

As a principal, I wanted to give opportunities that I thought I did not have as a teacher or a student. I always used the team approach to achieve a higher plateau of accomplishment.  It never mattered who got the credit. It mattered that everyone felt a part of the organization.

Today, the ubiquitous nature of self-serving leadership has diminished the importance and future of education. It’s time to reverse that trend and get back to what is important. Kids are important. People are important. Our future is important. Create a place where everyone wants to be and you’ll find synergy. You’ll find importance. You’ll find happy. You’ll find a team.

So I guess I kind of figured that quote out. People want to belong. People want to feel appreciated. People want to be happy. People want to feel worth. People want to feel accomplishment. People want to feel they made a difference in a positive way.

“Happy people outperform unhappy people.”

Peace.