Hoarding Relationships

01/29/2004

"If you don't make mistakes you're not working on hard enough problems. And that's a big mistake." - F. Wilezek

HOARDING RELATIONSHIPS

In his article "Techniques for Avoiding Director Burnout," in the January 1980 issue of Child Care Information Exchange, Roger Neugebauer discussed the importance of cultivating relationships . . .

"It may seem unusual that directors feel isolated, since most of their day is spent interacting with others--parents, bankers, teachers, children, students, bureaucrats, doctors. But most of the interactions are brief, involving only an interchange of business information. Directors could add to their network of support by converting some of these casual business relationships into personal friendships. Rapport could be established by inviting outside contacts to visit the center without a specific business objective, by taking an interest in the non-child care side of parents and teachers, and by arranging occasional informal social gatherings among center people. According to Hans Selye (in Stress Without Distress, New York, NY: New American Library, 1974), we can attain stress without distress if we 'greedily hoard wealth and strength, not in the form of money or domination of others, but by earning the goodwill, gratitude, respect, and love of those who surround us.'"

This article can be obtained either on the Exchange Articles on CD collection, "Avoiding Burnout" http://mail.ccie.com/go/eed/0105.

Or by ordering the article itself in Exchange Articles Online at http://mail.ccie.com/go/eed/0106.

For more information about Exchange's magazine, books, and other products pertaining to ECE, go to www.ccie.com.