Sustaining Relationships

In Leo Tolstoy's retelling of the Russian proverb "The Three Questions," the final question is the most critical:

What is the most important thing to do?

Of all the things I've done in my life to sustain relationships with colleagues, students, and schools, I think the routine of handwritten notes sent to others may be the most important. This may strike you as absurd, or make you wonder if I've ever done anything that matters in my professional life. But time and again, when it comes to innovation and collaboration that endures, nothing forges more of a connection or an impression than taking the time to write a short, kind note on stationary at a time when it isn't expected or required.

Brenda Power
Choice Literacy
Editor