As the school year begins, we recommend a TED Talk by Rita Pierson, who suggests the importance in building relations with students. She shares candidly that some students and classes are very difficult, but that with encouragement and support, even the most academically challenged can improve and know success.

Following the example of her mother, she shares that, “Kids don’t learn from people they don’t like” and so she has spent her career finding ways to connect to students. She also passes on advise from Stephen Covey, to throw in a few simple things, like seeking first to understand, as opposed to being understood. Simple things, like apologizing. Rita asks “How powerful would our world be if we had kids who were not afraid to take risks, who were not afraid to think, and who had a champion?” Find the full talk here: bit.ly/TED-Rita

This article was published in the Future Leaders & Entrepreneurs Exchange’s (FLEX) September 2019 edition of the FLEX Your Ideas (FYI) Newsletter.