January, 2016 – it’s hard to believe we’re already in the new year. As we begin a new calendar year, take a moment and reflect on IEM’s 11 Guiding Principles and how we can possibly embrace them into both our personal lives and the lives of our children.

1. We believe that serving one another is our primary responsibility

Serving one another naturally fits into our homes. How can we serve our kids and teach them to serve others? What a great foundation to begin 2016.

2. We value healthy human relationships; treating one another with respect, forgiveness, compassion, patience, kindness and tolerance

How can we model these attributes in the coming year? What can we do to model respect, forgiveness, compassion, patience, kindness, and tolerance? Which one would be the most natural to begin putting an emphasis on?

3. We act ethically, with integrity and honesty

What can we do in this new year to develop our character and as a result, teach by example how to be people who are respectful, forgiving, compassionate, patient, kind, tolerant, and who act with integrity and honesty. What books can we read or movies can we see that model these character traits? What quotes can we memorize that support these qualities?

4. We believe in constructive and honest communication; seeking first to understand and then to be understood.

What behaviors can we implement in 2016 that seek to understand first and then to be understood. How can we teach this to our children and even the adults around us?

5. We believe in an environment that is physically, emotionally and spiritually safe

The new year brings an opportunity to look at the environment in our home and other places we go and evaluate those environments for safety – physically, emotionally, and spiritually. What changes do we need to make to ensure this kind of safety? What are we already doing successfully that puts these concepts in place?

6. We believe that small, self-directed and empowered teams can make responsible and effective decisions for the good of the organization

How can we create a family unit that mimics a small, self-directed, and empowered team that can make responsible and effective decisions for the good of our “team”? What behaviors do we need to teach our children to empower them to be self-directed and responsible. How can we incorporate them into the effective decisions that need to be made in 2016?

7. We believe the contribution of each individual is essential to success

What needs to happen for our 5 year old to embrace that she is a contributing member of the “team” and essential to our success? How about our 15 year old. What needs to happen for him to know that his role in the family unit contributes to our success or unsuccess? Are there any tweaks that need to be make in order for every member of our team to believe this wholeheartedly?

8. We keep our commitments

This is such a great one. How many people in each of our lives can we truly trust to keep their commitments? How are we with keeping our commitments? Do we need to make some adjustments in the new year in order to model this for our children and teach them to do this in their life?

9. We continually improve the quality of everything we do as we serve our co-workers, students, their parents and the public

This is IEM’s commitment to us. How can we make this same commitment to those that we interact with? What needs to happen in order for us to be continually improving the quality of everything we do? How much better would the world be in 2016 if we all made a commitment to do this? Can you imagine?

10. We promote personal and professional growth, and lifelong learning

As we begin a new year, how can we promote personal and professional growth in our family systems? What adjustments can we make to promote lifelong learning for everyone on our team? At Innovative Education Management, this is integral to everything we do. How can it be integral in your team – at work and at home?

11. We recognize and reward one another’s success

And last but not least, We recognize and reward one another’s success. In the book How Full Is Your Bucket?, a concept is introduced by the author that every interaction we have with other people, we have an opportunity to dip from or fill the other person’s bucket. As we begin 2016, let’s make a decision to fill one another’s buckets every chance we get. Let’s teach our children to do this, knowing that every time they fill another person’s bucket, they also fill their own.

 

Happy New Year to each one of you. At Innovative Education Management, we are so happy to share our Guiding Principles with you and hope that they will propel you toward greatness in your family systems. It is our honor to partner with you and serve you in 2016.