On July 13, 2023 I will officially begin my first full day as a retired District Superintendent (DS). I am working diligently at wrapping up my role well. In the midst of my decelerating in my current role, I do find myself thinking how I might accelerate into whatever my next might be.

Seeing kindness and niceness as contrasting is a bit unsettling. Each are often seen as two sides of the same coin. Nice people are kind. Kind people are nice. This, intuitively, seems the case. Yet the counter intuitive may be in play.

John D. Rockefeller stated, “The ability to deal with people is as purchasable a commodity as sugar or coffee and I will pay more for that ability than for any other under the sun.” Your ability to work with people is a highly valued trait.