We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Monique Gosling. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Monique below.

Monique, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you share an important lesson you learned in a prior job that’s helped you in your career afterwards?

One of the most important lessons I have learned in my professional career is to become a servant leader. What is a servant leader? Servant leadership is based on the idea that the best leaders work harder to serve others than to gain dominance or control. I learned this form of leadership from a principal I worked under at a charter school. She constantly spoke about the importance of servitude and how you must learn to delegate and serve when needed as someone in charge. A servant leader’s characteristics are listening, empathy, self-awareness, commitment to the growth of others, and building community and others on your team. Once you’ve decided to put other people’s needs ahead of your own in the long run, you can focus on honing each of your skills. This form of leadership has stuck with me throughout my career as an educator, leader, and consultant because it allows me to help others meet their goals, motivate, energize, and contribute at the highest level. It is not about me but those I come in contact with and how I interact with them to meet the common/ shared goal.

Monique, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I run a small education consultant business called MG Consultant. Our mission is building bridges between families, schools, and communities through Advocacy, Collaboration, and Team Building. I empower parents and educators through ongoing training of curriculum and instruction, parent-teacher conference, and providing tools and strategies on how to connect the learning effectively from school to home.

I have been an educator for close to 15 years and I enjoy what I do in helping families be part of the learning, partnering with other educators to facilitate effective learning in the lesson plans. I want people to know that when you work with me you are getting my full support to meet the goals you have. Sometimes as a parent you don’t know how to communicate with the teachers in regards to assignments, grades, curriculum, assessments, etc. However, I walk alongside you to empower, motivate, and have a voice to speak up for your child. As an educator, it can be frustrating at times to make the lesson interesting or make that connection from the real world to the learning or how to connect with families. I know that feeling because I have been there myself and so in return we discuss the goals, work on the lesson plan, and ways that work or don’t work in connecting with families.

I’m here to help and be your advocate in the learning process.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

I am a huge advocate of reading. I am always looking for resources to help better how I think, work, and support others. The following are some resources that have made a significant impact on my career,business,and personal life: 1. The 5 Love Languages in the Workplace by Gary Chapman
2. Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t by Simon Sinek
3. Why Don’t Students Like School byDaniel Willingham
4. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
5. Creating Classrooms Where Teachers Love to Teach and Students Love to Learn by Dr.Bob Sornson

Any advice for managing a team?

Managing a team can be difficult because of different personalities, characters, and goals. As a leader, you built this team because of what each person can bring to the table and how they can meet the plans and make the company or business, but how do you maintain high morale in managing a team? 1. Give them the best, quickest, most modern, and most efficient tools you can to help them overcome frustrating obstacles and boost production.
2. Ensure you provide your managers with training on emotional intelligence, maintaining morale, giving feedback and praise, communication, and successful leadership techniques.
3. Monitoring employee morale regularly, quantifying it, and using the results to make improvements are some of the most excellent strategies to raise workplace morale.
4. Give autonomy to your team in allowing them to take the lead and create goals that can help the team meet the objectives.
5. Your company’s policies should include employee appreciation and feedback. This goes a long way for anyone. Everyone wants to feel appreciated with simple thanks, gifts, or awards.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.moniquegosling.com
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/moniquegosling