Reflections on the NAFSA IE Competencies: Relationship Cultivation

Editor’s note: This article is one in a new series for 2023 that explores one of the 12 International Education Professional Competencies 2.0 in each issue of International Educator. Each written by a NAFSA member, the articles cover how that competency is critical to the future of the field and what it looks like in practice.

As international educators, our role is all about creating meaningful connections—bridging the gap between institutions, stakeholders, and cultures. Our ability to nurture, build, and maintain constructive, reciprocal alliances with a diverse range of stakeholders is a cornerstone skill that empowers both personal growth and professional advancement. Here are three basic principles of relationship cultivation, all predicated on connection, that have informed my career.

1. Connect with a “platinum” approach.

Over the years, I’ve noticed something that keeps popping up among us international educators: it’s the struggle to get the message across about how important international education is to the folks who matter—our key stakeholders. We’re really keen on pushing our goals, so we tend to make passionate pleas to our stakeholders, listing all the cool things international education brings. We present our case with so much enthusiasm because we hope they’ll respond in kind. In other words, we follow that “Golden Rule”: “Treat others as you’d want to be treated.”

But you know what? There’s another way, something I like to call the “Platinum Rule”: “Treat others as they’d want to be treated.” It’s less about pushing our agenda and more about aligning