THE ANCHOR RELATIONSHIPS® BRAND

Anchor Relationships is a research-backed framework and assessment that measures the quality of workplace relationships. Kellie Cummings, MAPP, developed the framework through research conducted at the University of Pennsylvania and a fellowship at the Center for Positive Leadership. The assessment measures how each person in a relationship supports the other's growth, strengthens their self-efficacy, and helps them access and act on their values. The claim this brand makes is simple: Relationships are the emergent properties within an organizational system. People are more productive and more engaged when they have the knowledge and tools to make the most of their workplace relationships.

THE ANCHOR RELATIONSHIPS BUSINESS

Anchor Relationships provides the tools and knowledge people need to make the most of their working relationships. We deliver this through assessments, leadership programs, and certification at two levels. Certified Coaches train with us and bring the assessments to their own clients. Organizations that want to run the programs themselves certify their internal facilitators through on-site enterprise training, then deliver the framework to their own leaders and teams. A trained expert administers every assessment. We made this choice deliberately because relationships are inherently complex. Each person brings different needs and expectations to a relationship, and assessment results can surprise. Certified Coaches and in-house Certified Facilitators manage that risk, guiding people toward the most useful and supportive reading of what they discover.

THE MISSION TO CREATE RELATIONAL LITERACY

The language most people use to discern their own relationships is surprisingly simple: words like good or bad, positive or corrosive. These terms are opaque. They shed little insight into what's really happening between two people, how that connection can improve, and whether investing in it is worth either person's time.

Sometimes that person we work with who tells us what we want to hear feels comfortable and "positive." But the person who challenges us and makes us think might be the most positive relationship in our network. It depends on what we mean by positive, which raises the question of whether that term should be used to describe a relationship.

Relational literacy is language that informs meaning-making. It creates knowledge that people can use to judge which relationships to invest in and how to make those investments work. In its simplest form, relational literacy offers a method for discerning between relationships that are generative and those that are corrosive without relying on emotions alone to detect which is which.