This topic brief is one in a series on personalized learning prepared for Conversations with Innovators, 2018. The term relational suasion describes a common, human phenomenon: a person is open to guidance from someone he trusts. Any relationship of trust has this potential, and within formal education, it describes a student's openness to a teacher's influence, an openness that increases as the student grows in mastery and in successful learning habits. The teacher's ability to positively influence a student because of the teacher's relationship with the student and the student's family is the cornerstone of personalization. This influence is a professional asset the teacher uses to develop the learning habit in students which persists beyond the immediate teacher-student relationship.