There are 5 difficult conversations I come across ALL the time in schools. They are relatively simple to resolve. But most have been going on for a long time: Lateness. Not marking books to the minimum standard. Caretakers not doing everything they need to, as quickly as they need to. Unwelcoming receptionist. The teacher who […]
Who likes conflict? Pretty much no-one! (Including me!) So it’s no surprise that a lot of us will avoid having a difficult conversation. However, there might well come a time when we realise we have to have a difficult conversation and, at that point, we often regret not having it sooner; after all, it’s very […]
Making excuses for why you don’t need to have the conversation. Almost everyone avoids difficult conversations and, when you do have these conversations, it would be normal for you to not look forward to them. There are several reasons for this: We don’t want to upset the other person or be upset ourselves (which is […]
We’ve not found a difficult conversation we haven’t been able to fix yet. In fact, I’m looking for it. Here are three scenarios that felt impossible to the people we were working with but were fixed in very few conversations (and without capability or court). How to get through when someone doesn’t think there is a […]
Let’s face it, this is a life skill (if you’ve got my book check out who I dedicated it too- http://amzn.to/2GHGty2). There is a priority order in your school and it goes like this: Start with your Senior Leadership Team – it’s a must for them because they’ll have the most, they’ll have the hardest and […]
It’s highly likely that we are someone else’s difficult conversation. I’m sure you work to get things right but sadly without realising it it’s likely that there’s something we do that isn’t working for someone or a group. Maybe that ‘thing’ is something we accept as necessary, maybe we’re not aware of it. What it means […]
As a leader it can be hard to get quality feedback from your team as people have a natural and understandable reticence about giving their boss feedback. But without it our own professional development is starved. Here are 3 ideas to help you encourage feedback from your team. Creating two-way feedback when you’re the boss Two-way […]
When I was a teacher, no-one told me how to manage parents! Working in a school means you’re inevitably going to have to deal with parents and some of these conversations will be difficult. If you or your team sometimes struggle with these conversations, then here’s something to help. My ‘Successful difficult conversations with parents […]
In a recent twitter poll we asked the following question: “what is your most common problem when having a difficult conversation?” 47% voted: “when they agree with me, but don’t take action”. In chapter 3 of my book: “Successful Difficult Conversations in School: Improve your team’s performance, behaviour and attitude with kindness and success” I talk about […]
New year is often a time to reflect on the year that has been and think about the year ahead. We might do some decluttering, decide to lose weight, or maybe we want to exercise more. There are two ‘declutters’ I’ve not heard many people do is think about which might resonate with you: 1) […]
