What if you haven’t seen the issue you need to address and the other person asks ‘Who told you?’

As a leader, you are not going to witness everything that happens in your school. This means that your difficult conversations can be about things you have been told about but not seen first-hand. This is fine; it’s part of your leadership responsibility and an expectation that staff can come and report things they are not happy about. What can happen when you have this conversation is the other person asks: “Who told you?” There are several ways to respond to this:

  • If the person who told you is happy for you to say it was them, and you feel that it’s appropriate, then you can.
  • If you were told in confidence, then you can say: “I was told in confidence and so I can’t disclose this”.
  • If they persist in wanting to know, you can say: “The issue is not who told me, the issue is… (and then whatever your ‘I, issue, outcome’ sentence is)”.

 

 

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