Starting a New Leadership Position

As a leader, how do you enter into a new leadership position? 

Taking on a new assignment is exciting. But it's not easy. Here are three common mistakes people make when moving to a new leadership role and how to avoid them:

• Forgetting about the people. Most people start a new leadership role with a plan for success. But you can't forget the people. Know who you will need to rely on to get your work done and focus on building productive relationships with them.
• Failing to listen. You may be eager to introduce yourself and your plan, but don't dominate conversations. Listen to others so their input can guide you.
• Relying on old power dynamics. Every organization has a way of operating. Don't assume what worked in your last school/organization will work in the new one. Understand the new dynamics and how to establish your authority. 

Adapted from "Get Ready for Your Next Assignment" by Katie Smith Milway, Ann Goggins Gregory, Jenny Davis-Peccoud, and Kathleen Yazbak.

Listening - Your Default Behaviour

As a leader, is your default response listening......or.....???

It might be tempting as a leader to talk - initiating conversations, responding with directions or explanations, or verbally 'taking charge' of situations.  This is quite commonplace and people have often come to accept it as the behaviour of a boss.  However, it's not the behaviour of a leader.  Leaders listen.....and then listen more.  Leaders listen for a number of reasons....in order to understand.....to get the whole picture......to get a range of perspectives......to collect valuable insights or ideas.  Leaders also paraphrase - not 'parrot' - what they hear in order to be sure they understand and to send the message that they are listening and value the thoughts of others. 

If you're not already doing so, make listening your default behaviour.  You just might be surprised how much more effective you - and your school/organization - can be when you talk less!

Enough Complaining! Number 2

As a leader, how do you keep your own complaining in check?

As a leader, it is easy to slip into a habit of complaining publicly among your staff members.  You're the leader so your positional authority often makes staff members feel that they must listen to you.  However, are you aware of just what you're saying?  Do you tend to complain to them?  If so, what might they be taking away from hearing your complaints? 

Your complaints can be damaging to morale within the workplace.  The negativity you bring into conversations can chip away at the interest and enthusiasm your staff members feel for their work or the school/organization itself.  Staff members look to leaders to be optimistic and motivating.  Your complaining can be producing the opposite effect.

Next time you find yourself even thinking about complaining out loud among staff members, consider what impact this might have on your colleagues.  If it doesn't help them in their daily work, it's probably best to keep it to yourself.  If you really need to air your comments, find a confidante - outside the workplace - who understands your need and can support you. 

Admit what you don't know

As a leader, are you able to reveal your weaknesses in order to build a stronger workplace?

Leaders who insist on making all the decisions often find themselves with disengaged employees. If people aren't taking charge in your organization, your leadership style might be the problem. If you have an overly directive approach, take a step back. Acknowledge your failings (whether they be your knowledge base or a particular skill set) with your team. Share your personal and organizational goals. Then, admit that you don't have all the answers and you need your team's help in reaching those goals. This will give your people room to actively participate in the organization's success. This act of humility is often seen as courageous and inspires others to follow suit.

You can extend this idea to actually inviting some individuals to take on certain roles.  For example, if you're bad at remembering the social aspects of the workplace, ask for a couple of volunteers to take on this responsibility.  Another example might be asking for a volunteer or two to help identify what's missing from conversations at meetings.  Certain individuals could be asked to help the group identify perspectives that may be missed when your team gets together to work.  By engaging more staff with important workplace roles, you're sharing the responsibility of leading the school/organization.  You're building capacity, and you're ensuring the workplace is a healthy environment in which to work because responsibility is shared.


Adapted from "Fire, Snowball, Mask, Movie: How Leaders Spark and Sustain Change" by Peter Fuda and Richard Badham.

Stop Emailing! Pick up the Phone!

As a leader, do you build strong working relationships by using personal communication?

Email has dramatically changed the way we interact. But, it cannot replace live, person-to-person conversation. This especially applies when resolving a conflict or communicating an important decision.  Too many people try to do important or sensitive business through email. This is problematic because tone and context are easy to misread. In a live conversation, how one says something is as important as what they are saying. Without inflections and intonations, it's hard to understand the feelings behind the words. In fact, email-based conflict often escalates because you aren't required to be as thoughtful as you would be in a one-on-one conversation.  Indeed, even apparently benign emails can turn ugly if they are misunderstood.  Next time you have a delicate or complex issue to discuss, take your hands off the keyboard and pick up the phone.

Keep your communications emotionally intelligent.


Adapted from "Don't Send That Email. Pick up the Phone!" by Anthony Tjan.

Leading Meetings

As a leader, how do you lead open, honest, productive meetings?

Meetings without outcomes are a waste of time. Yet, many meetings fail to produce results because the conversation circles around the issues rather than focusing on them. To make sure decisions happen and people take action, you need to have a productive dialogue. Here are five things every meeting
should be:

1. Open. The outcomes of your meeting should not be predetermined. Questions like, "What are we missing?", "Who else needs to be here?", "What voices are not represented at this table?" signal honest searching for a range of perspectives and more broad-based thinking.
2. Candid. Encourage people to air conflicts. When people express their real opinions, productivity increases.  A quick 'go round' of the table to ask "What;s working for you and what isn't?" can help surface issues that need to be tabled. 
3. Informal. Keep it loose. Conversations should be unscripted with honest questions and spontaneity...yet with meeting processes in place so that it's not unending.  This in itself takes lots of practice as the leader of meetings.
4. Conclusive. Everyone should leave knowing exactly what they are expected to do.  A quick check-in helps.  Again, a quick 'go round' of the table to ask, "What's your action coming out of our meeting?" helps solidify the actions and confirms that the meeting had purpose. 
5. Reflective - a few days after the meeting, check in with a few people to ask how it went.  Are meetings helping us accomplish what we want to accomplish?  Being sincere in seeking this input helps staff know that you're serious about their opinions and that you value both their opinions and their work.  

Adapted from Harvard Business Review on Making Smart Decisions.

Mentoring or Coaching - Part 2

As a leader, do you engage in coaching? Do you support your staff in receiving coaching?

As mentioned in the previous post, the terms 'mentoring' and 'coaching' are often used interchangeably but research literature differentiates between the two.  The difference between mentoring and coaching needs to be understood if we wish to use the terms correctly.

It's coaching if:

• the coach has been trained in a specific style of coaching and uses it at all times while coaching
• the coachee has a learning plan which forms the basis of the coaching conversations
• the coaching conversations are intended to support the coachee in the development of identified skills
• the coach mediates the thinking of the coachee
• reflective thinking is routinely incorporated into the coaching conversations to deepen the learning
• the coaching conversations are focused on the growth of the coachee
• the coach does not talk about him/herself.  It's always about the coachee.
• there is a time limit to the coaching relationship

Adapted from 'Coaching For Learning' - York Region District School Board

Listening

As a leader, how well do you listen?

I believe we can change the world if we start listening to one another again.  Simple, honest, human conversation.  Not mediation, negotiation, problem-solving, debate, or public meetings.  Simple, truthful conversation where we each have a chance to speak, we each feel heard, and we each listen well.

What would it feel like to be listening to each other again about what disturbs or troubles us?  About what gives us energy and hope?  About our yearnings, our fears, our prayers, our children?

From:  Turning to One Another by Margaret Wheatley
Published by: Berrett-Koehler