This Is The Way

Crucial Conversations

I usually avoid confrontation at work, and I am not the best at communicating at times. I realize this and after reading, I realize I am doing a disservice to myself. We work with people that do not do well with change, yet we are trying to bring change to an organization. We get caught up with the daily stresses, and it’s so easy to get triangled. Don’t get triangled, it’s a trap! That stuck with me because it is so easy to get involved with others’ problems and lose sight of our goals. Having a differentiated leader, whether it's myself or administration or someone else on campus, will help us navigate our changes and reduce the anxiety we tend to welcome change with. Together with crucial conversations, will be the way. Having those conversations, getting unstuck, putting those conversations to work, we got this!

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Why

Educators in the last 12 months have taught during so many unprecedented events. I have taught during a pandemic, a wild hurricane season, a crazy winter storm, and so on. It starts to become overwhelming and teacher exhaustion is so real. So, why do we continue to teach when we do not feel valued at times? Why do we continue to teach when we are asked to do things that are not developmentally appropriate? Why do we continue to teach when universal screeners seem more important than actual teaching? Why do we continue to bring even more changes to an already crazy school year? We come back to the class over and over again for many reasons, but mostly because we want to make a difference. We want to see progress, even if it’s a tiny step. Our why becomes the reason why we continue to teach and to fwant to evolve along with our students.

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Influencer

Our why and those crucial conversations will lead the way, but we will also need to change some behaviors along the way. My post Influencer Goals, details how changing vital behaviors can bring tremendous change to an organization. At our school, we will be able to bring change in how our students learn and how our teachers deliver instruction. The goal being, lifelong learners.

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4DX

It's now time to execute our plan.We will have our crucial conversations, tweak behaviors, and execute our changes. With the 4 disciplines of execution, we need to focus on one or two goals, act on lead measures, create a compelling scoreboard, and be accountable. You can read more about the 4 disciplines of execution (4DX) here. Using the four disciplines will help keep us focused and get to the finish line.

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References

Patterson, K., Grenny, J., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2012). Crucial conversations tools for talking when stakes are high. McGraw-Hill Education.