Full Description
Being a successful school leader has become an increasingly complex role that demands not only tremendous craft knowledge and skills but also highly developed interpersonal skills. Both the research and extensive experiences of the authors suggest that a very effective and inexpensive strategy to provide support and motivate staff as the entire school community transforms, is through simple yet powerful coaching conversations between the school leader and staff. Coaching Conversations: Transforming Your School One Conversation at a Time is meant to provide school leaders at all levels with simple, practical, easily learned and applied coach-like conversational techniques that will lead to open and reflective conversations with all members of the school community.
Contents
Foreword by Simon T. BaileyPrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbout the Authors1. Coaching Conversations: The Link to ChangeWhat Is a Coaching Conversation?Why Our Brains Need CoachingWhy Trust MattersHolding Difficult ConversationsMoving Toward Coaching ConversationsSummaryReflections for Practice2. Coaching, Mentoring and the Leadership ContinuumLeadership Practices ContinuumHow the Continuum Works in PracticeBeing a Coach-Like MentorThe Case for Being Coach-LikeSummaryReflections for Practice3. Committed ListeningListening AssessmentMoving to ActionComponents of Committed ListeningVerbal and Nonverbal CommunicationValue SilenceUnproductive Patterns of ListeningListen Without Obligation to ActSummaryReflections for Practice4. Powerful Speaking and QuestioningExpressing Positive IntentAvoid AdviceAsk Powerful QuestionsSummaryReflections for Practice5. Reflective FeedbackThe Importance of FeedbackThree Types of FeedbackOptions for Offering Meaningful FeedbackResponding-on-the-FlyFraming an Important Conversation Using Reflective FeedbackJournal Reflection About an Important Upcoming ConversationUsing the Reflective Feedback Frame to Support ExcellenceReframing ResistanceSummaryReflections for Practice6. Moving to Action: A Way of BeingThe Basic FrameworkStudy 1: Using the Reflective Framework in a Supervisory Coaching ConversatioStudy 2: Using the Reflective Framework for Large Scale ChallengesNext StepsSummaryReflections for PracticeAppendicesAppendix A: Powerful, Open-Ended QuestionsAppendix B: Reflective FeedbackAppendix C: Reframing ResistanceAppendix D: Reflective Feedback Framework for Coaching ConversationsReferencesIndex
