In recent years, there has been widespread interest in books recommending “fierce” or “difficult” conversations. For example, two well-known tomes—Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most (by Stone, Patton, and Heen), and Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time (by Susan Scott)—offer many excellent communication techniques. In our observation, though, we’re concerned that in actual practice, some adherents to these concepts appear more focused on the “difficult” and “fierce” (one might almost say “confrontational”) part of the conversation than the “conversation” (i.e., mutual exchange of ideas) part.
There is no doubt that having candid, direct dialogue with faculty members is an important skill—with particular relevance to the administrator’s role as coach and mentor of faculty. At the same time, we might suggest that a necessary “pre-requisite” to candid conversations is establishing a credible, trust-based relationship with the teacher. That is, faculty members need to see their supervisor (be it a department chair, division director, dean of faculty, or head of school) as someone who:
- has their best interests at heart (i.e., is “on their side”)
- has helpful perspectives to share (i.e., has relevant expertise/knowledge)
- is capable of sharing those perspectives in an understandable, respectful way
- engages with them on a regular basis (i.e., not someone who only shows up when it’s convenient, but who really cares about what’s going on with the teacher day to day and week to week)
- is looking to support and encourage, not criticize and penalize
By interacting with faculty in this way, administrators build credibility, which serves as the platform for “constructive conversations”—that is, conditions will have been set for conversations that can address core issues without being sabotaged by concerns about motives, hidden agendas, harmful intentions, etc. By establishing this base, administrators can have conversations that are a healthy mix of coaching, mentoring, and collaboration with the faculty member—all to the purpose of helping faculty grow so that they can better help students learn.
Coaching conversations are a central element of an “evaluation and growth cycle” model that we will be exploring in more detail in this space next month. Stay tuned for details! In the meantime, encouraging the conditions that support constructive conversations between administrators and teachers is sure to go a long way toward ensuring faculty growth and student success.
