# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
5 steps to making a new school initiative take flight in Year One

# data[].attributes.headline
5 steps for an effective initiative to be successful 

# data[].attributes.subject
5 steps for an effective initiative to be successful 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When I started as the new principal at Brookwood three years ago, my first goal was to get a sense of the school's climate. With my leadership team, I looked at our students' results from the Georgia health survey to see how kids were feeling about school. We also did a survey of the staff that asked them to name three things they loved about the school and three things they wished they could change.

Looking at those responses from students and teachers, the most conspicuous area of improvement was the school culture.
Related content: 4 ways to ensure a successful school culture initiative
As leaders, we needed to improve our relationships with our students and help them develop competencies such as social awareness, self-management, and responsibility. Identifying the need for building-wide change was the easy part. Getting everyone in the building to embrace a new school initiative in Year One was the real challenge.

Here are five steps we took to get everyone on board.
1. Create a committee.
If you're a leader launching a new program, you can't own the program yourself. Success comes when teachers don't just buy in, but feel ownership of what they're doing. When people buy into something, they're agreeing to do it, but when they own something, they feel responsible for it.

Our path to instilling that sense of ownership started with our Positive Learning Environment (PLE) committee, which was made up of teachers from every grade level. The committee decided that the best way to improve the culture in our building was for students and teachers to adopt the 7 Mindsets curriculum.

It was a big change, but right from the very beginning, the idea wasn't coming from me. It came from a committee of educators with amazing knowledge and a clear vision of where they wanted to go. And before we asked teachers to get started, we spent time deciding what the social-emotional learning program was going to look like for Brookwood based on where our students and their families were.
2. Set clear and attainable goals.
Our goal for the first year was to help teachers understand and lead mindset lessons. Every Monday they taught a lesson, and every Friday, each class had a morning meeting to wrap up what they had learned.

This was such a success that for Year Two, teachers set the goal of having a morning meeting every day. This allowed them to get deeper into lessons, which helped them realize that parents had to be part of the conversation, too. For Year Three, we're focusing on communicating and partnering with our students' families.
3. To start something new, you have to get rid of something old.
In education, we're so quick to add "one more thing" to what we ask teachers to do. Adding a new thing on top of everything else is a simple recipe for failure. When we decided to change our approach to social-emotional learning, we took a hard look at what was and wasn't working. We ended up dropping the bullying program that we had used for years because the mindsets lessons address bullying, and we wanted to give teachers and students one clear way to address those issues.
4. Celebrate the successes along the way-and make it loud and proud.
We start every faculty meeting with recognitions for one another. The best stories come from the classroom, and I'm always asking my teachers, "How were you vulnerable with your kids today and what did you learn?" With a new school initiative, principals have to talk about the successes as well as the things that fell flat. If you don't, by the time October hits, you completely let go of it.

As a leader, I see the value of being a little silly. We end our faculty meetings by putting our hands in the middle and saying, "One, two, three, go be awesome!" Teachers laugh, but they love it. They need to see me being cheesy about being positive. When they see me being vulnerable, they feel more comfortable to be a little vulnerable too.
5. Don't be afraid to have conversations with those who resist change.
When you think about those who are going to resist, meet them where they are. We often want to avoid those people, but we shouldn't. If they're concerned about a new school initiative, I make a point of connecting with them in person to hear their thoughts so we can work through them. Many times, they have valid objections such as a fear of losing academic time. My job is to explain why they won't. When they're skeptical, I often use the expression, "I need you to trust me before you believe me."

Believing me can take some time. During my first year at Brookwood, I would walk around the school every Monday morning between 8:00 and 8:30 to see if teachers were doing their mindsets lessons. In the beginning, they weren't. But by the end of the year, they were.

In our first PLE meeting this year, we looked at the course we would follow this year. I didn't set any exact expectations for when teachers should start, but when I walked around the school on Monday, every veteran teacher and every new teacher was engaging their students in a mindset lesson. I never discussed it, but they did it because they've taken ownership. They trusted me in year one, and now they believe me.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 steps to making a new school initiative take flight in Year One

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A principal shares her playbook for inspiring teachers to move beyond buy-in and develop a sense of ownership of a new school initiative.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
5 strategies for cultivating champions to scale education initiatives | Brookings

# data[].attributes.headline
5 strategies for cultivating champions to scale education initiatives 

# data[].attributes.subject
5 strategies for cultivating champions to scale education initiatives 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 strategies for cultivating champions to scale education initiatives | Brookings

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ghulam Omar Qargha and Tendekai Mukoyi outline five strategies used to identify and support champions for the scaling of education initiatives.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
3 Ways to Achieve a Successful School Improvement Initiative

# data[].attributes.headline
3 ways to achieve a Successful School Improvement Initiative 

# data[].attributes.subject
3 ways to achieve a Successful School Improvement Initiative 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Technology Solutions That Drive Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Just as all teachers want their students to keep improving over time, school administrators are driven to continually build upon their systems, giving educators and students the greatest resources possible.

From finding the right staff, to creating new curriculum, innovation has helped lead K-12 systems into new territory.

When it comes to creating a successful improvement plan, however, good intentions are not enough. Many schools find barriers when trying to introduce new programs, which can create more frustration and bring change to a grinding halt.

In Fayette County, Ga., the public school system wanted to boost math scores. Schools were focusing on problem-solving, reasoning, representation, connections and communication, but they were struggling to find the best solution for students.

School leaders and teachers took a step back and examined what they wanted for their students. After deliberation, they determined their goal was to shift to smaller, more personalized learning.

Using that information, administrators chose to integrate DreamBox, a software solution designed to help math teachers teach and assess students. After one year, students who participated in the program scored on average 97 percent higher on the STAR assessment than those who did not, according to a case study.

Fayette County's process outlines some of the essential markers to understand how best to s eamlessly integrate improvements to ensure success.
SIGN UP: Get more news from the EdTech newsletter in your inbox every two weeks!
1. Understand a Problem Instead of Just Identifying It

A common pitfall among K-12 administrators is attempting to solve a problem as soon as it is uncovered. However, throwing money at an issue without understanding the underlying cause will only deplete resources.

Instead, take time to analyze the situation. Smart Technologies suggests using ADDIE - analyze, design, develop, implement, evaluate - as a formula for identifying meaningful ed-tech solutions.

By starting with a specific, measurable outcome, it is easier to determine a long-lasting strategy that complements the needs and culture of the school.

Schools that used the ADDIE model before integrating ed tech reported vast improvement. In some cases they saw a 31 percent increase in passing science scores and an 18 percent increase in English scores on state standardized tests.

Other organizations, such as the Partnership for 21st Century Learning and the State Educational Technology Directors Association, are collaborating to provide districts with guides to determine what strategies work best for them.

2. Bring Teachers into the Tech Integration Process

When introducing technology to improve classroom results, it's important to understand the needs and limitations of the teachers who will handle those solutions day to day.

While 91 percent of teachers are excited at the prospect of bringing more digital tools into the classroom, only 16 percent believe their schools are executing proper integration plans, according to a 2016 national survey.

Matthew Koehler, creator of the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) development plan, urges decision-makers to communicate with teachers about their lesson plans and levels of comfort with education technology in order to identify and effectively integrate the right digital tools.

"Effective technology integration for pedagogy around specific subject matter requires developing sensitivity to the dynamic, transactional relationship between these components of knowledge situated in unique contexts," says Koehler.

3. Build a Strong Network for All Users

Once you understand the problem and what your faculty is capable of, it is time to start implementing a solution.

In Illinois, Cicero Public School District 99 was able to utilize E-rate funding to provide individual Chromebooks to students as part of its one-to-one education program.

Regardless of which solution is chosen, however, it's imperative that a school's network is ready to handle the workload before integrating improvement strategies that demand increased bandwidth and load balancing.

"One of the biggest mistakes schools make when deploying or allowing new devices onto their campus and into their classrooms, is by not making sure their network infrastructure is up-to-date and/or sufficient enough to properly support their end-users," says Danny Mareco, marketing manager at SecurEdge Networks, in a blog post.

To help districts structure their networks, the Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology updated its 2014 "Building Technology Infrastructure for Learning" report with references concerning network structure, from major cost drivers to specific strategies for rural versus urban schools.

"This update serves as a roadmap for schools and districts looking to modernize the technology infrastructure needed for digital learning, providing both concrete advice and aspirational recommendations. No matter what stage districts or schools are at on the journey to digital learning, this guide will help them move forward," state the authors of the report.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
3 Ways to Achieve a Successful School Improvement Initiative

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Raising classroom outcomes takes more than adding screens and smartboards. Here are some ways administrators can target barriers to improvement.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Sustaining school improvement initiatives advice from educational leaders

# data[].attributes.headline
Sustaining School Improvement Initiatives 

# data[].attributes.subject
Sustaining School Improvement Initiatives 

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
How to Ensure New School Initiatives Succeed

# data[].attributes.headline
How to Ensure School Initiatives Succeed

# data[].attributes.subject
How to Ensure School Initiatives Succeed

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Top Business Software Resources for Buyers - 2022 | Software Advice

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
You've almost certainly experienced an endless amount of school initiatives as a teacher or administrator. It's impossible to avoid. No matter how well-intentioned or important, it's inevitable that some new school initiatives get adopted but gradually abandoned which wastes valuable resources, undermines student success, and leads to teacher and administrative burnout.

That's why it's absolutely crucial that as a school administrator in charge of executing new initiatives you have a playbook that ensures you and your teachers are set up for success.

Whether it's improving digital literacy, lowering disciplinary referrals in each grade, or reducing the cases of in-school bullying, an intentional, strategic game plan will greatly increase the likelihood of your new school initiative succeeding. And we've got you covered with three easy-to-implement strategies that can help.

1. Audit old initiatives when starting new ones to avoid change fatigue

As mentioned earlier, teachers and staff are used to a revolving door of new initiatives at the beginning of every school year, and each of those new initiatives is just one more thing that they have to remember to do each day, week, or month.

Change fatigue is the negative response to change that harms your employees' mental well-being and affects organizational outcomes, and employees are growing less and less resilient to change. In fact, Gartner found that the amount of change an average employee can take before experiencing fatigue is 25% which is down from 50% in 2019 ( full content available to Gartner clients).

That's why it's important to audit your older school initiatives at least once a year to determine which programs are obsolete, aren't being enacted anymore with accuracy and consistency, or have significant overlap with other programs.

If you've never done an audit before, you might be surprised which initiatives can be entirely thrown out, or which might be combined due to overlap to make your teacher's lives easier while making the program outcomes easier to achieve.

Taking on more responsibilities becomes significantly more palatable if you, as the program director, have shown that you care about your staff's workload. This will show your teachers and staff that you are intentional about what you're asking them to do and will increase the likelihood that the initiative will succeed.

Start by taking a hard look at what you want to accomplish with the new initiative. Once you've established your targeted objectives, analyze prior initiatives to see if any objectives are significantly overlapping. If you find overlap, either cut the older initiative or edit it so you aren't overwhelming your teachers and students. Remember, it's always best to have one clear way to tackle objectives.

2. Recognize success loudly and often to prevent burnout

One of the fastest ways to make sure an initiative dies by October is to assume that your teachers are as enthusiastic about meeting the objectives as you are. Your teachers have a lot going on from enacting school programs, managing classrooms of 25+ students, to lesson planning, so it's forgivable for certain things to fall through the cracks, especially if it's new to their routine.

Celebrate success at every single opportunity you can. Encourage your teachers to recognize their peers when they see something great. If you want your new school initiative to succeed, it's important to demonstrate that it's actually working, and recognizing success loudly and often is one of the best ways to do that.

In fact, Gartner found that social recognition (praise or acknowledgment offered in a public setting) had a stronger positive impact than personal recognition offered in private meetings ( full content available to Gartner clients).

Another benefit of recognizing success is that it opens up honest communication about, not just your new initiatives, but also older initiatives as well. Once a rhythm of positive affirmation is established and teachers aren't scared of openly communicating in staff meetings, you can begin having honest conversations about where the program might be falling flat as well.

This will ensure that you can adjust the program throughout the school year so that it has the greatest impact and chance of success.

How to recognize success:

Start every faculty meeting by recognizing how a teacher met or exceeded the goal and provide specific examples about how they did it. Better yet, have them explain how they are accomplishing the objectives because in-context, in-classroom examples are always more helpful than theoretical scenarios. Additionally, every six weeks, admins should make time to thoughtfully think about how their teachers are successfully achieving the initiative objectives.

3. Identify and address barriers to change by having honest conversations with teachers who are resistant to change

It's inevitable that some members of your staff are going to be resistant to change. Whether it's because they don't agree with some of the objectives or they think they can meet the objectives in another way. It's important to meet them where they are and have an honest conversation about it.

These conversations can be uncomfortable and hard to have, but meeting with resistant teachers face to face is important to the success of the initiative. Not only do you want near 100% buy-in from your staff, but you also don't want your teachers to be miserable every time they have to plan around the initiative.

Many times, their resistance might be valid and could help you reshape how you plan and enact the new program. If you're open to criticism and feedback, these conversations can eventually lead to buy-in from your resistant teachers, particularly if you're willing to adjust and rethink.

Below we've included some examples of concerns your teachers might bring to your attention, along with what these concerns could mean.

If you hear...

"I don't have the right training for this."

This likely means there's a comprehension problem where your teachers are unsure which tools or training they have at their disposal to get the job done.

"I've never done anything like this before."

This could mean that they're uncomfortable adapting to new working conditions.

This means that they might think the new initiative goes against the things they value and consider important.

How to have honest conversations:

The first thing you should do is, as discussed in " How to Get Buy-in from Your Teachers When Starting a New School Initiative," start a committee that involves teachers. Then, hold open office hours for any teachers who might have concerns about the new program. That way, you give your teachers a chance to bring in any concerns or questions they have which they might be hesitant about.

Strategic, thoughtful execution is key to any new school initiative's success

If you make sure each initiative is doing the most it can by auditing older programs, celebrating success early and often, and having honest, open conversations with your teachers who might be resistant to change, your new school program is significantly less likely to be dead in the water by winter break.

Now that you have some tools to help you with change management, you should adjust your planning time when deciding to adopt new initiatives so that all of these considerations can be followed every time to reduce change fatigue and increase the likelihood of success.
Once you've got a handle on the strategies necessary for a successful school program, you'll increase student learning outcomes, reduce teacher and administrator burnout, and ensure every resource that's being spent on your school is being put to good use.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Ensure New School Initiatives Succeed

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
You've almost certainly experienced an endless amount of school initiatives as a teacher or administrator. It's impossible to avoid. No matter how well-intentioned or important, it's inevitable that some new school initiatives get adopted but gradually abandoned which wastes valuable resources, undermines student success, and leads to teacher and administrative burnout.

# data[].attributes.headline
2 things that you have learned from today's session. 1 thing that you will implement in your school.  

# data[].attributes.subject
2 things that you have learned from today's session. 1 thing that you will implement in your school.  

# data[].attributes.headline
Peter Senge - Disciplines of a Learning Organization 

# data[].attributes.subject
Peter Senge - Disciplines of a Learning Organization 

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Siloed decision making: Empowering teams for collective problem solving - FasterCapital

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Siloed decision making: Empowering teams for collective problem solving - FasterCapital

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the intricate web of organizational dynamics, decision-making is a pivotal force steering the course of action. However, the peril of siloed decision-making looms large, impeding the synergy required for collective problem-solving. Silos, be they departmental, hierarchical, or even…

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
The importance of open communication in the workplace

# data[].attributes.body
https://www.joinblink.com/intelligence/open-communication-importance

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Open communication is like the calcium in your bones. When it's there, you never notice, or consciously think about it. You take it for granted and go about your day.

But when it's not there, every moment is painful. You see each and every part of your body breaking down. The same happens to your organization in the absence of open communication.

When your teams don't engage in open communication, workers keep acting on mixed signals and ambiguous messages. And that can only lead to poor business results.

Whether your workers consist of frontline or desk-based employees, open communication can deliver a significant boost in collaboration, along with numerous other benefits.

So in this post, we'll take a look at the meaning of open communication and the reasons you should invest in it. And once you've seen why it's so important to develop a culture of open communication, we'll also show you the main drivers to take into account when implementing open communication.

What is open communication?

Open communication refers to the ability of individuals to freely convey their thoughts and ideas to each other. Within a corporate environment, an organization can foster open communication by actively promoting all employees to share their feedback and opinions.

For example, when senior managers and other workers in an organization express their ideas, issues, and thoughts with one another in a steady, honest, transparent, and reliable manner. This way, teams can avoid surprises, resolve conflicts, and collaborate better.

Open communication also encourages employees to communicate their feelings, challenges, and feedback confidently. This behavior is a better alternative to the passive, aggressive, passive-aggressive, or non-verbal cues that people resort to when they want to express a disagreement or avoid confrontation.

The point is, open communication is an approach that values every workers' unique perspective, helps them see things differently, and improves collaboration.

But that's not all. Let's go over all the advantages of open communication in more detail.

{{callout}}

Why is open communication in the workplace important?

Open communication is the lifeblood of your company. And no internal system can run smoothly in its absence.

For example, imagine a workplace with silos among different departments and teams. When no one is openly communicating, two people may end up working on the same task, while some tasks may get abandoned because no one did them.

Open communication doesn't just prevent such problems, but also takes your business growth to the next level. And it does that in the following ways.

Open communication supports employee happiness

Employee happiness is one of the top goals for any organization. It should be, since happy employees are 20% more productive than their unhappy counterparts. Plus, they are less likely to leave your company, saving thousands of dollars you would have spent in new talent acquisition.

If you want to keep workers happy, open communication is a must-have. In a survey of more than 1000 employees, Atlassian found that with honest feedback, personal openness, and mutual respect, workers are 80% more likely to report high emotional well-being.

Image Source: Atlassian

Open communication reduces the cultural gap and promotes inclusion

Many years ago, one of the employees in a team I was managing submitted a sudden resignation. He had started four months earlier, at a considerable salary increase from his previous role. Nobody had seen any sign of discontent. When asked why, he said, "I feel like I don't belong here."

Unfortunately, such incidents are more commonplace than you think. Most large organizations today have a diverse workforce, with employees from many different cultures.

While this makes your organization a fertile ground for creativity and innovation, it can also make it easy for people to feel unwelcome and out of place.

And as per anthropologist Cristina De Rossi, culture is made of elements such as religion, clothing, food, language, music, professional behavior, and many more. So when people of different cultures work together on common goals, these elements can create barriers to collaboration and productivity. Not to mention issues like missed revenue streams and PR disasters.

So creating a culture of inclusion is vital to engage and retain employees. And the good news is that your employees can handle these barriers with cultural knowledge, awareness, and understanding - all of which are hallmarks of open communication.

Open communication lets employees ask clarifying questions and share their challenges candidly, even if they make them vulnerable. And when they see that it's okay to be vulnerable, they're even more willing to work through their cultural differences.

This way, open communication helps workers get past the confusion and assumptions caused by cultural differences and makes everyone feel that they're on the same team.

Open communication improves employee engagement

Research has shown that highly engaged workers are 17% more productive than their coworkers. These are workers who carry out their tasks diligently and go the extra mile at work.

When you encourage open communication, you're demonstrating that you're willing to listen to employees' concerns and feedback. And in doing so, you position yourself as a caring and trustworthy employer. If open communication isn't a tactic in your employee engagement strategies, it should be.

So letting employees express their feelings and thoughts openly engages them more and increases their commitment to your organization.

Open communication boosts productivity

You can have a well-trained and skilled staff, but all the talent in the world will have no value if there is little productivity. And if your workers can't effectively communicate with one another, they can't get things done.

As we said earlier, open communication increases engagement, and engagement leads to higher productivity. But that's not to say it doesn't have a direct impact on productivity.

Openness makes communication effective. Your employees get the right information at the right time. And effective communication can increase your workplace productivity by 25%.

Open communication clarifies expectations

The first thing your employees need to excel in their jobs is to know exactly what needs to be done and why. Providing the necessary direction and explaining each worker's role are the keys to meeting business objectives.

Without clear expectations, you'll be setting them up for failure even before they have begun. And what helps you set clear expectations? Open communication.

In fact, it doesn't just lead to a better understanding of tasks, but also keeps the workers accountable. By openly communicating goals and key performance indicators, you reiterate their importance and give employees a checkpoint to aim for.

Open communication enhances psychological safety

Repressing problems in the company only amplifies them. The sooner you can nip them in the bud, the better for everyone.

For example, let's say your team members feel that you don't consider their workloads when assigning new tasks. And their resentment towards you is growing as a result. And if they aren't allowed to share such a concern openly, they are more likely to eventually burn out or quit.

So it's essential for workers to feel safe in voicing their opinions. And they shouldn't have to feel judged, blamed, or punished in any way.

That's why psychological safety is one of the key drivers of employee engagement. When you build a culture of openly sharing one's thoughts and feelings, workers see that it's safe to do so without any fear.

This creates an environment where employees are not shy of sharing their honest feedback, nor are they offended when such feedback is given to them. Similarly, leaders are more receptive to suggestions that can improve the organization and help realize its full potential.

Open communication strengthens team bonding

Open communication makes your employees aware of one another's preferences, communication styles, challenges, and even vulnerabilities. And when implemented right, it also shows them that their peers accept and respect them for who they are and what they bring to the team.

The outcome? Trust goes up and relationships get stronger. Who wouldn't want that as part of their employee experience strategy?

In contrast, closed communication makes people look deceiving, manipulative, critical, and intimidating. To counter this, employees build emotional walls to protect themselves. So employee engagement and retention take a hit.

Open communication fosters creativity and innovation

According to 250 researchers at 60 institutions, creativity is the number one 21st century skill. Since open communication encourages team members to put their ideas in the open, they also get to build off one another's thoughts to come up with creative solutions to problems.

By inviting their thoughts and suggestions, you also show employees that you look to them for solving problems and growing the company. This helps workers see themselves as an integral part of the organization and instills a greater sense of ownership.

The 3 pillars of open communication

Open communication may look easy enough to understand and implement. But contrary to popular belief, it's not about being brutally honest and not caring about your coworkers' feelings. In fact, it's the opposite.

Yet many leaders do things in the name of open communication that end up sabotaging open communication. The following principles will help you get it right.

Egolessness

If you and your team members can't keep their egos in check, open communication may seem threatening. To get your team to embrace it, you need to lead by example.

After all, when communication flows openly both ways, your employees may also question, share recommendations, or convey how they feel about how you have been doing things so far.

So you should have enough maturity and spirit as a leader to encourage such behavior, instead of getting offended by it.

Trust

Business literature is filled with the right words and phrases to say when sharing feedback with workers. But it's not so much about the words as about the trust workers have in you.

When there is no trust that you have your team members' best interests in mind, even the smallest, positive feedback can hurt them. But when they trust you, even the most critical feedback is understood and appreciated.

Training

To implement open communication at your workplace, it's important to show your team how to do it right. Both managers and other employees should learn to communicate openly and to encourage others to do the same. So it's essential to have a formal communication training program in place.

Open Communication FAQs

What is open communication in the workplace?

Open communication is when senior managers and other workers in an organization express their ideas, issues, and thoughts with one another in a steady, honest, transparent, and reliable manner. This way, teams can avoid surprises, resolve conflicts, and collaborate better.

Why is open communication important in the workplace?

Open communication is important in the workplace because it supports the following:
1. Supports employee happiness
2. Reduces the cultural gap and promotes inclusion
3. Improves employee engagement
4. Boosts productivity
5. Clarifies expectations
6. Enhances psychological safety
7. Strengthens team bonding
8. Fosters creativity and innovation

What are some examples of open communication?

Some examples of open communication include:
1. Having regular, informal get-togethers with employees on all levels to share ideas, initiatives and raise concerns.
2. Discouraging anonymous feedback
3. Having a open door policies for meetings
4. Sharing the company's financial information and performance

Final thoughts on the importance of open communication

Teamwork is essential to unite your workforce forward toward's a shared goal. This is because when people combine their individual talents and skills with others, they accomplish much more than what they would have achieved working separately.

But teamwork brings with itself some unique challenges. The differences that help us contribute to the team also create barriers in collaborating with others effectively.

As you can see from this post, open communication goes a long way in eliminating these barriers and providing quick and easy access to essential information. So take these factors into account and see how you can apply the principles we talked about in your business.

And in doing so, also keep in mind that the best employee engagement tools can turbocharge your efforts to build a culture of open communication. This is where Blink can help. Consider booking a free Blink demo today.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The importance of open communication in the workplace

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
With a rising remote and frontline workforce all over the globe, open communication is more important than ever. Keep reading to learn why.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Collaborative Leadership: What Happens When Hierarchies Flatten

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Do top-down hierarchies still work in businesses? Or do leaders today need to find a different approach that best serves their companies and people? Research determining how group members interact when there's a threat or rival says collaborative leadership is a better choice than traditional business structures designed to demonstrate power, authority, and control. In contrast to egalitarian teams, top-down structures seem to hurt team dynamics. Additionally, they create a worse perception of the group's performance. Lindred Greer, a professor at Stanford Graduate School of Business, explains, "When you look at real organizations, having a clear hierarchy within your firm actually makes people turn on each other when they face an outside threat . . . Effective teamwork against threats requires not hierarchy, but egalitarianism. . ."

In addition to this, the most prominent generation in the U.S. workforce-millennials-want changes in how organizations operate. As Google's former Head of People Lazlo Bock says, "Over the coming decades, the most gifted, hardest working people on the planet will gravitate to places where they can do meaningful work and help shape the destiny of organizations." Millennials understand their impact ties in with their ability to operate as leaders within their company. In top-down structures full of red tape caused by traditional power structures, it's almost impossible to become an ideal team player and drive real change. This is debilitating for those who are self-motivated and seek fulfillment and meaning at work.

To avoid these problems, consider implementing collaborative leadership into your organizational structure. This way of guiding a business builds leaders at all levels and allows the team a more participatory role in shaping the company's future. Find out more below about the collaborative management style, its benefits, and how to begin practicing it.

What is Collaborative Leadership?

Collaborative leadership is the distribution of power and influence starting at an executive level. However, this way of leading affects the entire company. With collaborative leadership, teams are more synergetic and communicative. They also understand how they can work together to produce optimal results.

Collaborative leaders encourage participation, group decision making, and the expression of thoughts, feelings, and ideas. They create a safe environment for their leadership team to openly communicate and reach conclusions about the direction of the company. Ultimately, collaborative leaders work to instill a sense of unity, camaraderie, collectiveness, and team spirit among group members.

Why Collaborative Leadership is Becoming Popular

New ideas are emerging about what effective leadership looks like. From Situational Leadership® to shared leadership, there are various ways to lead that prevent leaders from becoming one-dimensional. In today's business world, a singular person having full command and control over a company isn't feasible. With that being said, collaborative leadership is a great option that allows executives and others on the leadership team to play to their strengths. Doing so optimizes the talent on the team, which ultimately drives the success of the company.

In addition to this, it also changes the dynamic of the company culture. This leadership style isn't only used when interacting with other top-level executives. It's a foundational way of guiding cross-functional teams throughout the business. For example, a CEO might teach their direct report how to be a collaborative leader. This person can take what they learned and practice collaborative leadership with the team they guide. Leaders from this group can do the same until it reaches and influences employees at every level in the business. When implemented correctly, the collaborative leadership style directly positively affects every single person in an organization.

Other benefits of the collaborative management style include:

An increase of creativity and innovative ideas

Better conditions for open communication among leaders and workers

Higher levels of employee engagement, performance, and productivity

A stronger team that operates with the mentality of tackling challenges and problems together

Employees becoming more "accepting of organizational rules and their perceived organizational performance"

Creating leaders at every level who are capable of working together in a productive, motivating way

More opportunities to listen to and include diverse thoughts, feelings, and beliefs before reaching a decision that affects team members

Keeping the human connection element alive in technology-driven companies

How to Practice Collaborative Leadership

Do you feel like your team and company could benefit from you becoming a collaborative leader? From guiding your team through the decision making process, using a more democratic leadership style, or learning how to communicate more openly and inclusively, there are many ways executives can begin this journey. Find out more about stepping into collaborative leadership below.

1. Model Businesses That Successfully Use Collaborative Leadership

Grasping the concept of collaborative leadership is one thing-practicing yourself is another. Because of this, learning from a collaborative leader is one of the best ways to become one yourself. One example of the way leaders at Sequoia Consulting interact with each other effectively is by creating a user guide for themselves. In essence, this manual describes to others how to get the best use out of them. Kaleana Quibell, the company's well-being director, tells Culture Amp, "When you know how a colleague you're collaborating with operates, you become more efficient, more productive, and your trust in others improves."

To find other collaborative leaders and learn from them:

Use a social networking site like LinkedIn to join collaborative leadership groups to meet people who practice this leadership style.

Search posts using the words "collaborative leadership" to find more examples of leaders to model.

Reach out and send them a message asking to discuss what they've learned and the best tips they have to offer as you step into this new way of leading.

2. Visualize Collaboration at Your Company

Implementing collaborative leadership with minimal mistakes and errors requires serious thought from leaders. When leading more democratically, it's important to remember that you must navigate various differing personalities, opinions, beliefs, ideas, and concerns. In short, harmony among the team isn't always a given. To avoid conflict, consider what collaboration looks like in your business, when to use it, what potential roadblocks could pop up, how to resolve them, and what steps need to be taken to create a culture of togetherness. To prepare for these situations and develop a plan for times of conflict, make visualization a daily habit.

When practicing visualization:

Think about what the team is currently doing right to collaborate. Visualize ways to lean into this even more.

Imagine the group collaborating during a strategic meeting, brainstorming session, or any other situation where a decision must be made. How do you guide the team? Which conflict resolution skills will you use if group members get stressed, heated, or upset?

Form a mental portrait of times the group could have collaborated better for a more positive outcome? What would you have done differently? How can you make these changes moving forward?

3. Start With Why

Collaborative leadership isn't a free-for-all in terms of decision making, problem solving, and leading the company. There does need to be a visionary on the team who leads everyone by communicating the company's purpose. Teams need to understand why the business exists and what vision of a better future they're working toward. CEOs and founders must step up and communicate their inspiring, clear vision, so the team has a guiding force-a force that spreads throughout the company in real-time through its various leaders. Without defining the company's "why" first, it's almost impossible to collaborate successfully because there's no collective objective.

Once a leader communicates the business's "why," they can begin working on the business's "how" with their team. Ultimately, this is the purpose of collaborative leadership-sharing responsibility for how a company reaches the leader's vision. Once a leadership team understands the CEO's "why," they can figure out a strategy for making this a reality. At this point, executive leaders should shift into guiding the team using group decision making and democratic leadership.
Learn more about guiding your team through group decision-making.
4. Ensure Teams Have the Tools Needed to Collaborate

Undoubtedly, less face-to-face interaction presents new challenges for employers. Research from Upwork estimates 36.2 million Americans will be working remotely by 2025-double the number of people who said they worked from home in 2020. With these numbers in mind, leaders need to think about what tools they should provide that keep collaboration a top priority.

Fortunately, many business apps, project management platforms, and communication tools ensure teams can remain interconnected and effective. For instance, Slack, Google Hangouts, Zoom, and Microsoft Teams are all great for staying in touch with one another on a daily basis. Whether sharing files for a project you're working on together or asking a quick question to see how another team member feels about a specific change, tools like these keep collaboration alive.

At project management software company Hive, CEO John Furneaux says regular group meetings using digital tools are vital to keeping team collaboration in check. "The most important keys to remote work at a startup have been weekly stand-ups. At Hive, we all get on Zoom once a week to chat and give shoutouts to the team. We also have regular 1:1s with video on. Having your video on totally changes the tone of a meeting . . . ," he explains in an article for the company's blog.

5. Normalize Asking for Help and Relying on Others

For collaborative leadership to work, leaders must create an environment where team members feel open to sharing their ideas, beliefs, feelings, emotions, and concerns without the fear of judgment and shame. The first step in doing this is becoming an active, empathetic listener who asks questions and shows genuine interest in what your team has to say. Recognizing employees and showing appreciation and gratitude for their participation is one way to build a trusting team culture grounded upon open communication.

In business cultures where communication is closed off, no one feels safe to ask for help. Truthfully, many of your employees likely have bad experiences from their past jobs that might make them feel guarded when expressing how they feel or what they think. As a leader, you'll need to step up and set the tone for how the team will interact with each other so they can effectively collaborate.

To be a good example:

Be open about asking your team for help.

Tell them why you need it. For instance, you might practice strengths-based leadership to recognize and pinpoint each individual on your team's talents and gifts. Let them know what these are, and play them to it when you or the group company face challenges.

Meet with your leadership team and direct reports regularly (one-on-one and in a group). This will help you understand their top qualities and how they can best serve the group when collaborating.

6. Grow Yourself to Be a Collaborative Leader

Without growing and developing as a leader, you won't be able to effectively step into this leadership style, as collaboration requires a number of leadership skills. For example, a collaborative leader needs to know how to diffuse conflict, be an emotionally intelligent communicator and listener, hold themselves and others accountable, and inspire, motivate, and influence those within the group. The best way to do this is to take on a growth mindset and make pursuing knowledge an everyday habit. Whether you listen to business podcasts, read leadership books, study the various leadership styles, take online courses, or meet with mentors, you should be doing something every day to grow as a leader. Those who avoid self-development cannot expect group development.

Why Collaborative Leadership Matters

Steve Jobs is an excellent example of a leader who understood the value of using this leadership style to change the world. In an interview, he expressed collaboration was a crucial factor in Apple's ability to drive impact. "One of the keys to Apple is Apple's an incredibly collaborative company . . . We all meet for three hours once a week, and we talk about everything we're doing-the whole business. There's tremendous teamwork at the top of the company, which filters down to tremendous teamwork throughout the company . . . If you want to hire great people and have them stay working for you, you have to let them make a lot of decisions and have to be run by ideas, not hierarchy. The best ideas have to win. Otherwise, good people don't stay," he tells the interviewer.

Teamwork is collaborative leadership, and without teamwork, companies fail. When a CEO or founder is more concerned with being right all the time, delving out KPIs, and having complete control and authority, they'll quickly find themselves facing a war alone. Their team will desert them, one by one, until there is no one left to help them fulfill their vision. It goes without saying any vision worth pursuing cannot be fulfilled alone. In order to experience and maintain success, leaders must foster personal connections, inspire their team, and use each individual's strengths when collaborating to produce results that best benefit customers and the company at large.
Managing Remote Workers: How To Build A Strong Remote Team How to Prevent Siloed Teams and Encourage Teamwork How to Effectively Use the Democratic Leadership Style
Interested in learning more about how to lead a team? Check out these articles next:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Collaborative Leadership: What Happens When Hierarchies Flatten

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Find out what collaborative leadership is and how to share leadership responsibilities to produce greater business results.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In Brief

The Problem

Leaders know that low employee engagement is a sign of lost value-it's clearly something they want to fix. But most of them don't know how, so they provide random perks, hoping those will move the needle.

The Solution

It's much more effective to create a culture of trust. Neuroscience research shows that you can do this through eight key management behaviors that stimulate the production of oxytocin, a brain chemical that facilitates teamwork.

The Payoff

By fostering organizational trust, you can increase employees' productivity and energy levels, improve collaboration, and cultivate a happier, more loyal workforce.

Companies are twisting themselves into knots to empower and challenge their employees. They're anxious about the sad state of engagement, and rightly so, given the value they're losing. Consider Gallup's meta-analysis of decades' worth of data: It shows that high engagement-defined largely as having a strong connection with one's work and colleagues, feeling like a real contributor, and enjoying ample chances to learn-consistently leads to positive outcomes for both individuals and organizations. The rewards include higher productivity, better-quality products, and increased profitability.

A version of this article appeared in the January-February 2017 issue (pp.84-90) of Harvard Business Review.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Managers have tried various strategies and perks to boost employee engagement-all with little impact on long-term retention and performance. But now, neuroscience offers some answers. Through his research on the brain chemical oxytocin-shown to facilitate collaboration and teamwork-Zak has developed a framework for creating a culture of trust and building a happier, more loyal, and more productive workforce.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
11 Real Ways to Build a Positive School Culture

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
All Posts

How do you want teachers and students to feel when they walk into school every morning?

Are your teachers dreading coming to work in the morning? Do students walk into the building with their heads down, trying not to interact with others?

Or are your teachers excited, starting each class with enthusiasm? Do you hear laughter in the hallways when students are coming in? Having a positive school culture has an impact, not just on the attitudes of students and teachers, but on the entire learning experience.

You, as a school leader, have a vital role in creating a positive school culture.

What is 'school culture'?

Culture, ethos, atmosphere, climate...

What do these words mean for your school?

Basically, a school culture consists of the underlying influences and attitudes within the school - based on the norms, traditions and beliefs of the staff and students.

How important is school culture? In short, the prevailing atmosphere in your school will affect everything that goes on inside its walls.

This goes beyond the student body: it also involves how teachers interact with each other, their students, and the parents.

Toxic vs. positive school culture

A toxic school culture has been described as a place where "staffs are extremely fragmented, where the purpose of serving students has been lost to the goal of serving the adults, where negative values and hopelessness reign." ( Realizing a Positive School Culture, 1998)

Anthony Muhammad -- a high school principal and the author of Transforming School Culture: How to Overcome Staff-- describes a toxic school culture as an environment where school staff "fails to figure out what's needed to cultivate the characteristics necessary for student growth and learning."

Obviously, this is not a good environment for any school.

On the other hand, a positive school culture is a place where your efforts are translated into positive experiences for both staff and students. Success, joy, and accomplishment are all main features of a positive school culture.

When your school has a positive culture, teachers are excited to work because they see the bigger picture, and students are in a better position (mentally and emotionally) to learn.

How School Leaders are Involved

What is your role in creating a positive school culture?

our role as a school leader can be defined in three basic steps:

Read the culture of your school: Analyze and understand the current culture of your school. This means observing the attitudes of teachers in the classroom and in staff meetings, and understanding the general feeling of students towards the school and the staff.

Identify which aspects are toxic and which are positive: Write down the aspects of your school that improve the atmosphere and those which cause negative feelings in teachers and students.

Reinforce positive elements: From that list, pull out the positive aspects of your school culture, and include other values, attitudes, or qualities that you would like to see in your school. Then, take action to reinforce those positive qualities and create a positive school culture.

What are some specific ways to reinforce a positive atmosphere in your school?

11 Proven ways to build a positive school culture

1. Create meaningful parent involvement

Generating clear, open communication with the parents of your students can help you avoid misunderstandings and remove feelings of mistrust or hostility.

To involve parents in your school culture, give them a platform for feedback on classroom activities or school programs. Ask them about their hopes or concerns regarding their children's education. Go beyond parent-teacher meetings and organize workshops where teachers and parents can discuss homework, study skills, and tests.

Involving parents in school activities in a meaningful way also helps foster positive feelings between the school and the parents. You can ask parents to be on event committees or to participate in school fundraisers.

Developing educational programs for parents can also help involve them in their children's schooling, and thus build a more positive atmosphere in your school.

For example, Hollibrook Elementary in Spring Branch, Texas, developed a "Parent University" to get parents more actively involved in the school -- helping build trust and rapport between the school and the families of the students.

2. Celebrate personal achievement and good behavior

This means more than the occasional "good job."

Complimenting kids helps them to feel that they are cared for individually. Both you and your staff play a huge part in this aspect of your school culture.

One way to generate more positive reinforcement from your staff is to set goals for the number of compliments each member has to give during the day or week. Encourage them to give specific compliments that highlight what each individual student has done well.

An example of a ceremony recognizing students for outstanding achievements -- in this case, Waresboro Elementary recognized 17 students for excellence in "scholarship, responsibility, leadership, and service." Image source: Waresboro Elementary School

Celebrating the achievements of your students can be done on a larger scale as well.

For example, Joyce Elementary School in Detroit started holding an honor ceremony for students. Here, they presented medallions for students and praised specific achievements. This event includes not only school members, but hundreds from the community.

3. Establish school norms that build values

Your school and classroom rules should be clear to all students, and should be well-regulated.

However, this doesn't mean that you need to establish rules for every possible situation.

Instead, create school norms that focus on building positive values in your class. This helps kids to learn, not just what they should and shouldn't do, but why they should or shouldn't do it.

For example, instead of creating specific rules about chewing gum, use of water bottles, or electronic devices in the classroom, you could create a classroom rule that states: "Be respectful of the people around you."

To help students apply these norms, there should be consistency across the entire school building, inside and out.

4. Set consistent discipline

When rules are not followed, discipline must be administered. However, broadening the range of discipline methods can help encourage a positive school culture.

Instead of constantly putting out fires, trying a more proactive approach to discipline. Giving a student detention after bad behavior teaches him that he did something wrong. But giving him a task that helps correct the wrong teaches him what he should've done instead.

For example, imagine one student started a fight. His discipline could include having to write a letter of apology to the student he hurt, and then to take a shift as "hallway monitor".

Having students work to correct their own wrongs helps encourage them to take responsibility for their actions.

Getting your teachers to internalize the subtle and tactful arts of classroom management consistently is critical for a school culture of mutual respect and adherence to rules -- both by teachers and students.

Also, it's essential that all discipline is presented consistently across the school. When all students are treated equally and bad behavior is disciplined in the same way in different classrooms, this helps removes feelings of mistrust among students.

5. Model the behaviors you want to see in your school

You have a list of qualities and values that you want to see in your teachers and students.

But how well do you present those same aspects of your school culture?

All changes have to start from the top. That means when you interact with teachers and students, you need to be an example of the behavior that you want to see in your school.

6. Engage students in ways that benefit them

When in school, your students are learning more than just secular instruction. They're also developing their social skills, and learning how to become successful adults.

Schools that help students develop essential social skills are preparing them on an even deeper level for their future after graduation.

One way to engage students and develop these types of skills is through social-emotional learning (SEL). Throughout the day, encourage teachers to include activities that help students develop qualities such as empathy, reliability, respect, concern, and a sense of humor.

In the research brief Social Emotional Learning in Elementary School, researchers found that SEL programs helped students make more ethical decisions, maintain positive relationships, set and achieve goals at school and at home, and manage their emotions. These programs promoted achievements at school, and reduced substance abuse and emotional distress.

7. Create rituals and traditions that are fun for students and teachers

The school day - and school year - should be punctuated with time for fun. This helps students engage with each other in positive events and builds morale in school.

For example, one school created a weekly event called 'Fabulous Friday', which opened students up to a variety of fun activities. Why not create your own version of Fabulous Friday?

Using technology in the classroom -- as a reward or simply to supplement learning -- is a cost-effective way to introduce positive rituals for students on the level of the individual classroom.

For example, you can create special rituals and traditions for the first day of school, or for the first day of a new month.

Creating appropriate times to have fun and laugh breaks up the day and gives students a chance to relax in between learning. This helps them become more refreshed when returning to the classroom.

8. Encourage innovation in the classroom

Innovation in the classroom starts with you - the school leader.

When talking with teachers, encourage them to try new methods of teaching. You can even set up regular meetings to discuss new research on teaching methods or new teaching tech, and how these can be implemented in your school.

These meetings will help the whole teaching staff to brainstorm and implement new ideas, bringing teachers into the process of building your school culture.

For example, why not try game-based learning?

Students playing Prodigy - a game-based math platform - on their tablets

Particularly popular for improving results in topics like math, video game based learning has been shown to heighten the level of interest, concentration, and enjoyment of educational materials among students.

And teachers tend to agree: in one study by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, almost 80% of K-8 classroom teachers surveyed agreed that digital games have "improved student mastery of curricular content".

Plus, it's fun!

9. Professional development for teachers

Students are not the only people in your school who should be learning. Helping your teachers to develop their skills will encourage a positive school culture by giving them the ability to improve their craft.

For example, the Mooresville Intermediate School in North Carolina pairs each new teacher with a mentor at the beginning of their career at the school. This helps teachers to be fully aware of school policies and rules, and gives them specific instruction in how the school uses tech in the classroom.

Supporting new teachers in this way can help promote a consistent atmosphere across your school.

Also, it's good to make sure that you as the school leader are aware of what your teachers think and feel in their work. Set up regular times to ask for feedback, hear out concerns, and get suggestions for improvement.

10. Maintain the physical environment of your school

Surprisingly enough, the physical surroundings of students and teachers has a huge impact on the culture of your school.

The HEAD Project(Holistic Evidence and Design) took evidence from over 3,700 students in 27 diverse schools. They found that the physical space where students are learning can account for a 16% variation in the learning process over a school year.

What aspects of a classroom have the most impact?

The novelty, stimulation, and freedom of movement students enjoy in a flexible seating classroom setting positively impacts behavior, according to educational researcher Sheryl Feinstein's book From the Brain to the Classroom.

It was found that half of the learning impact came from light, temperature, and air quality. The other half of learning impact came from factors such as individualization of the environment and color of the room. For example, the ideal classroom was found to have light-colored walls with one accent wall of a brighter color.

Adopting a policy that allows for flexible seating in classrooms is one step school leaders are taking more frequently.

Adjusting these seemingly insignificant factors isn't difficult, and can result in an increase in student engagement and improvement in learning.

11. Keep tabs on your school's culture, and make adjustments when necessary

Unfortunately, creating a positive school culture isn't just a matter of following a checklist. As a school leader, you need to stay informed of what's going on in your school, and understand the attitudes and atmosphere that permeate the hallways and classrooms.

As we mentioned above, starting the process of improving your school culture involves analyzing the current situation of your school. This analyzation process should become a regular part of your schedule.

Set aside time every few months to analyze your school culture. Keep on the watch for the specific factors that indicate a positive school culture, and keep using the steps above to reinforce those aspects. Also, be aware of any negative factors that have started to seep in, and take decisive action to remove those.

Above all, take time to listen to feedback from both teachers and students in order to understand the experience that they are having in your school.

Conclusion: Building a positive school culture will take time and effort, but it's worth it

If you've already started efforts to build a positive school culture but aren't seeing the results you expected, don't worry.

Changing the attitudes of all the staff and students within your school won't be an overnight process. However, it will be worth the wait.

Remember: this change process starts with you. So, make an effort to mimic the behavior and attitudes that you want to see displayed in your school.

Keep working patiently at building a school culture that fosters positive action, and your students will be better prepared to learn better and become more successful now and into the future.

Try Prodigy Math Game - the engaging, curriculum-aligned math platform used by over 50 million students, teachers and admins.

Culture, ethos, atmosphere, climate...

Plus, it's fun!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
11 Real Ways to Build a Positive School Culture

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
All Posts How do you want teachers and students to feel when they walk into school every morning? Are your teachers dreading coming to work in the morning? Do students walk into the building with their heads down, trying not to interact with others? Or are your teachers excited, starting each class with enthusiasm?

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Doodle Sketch Marketing Mind Map Brainstorm

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Resistance to change | Leadership Success

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Resistance to change | Leadership Success

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
There are many reasons why employees may resist change and many forms that their resistance may come in. Learn how to prepare for this.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Context In my previous post, issues encountered by various of my non-profit clients were identified as catalysts for application of an empathy mapping response, in order to gain greater insight int…

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
The Top 6 Leadership Challenges Around the World

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
What's most challenging about leading organizations today? And do these leadership challenges differ around the world?

Our researchers conducted a study on this, going straight to the source to answer these questions about the top leadership challenges. The study gathered input from 763 middle- and executive-level leaders in organizations from China/Hong Kong, Egypt, India, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Spain, and the United States.

We found that leaders around the globe consistently face the same top 6 challenges - even if they describe their leadership challenges and the specific context in different ways.

It may be surprising to find so much consistency in these challenges, given that leaders came from all corners of the globe, as well as different industries, organizations, and work environments. Yet it seems that, overall, these 6 leadership challenges are inherent for leaders in the role of middle or senior manager, regardless of the context.

Thus, these 6 top challenges should be core focus areas for managerial development, everywhere in the world, and in all organizations.

So what are the most common leadership challenges around the world?

The 6 Most Common Challenges That Leaders Face

Around the World, More Similar Than Different

Regardless of their location, industry, or organizational culture, leaders universally face both internal and external challenges. These challenges may impact their careers, as well as their day-to-day experiences.

As noted in our white paper, we found these are the 6 most common challenges leaders face, regardless of where they are located.

1. Honing Effectiveness.

This leadership challenge is about developing the relevant skills - such as time management, prioritization, strategic thinking, decision-making, and getting up to speed with the job - to be more effective at work.

2. Inspiring Others.

This is the challenge of inspiring or motivating team members to ensure they're satisfied with their jobs and working smarter.

3. Developing Employees.

This is the challenge of developing others, including coaching and mentoring effectively.

4. Leading a Team.

Another key challenge is that of team-building, team development, and team management. Specific leadership challenges related to this include how to instill pride, how to provide support, how to effectively engage in collaboration, how to lead a big team, how to establish team norms, and what to do when taking over a new team.

5. Guiding Change.

The challenge of managing, mobilizing, understanding, and leading change means that being a successful change leader isn't easy. It requires knowing how to mitigate consequences, overcome resistance to change, and deal with team members' reactions to change.

6. Managing Stakeholders.

The last leadership challenge is managing relationships, politics, and image in the work environment. This includes gaining managerial support, managing up, influencing others, and getting buy-in from other departments, groups, or individuals.

When Do the Top Leadership Challenges Most Commonly Emerge?

The "when" factor is another important consideration when identifying the leadership challenges that impact leaders around the world. But, what does that mean? Teams, organizations, and leaders may experience an increase in challenges during specific times, such as when:

Something new is about to start, like a new project, employee, client, line of business, shift to a hybrid workforce, etc.

Something is winding down and almost over, such as a project, role, contract, engagement, etc.

Something changes dramatically, like a team member suddenly leaves, a financial issue affects the department, or business priorities change while the organization is navigating a crisis such as the global COVID-19 pandemic or conflict in Eastern Europe.

Any of these hurdles represent significant challenges for any leader. So, it's vital to recognize when you or your organization are experiencing a difficult time, identify the specific internal and external roadblocks, and create a strategic plan to tackle the challenges.

How to Respond to These Top Leadership Challenges

5 Tips for Leaders

Here are 5 concrete things that leaders around the globe can work on to address these common leadership challenges:

1. Set goals for yourself and your team.

Be proactive in setting goals and establishing the timelines - and deadlines - necessary to keep yourself and your team members on track. The distractions you face can make it easy to lose sight of long-term and even short-term goals. You can easily get sucked into dealing with urgent issues that arise unexpectedly, rather than staying focused on producing the outcomes that matter most to your organization.

While no leader can completely avoid surprises, goal-setting provides a map you can return to time and again to refocus on your top priorities while handling other leadership challenges.

One time-honored approach is the SMART method. When setting a goal, make sure it's:

Specific. Write down a detailed description of what accomplishing the goal would involve.

Measurable. Set targets that you can quantify to assess progress.

Attainable. Stretch goals are fine, but you also need to make sure that achieving the goal is possible.

Realistic. Be sure you understand what you will likely need - in terms of time, resources, and talent - to achieve it.

Timed. Create deadlines for hitting milestones on the way to your goal, as well as for achieving the goal itself.

Just be sure to set goals that align with your values.

2. Delegate more to others.

You'll be more productive in tackling leadership challenges, and you'll empower your colleagues to take more ownership, if you delegate. Effective delegation requires more than just getting a task off your desk - it involves a repeating cycle of 4 key steps:

Understanding your preferences. Effective delegators prioritize their workload and decide which tasks to keep and which to give to someone else. They also understand how much feedback they want while the person they've delegated to works on the task.

Knowing your people. To delegate effectively, you must assign tasks to people with the necessary knowledge and skills. That means that you have to understand your people. Use delegation to help direct reports develop, allowing them to learn as they take on new tasks.

Being clear about the purpose of the task. A task's purpose gives it meaning. By aligning this purpose with team or individual beliefs and goals, delegation can become an opportunity for personal growth.

Assessing and rewarding. You should engage in collaboration and work with your direct reports to develop ways to help them, and you, decide if a task has been completed properly, and to reward them appropriately.

You'll build more trust on your team if you delegate more, as well.

3. Maximize your unique value.

There will always be more things competing for your attention than you have time and energy to do. Prioritize the most important tasks that only you can do, and delegate everything else to team members.

Leaders overcome leadership challenges and create value for their organizations by focusing on the unique contributions only they can make. Understanding what those unique values are for you, and delegating everything else (or as close to everything else as you can), allows you to maximize the value you create for the organization.

It's important to recognize your own characteristics, behaviors, and habits in order to know what may be triggering challenges for you in your career. This way, you can work toward strengthening specific skills and growing as an individual leader. Some internal challenges that many leaders face include a lack of confidence, a fear of failure, maintaining authenticity during self-promotion, impatience, resistance in responding to new ideas, or overcoming impostor syndrome. All of these can be potential roadblocks to leadership success.

Understanding your own strengths and weaknesses and maximizing your unique value are part of increasing your self-awareness and understanding your personal leadership brand.

4. Get role clarity.

Understand what the core responsibilities are for your role, and what are secondary responsibilities, or even work that belongs to someone else.

That won't stop people from asking you to take on additional tasks and projects. And there are certainly times when taking on additional duties may be required due to unusual circumstances, or might be important for your own professional development. But the most effective managers understand that they will largely be judged based on how effective they are at their core responsibilities and how they can overcome leadership challenges.

This also means that there will be times when you'll have to say no. That can feel uncomfortable in a work environment. Practicing saying no and finding ways to do so with tact and professionalism are important. Turning down work that's not part of your role helps keep you focused, and communicating effectively is a critical skill for leaders.

In fact, many of these suggestions for responding to the top leadership challenges around the world are part of developing the core leadership skills you need in every role, at every stage of your career.

5. Strengthen team alignment and collaboration.

What's preventing your team from being on the same page and collaborating effectively together? Maybe you're not being open and honest with each other, or maybe you're not carving out enough time to celebrate the small wins. Either way, strengthening your team's alignment is vital to organizational success - it allows you, and your team, to make difficult decisions with confidence and stay calm and positive in a crisis.

During challenging times, building trust is crucial. In fact, it's one of the 3 keys for better team-building and collaboration. Without trust, people operate out of fear, putting success in jeopardy. Additionally, operating on agreed-upon principles will help align your team. Examples of this include focusing on values like accountability, mutual respect, and integrity.

For effective and structured collaboration to take place, teams must follow a framework composed of these 3 parts:

Structural level: understand structures, roles, and responsibilities of team members.

Systemic level: assess systems, processes, and policies that are currently in place.

Interactional level: evaluate communication among team members.

By following this framework, leaders in any organization will gain better role clarity and strengthen their team's alignment - both of which are necessary when responding to top leadership challenges.

And leaders who sometimes feel overwhelmed by their work can take heart in the fact that they're not alone. By focusing on these 5 key behaviors, you can beat back those feelings and provide more value to your organization as you take on the most pressing leadership challenges.

A Final Word for HR Leaders

Focus Development Efforts on Addressing These 6 Most Common Leadership Challenges

Developmental initiatives are more effective when they align with real challenges that participants are facing. For those who work in training and development, understanding these 6 common challenges that leaders face around the world can be the catalyst for creating developmental initiatives that truly address leaders' real-world needs.

That's why we often suggest that a majority of development program content be the same, no matter where the training is taking place, or who's going through the training. At the same time, we also recognize that what's accepted in one culture may be unacceptable or taboo in another, and some behaviors may be the norm in one country but different in another. So, it's also essential to be aware of cultural nuances and make adjustments as needed.

But given that leaders around the globe face many of the same basic challenges, those designing training initiatives can safely align development efforts for colleagues around the world that tackle these 6 common areas: developing managerial effectiveness, inspiring others, developing employees, leading a team, guiding change, and managing internal stakeholders and politics.

Ready to Take the Next Step?
Build your team's capacity for overcoming these common leadership challenges. Partner with us to craft customized leadership development that develops the critical leadership skills and competencies that are right for your organization's unique context and culture.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Top 6 Leadership Challenges Around the World

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Leading an organization can be challenging. Discover the most common leadership challenges around the world and how to overcome them.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
5 forms of change resistance - Mind Gardener

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When I was eleven years old and in my last year of primary school, my parents told me I would be going to a high school a few suburbs away. I was not happy because all the kids in my class were going to the local high school. As far as I could tell, this was what the kids had always done when they left my primary school. "I want to go where the others are going!" I moaned and whinged for many months. They tried to explain why the other school would be so much better for me in the long run, but I didn't hear the logic. I'm sure I stamped my feet and threatened anarchy, hoping to convince them they were being unreasonable, unfair, and, frankly, mean!

Unfortunately adults can be just as petty in their response to change, even when it is designed to help them. A new system that will improve the work flow can be seen as an unnecessary disruption in a busy environment. A new structure designed to enhance the synchronies between areas can be seen as a challenge to status and job security. Even just a change by a leader to a document you have spent months drafting can be seen as a slight on your expertise.

Organisations are constantly battling "change resistance" and there is no doubt that much time, money and energy can be wasted trying to introduce new programs & processes, and changes to existing ones. You will have seen situations where people seem to ignore a proposed change, avoid it, criticise it, or actively attack it. It can often be frustrating, because the proposed change may be quite logical, fairly simple, or even in their best interests, but still there are some who seem to resist, just as I did when my parents wisely sent me to a school that was an order of magnitude better than the local school. But like all things, if you can diagnose the cause of the behaviour, you are better equipped to deal with it.

Personally I think that "resistance" is not the most accurate term for this phenomenon. I don't think the majority of people are intentionally resisting the change, but we are all hard-wired to stick with current habits, stay in routine, and repeat existing practices as a matter of priority. "Resistance to change" is the behaviour you see, but it might be more accurate to call it "preference for stability". Our brains work most easily in situations that take the least energy, and in nearly all cases, this is the known pattern and habit. When you press for change, you are asking someone to leave their comfort zone, enter the unknown, and expend their precious energy on something new. Unless it is something they strongly believe in already, this can be a big ask!

When you strike resistance, the first step is to uncover what barrier is stopping a person stepping forward with you. Understanding the barrier (eg. a perceived threat, a conflict in priorities, work overload, or strong biases for the past) offers you the opportunity to tailor your approach to best help them step past this barrier. In the 5 different forms of change resistance outlined below, we'll look at what triggers the resistance, and what can help you to guide them past it.
Note: in a relatively short article like this, some of the complexities and nuances of your individual situation may not be reflected, so take this information as an initial guide to help diagnose the situation, but then explore your thoughts and ideas with someone you trust. Colleagues who know the people who are displaying resistance can sometimes offer deeper insights into the triggers for the behaviour, which can often be for reasons unrelated to your proposed change.
1. Passive change resistance

The behaviour: individuals remain silent about their views or appear to agree to changes, but then do not act on them.

The cause: it's a threat response, and threat activates fear in the brain. You'll see fear manifest itself in 4 different behaviours: fight, flight, freeze, or freak-out. When someone displays passive resistance, you are seeing a 'flight' or 'freeze' response. It means the threat that this change presents is something they want to move away from, or hide from in the hope that it passes by without affecting them. In some cases it may incorporate aspects of Overload Change Resistance seen below, but often it is more than that. Something about the proposed change may make them feel uncomfortable. It may be a threat to their sense of competence or confidence, or possibly they have imagined the future situation in a way that does not turn out well for them.

The tools for change: don't assume silence implies acceptance. In fact those who say the least may be those struggling the most internally. Fear does not just arise in the face of a real threat, it also arises in the face of imagined threats. So your goal with these people is to make sure they do not create their own fears by imagining negative impacts from the change. With all threat responses, whether passive or active, it is the most negative consequences that are imagined first and most strongly. Your first task is to encourage people to externalise their thoughts, because it is not until the scenarios that they hold in their head are stated clearly that they can begin to find a more realistic and balanced perspective. For some people this requires a one-on-one conversation, and for others it can be achieved in a group environment. But most importantly ensure you get them externalising their thoughts, don't do it all for them. Even if you state what you can see may be their fear and they agree, until THEY explore it more objectively it will not change.

2. Active change resistance

The behaviour: individuals speak and act against the change either overtly or covertly, with a particular focus on negatively influencing others to also resist, or finding a way to have the change overturned. They may undermine change efforts in subtle ways, or challenge them directly, depending on their personality, role and confidence.

The cause: as with passive resistance, this is usually triggered by a threat response, but when someone displays active resistance, they are modelling 'fight'. It means this change has triggered a very specific threat that they want to eradicate. It may make them feel out of control or unfairly treated, and their active resistance is an attempt to reassert some lost autonomy. It may pose a risk to something they hold dear (e.g. a threat to status, job, intellect) and they are attempting to avoid this materialising. It may be in conflict with something else that has a dominant hold over their beliefs or priorities (eg. you are trying to change something they think their boss is against). Generally you will see the obvious active change resistant behaviours at key points in a change process, when the impact of the change is imminent, e.g. when you are trying to force a commitment from them, when you are pushing things up the line into the view of their superiors, or when an ally starts an attack and they can see an opportunity for success from their efforts.

The tools for change: it is important to understand what potential threat your proposed change may present for people. It may vary from person to person, so reflect on this question early in your planning. The threat may be real, in which case the best approach is to surface it with them and explore together how this can be addressed. But in some cases the threat is imagined, and again, getting close to active change resistors early in the process enables you to better understand their perceived concern and air it so it can be explored. Generally, when someone can externalise their thoughts, they will reflect on them with greater clarity and realise a more balanced perspective. Then it is possible to find a way to manage their potentially conflicting pressures or concerns more maturely. Fight responses lose most of their aggression when addressed early, frankly and directly. While it can feel like a direct attack on you, remember the response is about something conflicting strongly in their worldview, so resist the urge to heighten the tension by 'fighting' back.

3. Attachment change resistance

The behaviour: individuals present strong arguments against the need for change, or in support of the existing process, in an attempt to convince others not to make radical changes. They may try to minimise the problem in an attempt to maintain the status quo. If they see that change is inevitable, they may propose slight adjustments in the hope of achieving a compromise that allows them to still maintain the core of the current process and eliminate major changes.

The cause: they have a strong sense of ownership for existing practices/processes and may have strong emotional ties to it. They may have been the original architect of it, have strong links to the "values" embedded in it, or have used it with success and believe it makes their life easier. When someone is heavily invested in an existing process, they are in the grip of the 'anchoring bias' and the 'confirmation bias', which lock their thinking into positive circles around the known process. Because the brain cannot hold 2 conflicting views at the same time, this makes it very difficult for them to see the need for change, or to have a positive response to a replacement process.

The tools for change: often these people are not your usual change resistors and they may not wish to be difficult. But their wiring in support of the status quo means they genuinely believe in the current process, and it can make them unconsciously "blind" to what others may see as the drivers for change. No amount of argument about the process (either against the old or for the new) will convince them, and your best approach is to ignite a fresh reflection on the root problem that you are trying to address. You want to build from first principles, looking at it all 'as if for the first time'. You can only loosen the grip of the 'anchoring bias' and the 'confirmation bias' by not triggering them in the first place. Return the focus to purpose, define the current need, reflect on current real data that is different to the past, and from here you have the basis to form a new picture. While their attachments will re-emerge throughout this journey, your goal is to create a whole new neural network around the new solution. Beware the trap of being drawn back into arguments about the old process. Just keep your focus on the new picture and help them reinforce the new wiring and swap their allegiance over.

Note: some people can experience a 'grief' response when change replaces something in which they have been strongly invested. Strong emotional reactions might be an indicator of this response. So before you bite back or complain about someone's behaviour, consider the history and this person's role and experience with the old process. If there are reasons that might make them strongly attached, be conscious of this and affirm their experience by acknowledging the positives from the past. The suffering that someone experiencing loss is going through is only compounded when it is ignored by others. Here's a simple overview of how the stages of grief might apply to an organisational change situation and behaviour that tells you what's going on.

4. Uncertainty change resistance

The behaviour: people spend a lot of time wondering, worrying, talking and hypothesising about the change and its possible impacts. Rumours start to circulate and often they are based on unfounded assumptions, grasped at in the absence of known facts. Productivity levels may start to decline, general negativity may rise, and it can be difficult to get people focused on business-as-usual.

The cause: in the face of uncertainty, brain activity is heightened. The brain is constantly working to make sense of situations, and will tend towards known patterns first. In most change situations, there are many gaps where there are no definite facts to fill the void, and this leads to much circular rumination, fabrication of possible futures, and wasted effort on things that may never happen. Added to this dilemma is that the brain naturally fills voids by conjuring the worst scenarios, which will then drive resistance to the change.

The tools for change: don't promote uncertainty! This is probably one of the most common pieces of advice when it comes to change, because no matter how well-intentioned a follower is, once uncertainty grips them, it can be impossible to stop the rumination of mind. This rumination knows no work hour boundaries, and it can keep people up at night and flow over into times they should be focused on something else (hence the impact on productivity and happiness). By recognising where the certainty gaps are yourself, you can influence the assumptions people make to fill those gaps by guiding the conversation about possible futures. But most importantly, keep people's attention on what is known, even if it's simply the specifics of the day-to-day work and deliverables.

5. Overload change resistance

The behaviour: stress responses such as 'moaning' or cynicism about the change, or unexpected emotional reactions or unexplained active resistance to what should be a fairly simple change. In summary, it looks like "pushing back" but without any particular argument relating to the specific change itself.

The cause: it's a common affliction in most workplaces now, where change has continued for many years in one form or another. While change is 'normal', the amount of change that happens in general life is not often as constant as that experienced in (particularly large) organisations. Sometimes the pace is high, there are a series of changes layering on top of each other (often driven by different parts of the organisation), and many are instigated without any influence from those most affected. Add to this an already busy schedule of existing work that takes up much of any person's mental resources, and 'one more minor change' is like that last grain of sand that topples the dune.

The tools for change: in many cases you are trying to introduce your specific change with no influence over the other changes that are contributing to the stress. The real cause of resistance to your particular change proposition is that people have reached the limit of their attention resources and have nothing to give. Pushing back is a natural reaction, in an attempt to stop the flow of information or expectation that is fighting for attention. Be conscious of the conflicts at play by recognising what is on their plate, and consider how your message might fit best in the flow of information fighting for their attention. Often you have no way of becoming "priority one" because they have other dominating forces (e.g, their own boss), so you have to really "get in flow" with them. Preferably work with positive attention grabbers: appealing to a deeper purpose in which they also believe, building a personal connection so they want to work with you, and focusing on positive outcomes that genuinely help them. Most importantly, be very present with them and what is going on in their world, so you can see your window of opportunity and get your timing right for pushing your change forward.
Note that negative attention grabbers (threat, risk, danger, urgency) will work, but only for a short and immediate need. If used when the driver is not truly critical, or used for too long, you will only exacerbate the stress and lose the confidence of people.
Don't forget that one of your most powerful tools in instigating change is to take people on the journey of recognising the need in the context of purpose. "Why are we here?" and "What is the real need?" should always precede decisions to do something new or different. When this realisation of the need is shared, people come to believe in the change for their own reasons, and you can come back to this point whenever you need to realign people. While this step is often done at the beginning, it is sometimes forgotten later in the process when new people come on board or are expected to join into the change activities, so return often to re-engage people with these essential anchors.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 forms of change resistance - Mind Gardener

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
'Resistance to change' might be better understood and overcome if we see it as a 'preference for stability'. Find out how to diagnose the behaviour you see during change, and apply the right tools to bring people along with you.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Use the 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Elements of Company Culture, Employee Experience, Employee Recognition, Leadership & Management, Thanking
Employee recognition is not a one-size-fits-all. The five languages of appreciation in the workplace help managers inspire great performance and retain top talent.
The first step to forging a valuable working relationship between employees and creating a culture of recognition is learning each other's primary language of appreciation. If you can express genuine appreciation for a co-worker's specific contribution or how their actions reflect company values, you'll increase loyalty, improve employee experience and cut down staff turnover.

This topic is explored at length by author Gary Chapman in "The Five Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace." Chapman is widely known for his seminal work, "The Five Love Languages," which examines how different personality types give and receive love. His follow-up book, co-written with psychologist Paul White, discusses how managers can effectively show appreciation and encouragement for their employees.

How to express appreciation in the workplace

Authentic appreciation is individual. One employee may welcome an invitation to a football game, whereas another might favor a simple - but specific - word or note of thanks. Which of the five languages of appreciation you choose to express should depend on what people prefer.

Employee recognition vs. employee appreciation

Recognition and appreciation in the workplace overlap, but they are not identical. Recognition is typically tied to performance and can lead to promotions and pay raises. Appreciation is broader and not as formal as recognition; it may even serve as encouragement for a struggling employee. You can express appreciation for an employee embodying company values or for a singular act that benefited the organization.

Consider these two scenarios:

1. Global recognition: A high-ranking boss delivers "thank you for your service" remarks to a group of workers who've gathered to celebrate career milestones. They eat cake and compare matching gifts. It's a happy occasion, but not very personalized.

2. Individual and authentic appreciation: A manager asks if they can have a 10-minute check-in with a direct report and provides positive feedback. She thanks them for the long hours and creative thinking on a tight budget that led to the success of a major project they just wrapped.

Formally recognizing employees for their achievements and tenure will always be welcome in the workplace. But regularly expressing enough appreciation in a casual manner is an accessible and direct way to make your staff feel valued.

Global praise and generic gifts can't compare to sincere, precise actions that promote a more positive work environment and instill a sense of workplace pride and ownership.

Identifying another person's language of appreciation

Recognize your co-workers and their individual efforts, character traits, and personal motivations. Tailor your appreciation language to suit each person in appropriate ways with these two steps:

Observe. Consider how your co-workers express genuine appreciation to others, whether it's through words of praise or a thoughtfully selected gift. Often, how someone treats another person is exactly how they'd like to receive appreciation. An individual can benefit from different languages of appreciation as well, not just one.

Listen attentively. Work backwards by noting what people complain about. It could be lack of facetime with a superior or the need for extra help under a looming deadline.

Global praise and generic gifts can't compare to sincere, precise actions that promote a more positive work environment, and instill a sense of pride and ownership.

What are the five languages of appreciation in the workplace?

1. Words of affirmation

These can be verbal or written. Whichever approach you take, be as specific as possible. A generic "good job" won't be as compelling or effective as taking the time to compliment a certain skill set or action. Maybe an employee's quick thinking last Tuesday saved your company thousands of dollars. Perhaps a staffer's savvy networking helped hook a lucrative new client. Some employees prefer words of praise, but first know your audience:

Verbal affirmations can take place on a stage in front of hundreds or in a one-on-one meeting. Some employees may welcome positive remarks in front of their co-workers, while other people prefer a quick, low-key mention in passing.

Written affirmations also are an effective way of showing appreciation. But again, consider how you relay the message, and whether the recipient prefers public or private compliments. A handwritten note can deliver more impact than an everyday email. These notes don't have to be long - just honest and personalized.

2. Quality time

This means giving a colleague your undivided attention. Encouraging people can be as straightforward as showing up for them, truly listening, and affirming their feelings. Even your body language - when open and responsive - can convey interest and support.

You can give your time in many ways, including:

Sharing a meal or drink

Going on walking breaks during the day

Holding small group sessions to hear your employees' concerns

Hosting a volunteer day where co-workers gather for community service and giving activities

Inviting employees to a fun, off-site problem-solving activity

3. Acts of service

If you see a co-worker buckling under an immense workload, should you offer a coffee mug or your assistance? Many workers don't want another calendar or tote bag with the company logo. They don't crave praise, either. They simply want to see others working as hard as them or pitching in as needed.

But first, ask if they want your help. Don't assume, because that could be misinterpreted in a negative way. Play detective to see what work needs completion. Avoid doing a task that gives you the limelight. Perhaps you could make copies, send follow-up emails, or schedule a meeting while your colleague updates the CEO.

Whatever you do, stay positive and follow through. This is key. If you offer to help, do so in a timely manner.

4. Gifts

If your co-workers appreciate tangible gifts, make sure you personalize them. Take extra effort to note their interests in your day-to-day conversations. Issue company-wide surveys to each employee to learn about their favorite foods, interests, and activities or outings.

In remote workplaces, where it can be especially challenging to get to know one another, have your staff complete a questionnaire that gives you a glimpse into their hobbies and passions, pet peeves, and favorite music/movies/shows/books. Giving generic gifts can be perceived as wasteful and thoughtless, so keep a log of ideas. Your presents don't need to be lavish, just tailored.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

An employee loves coffee, especially from the independent shop down the block. Instead of emailing them a Starbucks gift card, make an effort to grab one from their preferred cafe.

A co-worker is running ragged between work and family duties. They've commented on how difficult it is to get dinner on the table. Gift a meal-kit subscription or prepared meal that just needs reheating.

An inexpensive yet thoughtful token of employee appreciation can be in the form of a favorite treat. It shows you've been paying attention.

5. Physical touch

In Gary Chapman's first book on appreciation, "The Five Love Languages," physical touch is a logical expression of love between family or friends. But this is the thorniest of the five languages of appreciation in the workplace.

Appropriate physical touch in the office depends on HR guidelines and the recipient's own feelings. Do not touch anyone who does not want to be touched - no exceptions.

For colleagues who do feel valued by appropriate physical touch, it's critical to respect boundaries. Handshakes, fist bumps, and high-fives are typically acceptable. Showing genuine appreciation with these brief but uplifting acts can go a long way in expressing your gratitude.

Physical touch shouldn't be the primary way you show appreciation in the workplace, but a pat on the shoulder doesn't have to be forbidden, either.

The five languages of appreciation in the workplace don't just apply to managers and their direct reports. Anyone at any level can express appreciation to and for co-workers. Peer-to-peer appreciation can even carry more weight and points to a strong company culture of inclusion, support, and work relationships.

Know what culture initiatives are moving the needle

Great Place To Work® Certification™ helps you build and maintain a positive workplace culture. Gauge how your employees are doing and feeling at this moment through our comprehensive employee surveys and data analysis. Learn exactly where you should direct your finite resources to boost employee engagement and staff morale during good times and bad times. Learn about earning Certification today.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.keywords[]
5 languages of appreciation in the workplace

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Use the 5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Employee recognition is not a one-size-fits-all. The five languages of appreciation in the workplace help managers inspire great performance and retain top talent.

# data[].attributes.headline
5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace 

# data[].attributes.subject
5 Languages of Appreciation in the Workplace 

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
The Importance of Communication in Schools | School Success

# data[].attributes.headline
The Importance of Communication in schools 

# data[].attributes.subject
The Importance of Communication in schools 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
"The art of communication is the language of leadership." - James Humes

In today's fast-paced world, effective communication is vital for solid leadership. It goes beyond sharing information and involves expressing thoughts in a meaningful way.

It's about understanding intentions and connecting with others to make them feel heard and understood. It is the key to building strong relationships, fostering trust, and ensuring successful outcomes.

Effective communication is especially crucial in education due to its impact on students and the overall success of educational institutions.

The Vital Role of Communication in Student Success

Effective communication is crucial for student success and the overall educational experience. It influences learning by providing clear instructions, support, and validation.

When educators communicate effectively, it improves students' understanding and active engagement with academic concepts, assignments, and assessments. Schools must prioritize and enhance communication channels and strategies to empower students academically, emotionally, and socially.

Furthermore, strong communication fosters parent involvement, establishing a collaborative partnership between home and school. Well-informed parents can support academic success, building trust, respect, and shared responsibility.

Regular and transparent communication keeps parents engaged and encourages active participation in school activities, parent-teacher conferences, and decision-making processes.

By strengthening communication practices, schools can create a supportive and nurturing atmosphere that empowers students, engages parents, and ultimately leads to improved academic achievement and student success.

Transforming School Communication for the 21st Century

Traditional methods like school newsletters and press releases were once sufficient for keeping parents informed and satisfied. However, the rise of digital platforms and social media has revolutionized communication.

Today, parents and community members heavily rely on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, surpassing school or district communications.

To meet evolving stakeholder needs, schools and districts must adapt and employ additional measures for effective engagement.

Embracing digital tools allows schools to enhance communication strategies, leveraging social media platforms to connect with parents and the community. This proactive approach ensures timely and relevant information, fostering more robust engagement and satisfaction.

Schools and districts must recognize the transformative power of digital platforms and invest in strategies prioritizing effective engagement. By embracing these changes, educational institutions can forge stronger connections with stakeholders, ultimately enriching the school experience.

During his appearance in the School Success podcast on April 11, 2022, Ethan Noroff, former director of communications in an independent public charter high school in Los Angeles, California, said effective communication involves internal and external interactions, such as social media engagement and website management.

Noroff emphasizes the importance of keeping the community informed, actively managing social media channels, and fostering engagement to attract more students to the school.

Strengthening Relationships and Securing Support in Schools

Amid numerous initiatives and competing priorities, the importance of communication can sometimes be overlooked. Yet, establishing strong relationships with stakeholders and ensuring they are well-informed is vital for garnering support and trust.

When schools prioritize effective communication, they are committed to transparency, collaboration, and inclusivity. This approach enables decisions to be made in the best interest of students and the community and ensures long-term sustained support for schools and districts.

Here are the key principles to follow to maximize communication effectiveness:

1. Planned - Develop a clear plan that aligns with your overall goals. This ensures that your messages are delivered consistently and effectively, maximizing their impact.

2. Concise - Avoid unnecessary complexity and jargon. Communicate straightforwardly to promote better understanding and engagement with your audience.

3. Clear - Craft your communication in a language that all stakeholders can easily understand, regardless of their educational background. This inclusive approach ensures that important information reaches a broader audience.

4. Relevant - Recognize the diversity of your stakeholders and customize your messages to address their specific interests and concerns. By providing relevant information, you increase the likelihood of engagement and meaningful interactions.

5. Constant - Maintain open and ongoing communication with your stakeholders. Regular updates and consistent communication channels demonstrate your commitment to transparency and foster trust among your audience.

Building Strong Connections

Effective communication is the backbone of successful leadership and is pivotal in education. It empowers students, engages parents, and fosters a sense of trust and support within the school community.

To adapt to the changing communication landscape, schools, and districts must embrace digital platforms, prioritize strategic planning, ensure clarity and conciseness in their messages, and tailor communication to the diverse needs of stakeholders.

By doing so, they can strengthen relationships, enhance engagement, and secure long-term support for their educational endeavors.

Take the first step towards improving communication in your school or district by visiting School Success Makers. Our resources and expertise can help you navigate the challenges of effective communication and create a thriving educational community.

Don't underestimate the power of communication in shaping the future of education. Start building stronger connections today.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Importance of Communication in Schools | School Success

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Discover the importance of communication in schools! Learn strategies to help students communicate effectively and build stronger relationships.

# data[].attributes.headline
The Art of Relationships - Led Leadership 

# data[].attributes.subject
The Art of Relationships - Led Leadership 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This blog comes from the author of A Manifesto for Excellence in Schools and CEO of Inspire Partnership, Rob Carpenter (@carpenter_rob) My first headship, at Bannockburn Primary School in Plumstead in 2003, saw me make more mistakes than I care to mention. It was also the period of my steepest growth and most valuable learning-starting with the headship interview.
As part of the process, I was asked to lead an assembly and attempted to deliver the 'long spoons' story-Google it if you haven't used it before, it's a good one-just don't do what I did! On this occasion, it resulted in 250 pupils scrambling for sweets across the hall, all health and safety protocols abandoned as Governors watched in shock, clip-boards to hand.

Remarkably, they still appointed me-something which I will be forever grateful! The first two years in post were a bit of a mess, to be honest, but they set me up to understand the power of relational leadership. Having taught through the introduction of the literacy and maths hours, I was obsessed with national strategy implementation-the flat-pack-furniture-approach to school improvement.

This involved measuring anything that moved and lessons were timed to the minute. Teachers were judged and graded, depending on how slickly they could manipulate a counting stick or wave number fans around.

Staff meetings were instructional-the milkman delivery method of training, rather than a design model. As for recruitment, I appointed teachers like football managers sign new players: SLEs, advanced skills teachers and expert professionals were all on my shopping list. Star signings were unveiled to parents, staff and Governors with great fanfare. To my cost, I learned this doesn't always make a cohesive team. I had unwittingly created a school culture crammed with Galácticos who didn't want to play together!

These were expert teachers who preferred to teach with doors closed and who had a similar mindset towards learning. It taught me that it is better to have a school full of open-to-learning novices than closed-to-learning gurus!

Why Relationships are Key

Over the next ten years, I slowly learned that school improvement is about much more than strategy. Schools are complex, adaptive organisations, bound by relationships at every level. Bannockburn Primary School became a centre of excellence not by mandating change, but because we grew to become network and story-focused. By networked, I mean the way in which collaboration between teachers, schools and across the system defined our work.

On multiple levels, staff developed agency to make a bigger difference and worked closely in teams to support each other. Planning lessons became intrinsically social and organic. Ideas for lessons grew from putting children's needs before what was in the schemes of work the government produced.

By 2011, the school expanded its roll by another 2 forms of entry, we became the focal point for the community, began supporting other schools and opened our doors to share best practice. By giving away our best school improvement ideas, it forced us to create new ones. Staff recruitment concentrated more on mindset rather than talent, which enabled us to strengthen relational leadership, building strong teams who worked for each other.

Storytelling Schools

This then allowed us to tell a powerful story of improvement. Stories in leadership are important: they have the potential to bind people together, connecting beliefs with action, engaging people emotionally, necessitating inter-dependence.

The most sustainable school improvement occurs when everyone sees themselves as investors, owners and creators of change-a very different approach to the national strategy days of instruction.
Storytelling schools create a values-led approach to the organisation of learning, including:
1. Recognising that learning communities are created when we concentrate on people's gifts rather than deficiencies

2. Engaging all community members in the process of a common vision for learning

3. Understanding that success depends on everybody achieving

4. Knowing that sustained improvement is achieved only when learning communities are given the power and permission to act

5. Realising that lasting success is gained by harnessing social capital.

This matters even more because education attaches such high status to measurement of outcomes, which can stop us from focusing on what is harder to measure but which matters just as much. High-stakes accountability has resulted in schools learning that survival depends on maintaining good results, sometimes at a cost.

We have been suckered into a pre-occupation with cognitive development-linear, sequential, easier to measure-than more abstract, but equally important, concepts like self-regulation, motivation and collaboration.

Education reform has been framed around accountability and test outcomes, leading many schools to game the system in order to maintain a cognitive illusion of success. It has encouraged us to view pupils as objects to be counted-we ask what can pupils do for us instead of questioning what we can do for our pupils. It has been used to self-justify and reinforce political preference, reducing pupils to the outcome of a test.

Schools obsess with data reporting for external accountability. By contrast, Daniel Coyle's The Culture Code defines the combination of psychological safety, an openness to making mistakes and a shared commitment to organisational success as the optimal environment where everyone thrives. This necessitates that schools pay as much attention to staff behaviours, attributes and the quality of relationships as they do performance outcomes. See below:

Combined, these behaviours create belonging and increase trust. We learn to appreciate that success is a shared process, dependent on the work of the team, rather than on the individual. We also develop a more powerful understanding that delivering change is often not a linear or a simple transaction, but is bound by interaction.

It is our circle of influence which determines whether we get more things right than wrong. In other words, if we spend more time nurturing 'culture' rather than measuring success through the narrow lens of harsh accountability, we are far more likely to create an environment where everyone achieves.

Indeed, that is exactly what was highlighted by the 2017 Inspiring Teaching report. They compared other studies about the link between inspirational teaching and its effect on learning. Teachers who participated in the study demonstrated several key components including:
- Use of praise for effort - Demonstrating warmth and empathy - Showing respect for students
In effect, it is the climate and culture created in classrooms which determine outcomes for young people, as much as the subject knowledge or quality of differentiation.

The "Broadening Effect"

Their study findings were also fascinating in that what pupils, lesson observation outcomes and teachers expressed as essential ingredients to inspirational teaching synchronised unanimously. This includes:
- Positive relationships - Good classroom / behaviour management - Positive and supportive climate
When staff are collectively invested in each other's successes, it has a powerful effect on how we think and feel about our own potential for growth and the trust we place in each other's cultural capital.

This is what Shawn Achor describes as 'the broadening effect.' His phrase captures our human potential to see possibilities and potential both in ourselves and others, whereby increased levels of positive energy are achieved through striving for potential gains. It is a key theme of his book, The Happiness Advantage. In it he describes that happiness is defined not by yellow smiley emojis and rainbows, but by the positive emotions we create when achieving new goals.

Critically, the advantage comes from happiness-a mindset we cultivate in our schools by focusing on the right levels for impact on climate. The argument for happiness is this: When positive emotions broaden our scope for cognition and behaviour, they not only make us more creative, they help us build more intellectual and social and physical resources we can rely on in the future. Happiness gives us a chemical edge (the broadening effect).

Positive emotions flood the brain that not only make us feel good but dial up the learning centres of our brain to higher levels.They help us organise new information, keep that information in the brain longer and retrieve it faster.'

Developing Collaboration and Connectivity

Take Foxfield Primary School as an example. Thanks to my 'useful learning mistakes' at Bannockburn, when Foxfield was in placed in special measures, we managed to maintain drive and momentum to ensure rapid improvement, while at the same time, regulating how staff thought and felt during the turbulence.

There was clarity about what we cared most about-it was even defined by the language we used to evaluate successes. People were clear about the future which made it easier to engage others in a shared vision and deliver on promises to help the school improve. We introduced a wave of positive changes that supported collaboration and strengthened connectivity to both each other and the common cause to get out of an OFSTED category of inadequate. This included:

1. A staff dating wall so that teachers could post-it note what they could offer other teachers in leading school improvement and then what support they would like to receive in return. Staff then matched up what they could offer with the help that would improve their teaching.

2. Celebrating success displays to capture the impact of learning from both children and staff linked to our values and school improvement focus.

3. Sharing 'good news postcards' for children and staff. These were used to provide personal thanks and gratitude when discretionary effort was offered. Leadership team meetings started with a focus on culture and climate so we evaluated which people had been recognised for going the extra mile.

4. Leadership team meetings were opened up for staff to come along and pitch an idea for school improvement based on evidence and research they have conducted in their own classroom. Which in turn led to...

5. NQTs and recently qualified teachers developing peer-reviewed school self-evaluation whereby they would lead the formal monitoring processes, but report back to Governors and senior staff. This generated further discretionary effort and allowed staff to walk in each other's shoes.

We need to champion a new kind of learning which focuses on teamwork, creativity and critical thinking. Rank position and league tables are inappropriate and often unreliable as a true measure of a school's worth. They can be influenced by quite small differences in cohort scores, providing misleading information. A binary assessment model has done nothing to empower teachers to use their own judgement to identify pupils 'real next steps.

Across the globe, we are beginning to question whether assessment accountability has worked for all students and whether it has in fact become a barrier to meeting the inclusive needs of all pupils. Relationships-focused leaders lead with soul.

Like artists, they capture the small incidental moments which often pass unnoticed and build stories around these. The way pupils are welcomed into school, the phone call home to celebrate a learning milestone, the acknowledgement of a child's resilience when struggling to learn a new concept. They don't cut corners, they value the necessity of struggle and deliberately avoid the unethical practices of meddling in the dark arts of gaming results. For the artist, the journey of the craft displaces the final finished piece in significance.

In my years of working with School Leaders, I've learned that one of the most important skills any School Leader can have is the ability to effectively manage and nurture personalities and relationships within their school. This is because quite simply, when school relationships are positive - the outcomes tend to be more positive too.

Conversely, when relationships are strained or neglected, school teams can struggle to effectively work together and staff can find themselves increasingly becoming disconnected from what the school and their leaders are trying to achieve. In turn, leaders can find themselves spending a large amount of their time dealing with people management issues, rather than focussing on the more strategic aspects of the role.

Yet in spite of this, many leaders have not received significant training or opportunities to develop skills that could help them to deal with difficult conversations, identify how best to manage and maximise taff performance.

That's why one of the key ways that we support School Leaders fulfil their vision is by offering a 4 Day Coaching Programme designedto provide Senior School Leaders with the knowledge, skills and confidence to apply a range of coaching skills that can help improve the performance of those they lead and manage.

Our four-day coaching programme that will equip you with the skills for:
- Managing difficult conversations
- Understanding how to get the best out of individuals with challenging behaviours
- Understanding yourself better and knowing how to draw upon your strengths to get the best out of others
- Developing your relationship management skills by helping you understand how to identify and respond to different personality types
- Nurturing a Coaching Culture in your School so that you can support members of your team

Find out More

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
My first headship, at Bannockburn Primary School in Plumstead in 2003, saw me make more mistakes than I care to mention. It was also the period of my steepest growth and most valuable learning-starting with the headship interview.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Engaging Staff, Students, and Families: A Schoolwide Approach

# data[].attributes.headline
Engaging Staff, Students, and Families: A School-wide Approach 

# data[].attributes.subject
Engaging Staff, Students, and Families: A School-wide Approach 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Administration & Leadership

A look at how school leaders can get started bringing their community together to work toward shared goals.

Successful relationships with the school community aren't developed overnight. It takes time and conscious strategic efforts to build trust and establish credibility.

Over time I've come to learn that effective engagement strategies with one group-whether it be students, staff, or families-can and should play upon and weave into the others, much like the tapestry of a beautiful quilt. As we get to know our students better, it's important to prioritize authentic connections with not just them, but their support systems. Students should know that their teachers at school and their guardians at home are working together on their behalf. Similarly, building a strong foundation with your staff translates to better outcomes for students and their families.

We're all on the same team. Schools thrive when all members of the community are involved and actively contribute toward shared values and goals. Here are some core principles and actions to keep in mind as you meaningfully engage with your school communities at all levels:

PAY CLOSE ATTENTION

If we want to increase levels of involvement at our schools, we have to actively listen to our community-what is both said and unsaid. Leaders are signal senders and receivers, meaning we should be actively attuned to the wants and needs of those we serve through things like surveys, listening sessions, check-ins, and community meetings.

Students: Acknowledging birthdays and successes as well as simple things like calling out their new glasses or shoes can go a long way. When a student writes a thoughtful essay or scores well on their math test, stop by to celebrate them for their growth and achievement. On occasion, I write letters to my students, and their honest responses often provide me with clarity regarding their thoughts on anything from the school lunch menu to recess activities-all information I can use to anchor talking points for our interactions.

Families: Everyone likes to feel seen and appreciated. Show families you notice their contributions by thanking the parents who brought snacks to the soccer game. Follow up by sending some books and resources home with a family who expressed interest in a specific topic. Families also benefit when we approach them with empathy and understanding. Call the new family who just recently transferred to your school to see how their transition is going and how you can help.

Staff: After students, teachers and staff provide perhaps the most valuable pulse in the school building. Biannual feedback surveys provide information about how staff feel and what they perceive to be working well or not in the school-all valuable insights. Try asking questions like "How effective are the professional learning experiences?" or "What curricular modifications and/or resources would be helpful?"

Beyond surveys, nothing can ever replace one-on-one or small group conversations with members of the team. Remember to leverage these more intimate or informal moments to offer appreciation and support.

BE VISIBLE and ACCESSIBLE

Engaging with members of our communities should occur anywhere and everywhere. We have to be in the arena of our school happenings. We can't watch from the sidelines.

Students: Spending time with students during lunch and recess pays huge dividends. I ensure that I have the availability to join recess duty a few times during the week to interact with the kids, in addition to hosting lunch groups in my office. Based on teacher recommendations or my own observations, I invite students who look as though they could benefit from some additional adult support and connection. We eat lunch together, talk, laugh, and play board games. To help my students practice their Spanish, I also conduct one of my "lunch bunches" in the target language.

Families: Morning arrival and dismissal are pivotal times of the school day during which I like to make myself available forimpromptu conversations with families and caregivers. I also try to engage with the school community off-campus when possible. For example, our school hosts information and enrollment events at a local community center where families can see me in person. Many meetings and collaborations can be facilitated virtually-such as our parent-teacher association (PTA) meetings-so even when families cannot be physically present, they can still see the school leader.

Staff: Just because you work in the same building doesn't mean that staff "see" you. Yes, walk the halls often and offer to cover class for a few minutes so teachers can take that bathroom break. But also consider deeper engagement with your staff and how it can help humanize your position.

At the end of my first year as a school principal, members of our staff told me they felt that they didn't know me well. And, they were right. I was reserved and guarded. Now I talk about taking long walks on the weekend, the latest movie I've seen, or books I've read. Not only does this give our team more information about my interests, but also I hope to model a healthy work-life balance. As I let people in, this is often reciprocated with more openness, mutual understanding, and even accountability when necessary as we collectively pursue our goals.

INNOVATE TOGETHER

As you co-design with your school community, tap into the experiences and expertise of those around you to help solve problems or enhance existing school initiatives.

Students: Our learners can not only offer ideas but also provide help to facilitate creative solutions. At our school, students have selected new book titles for our school library and launched interest groups, like a hair club. Elected student council representatives also poll their classes to identify problems and propose student-generated ideas. Although we can't install a swimming pool and water slide (at least not yet), it was clear that our students enjoyed sharing their ideas to help make the school better.

Families: Be transparent with families and the school community when both setting and measuring school goals. Provide families with concrete strategies to implement at home that align with the school's priorities. For example, we are working to improve our youngest students' reading proficiencies, so we encourage our families to have their children read or read to their children for at least 20 minutes a day. Viewing families as active partners in this work not only leads to stronger relationships but helps the students to benefit as well.

Staff: Welcome and encourage your staff's expertise where you can. Our teachers and staff designed a student marketplace, which they use to teach about artisanal and entrepreneurial skills that promote financial literacy. Additionally, we know that educators can and do learn a lot from their colleagues, so it's important to leverage their skills. At my school, we are continuing to develop more vertical planning opportunities so that teachers across grade levels can more deeply understand the intersection of what students should know now and be able to do in the future.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Engaging Staff, Students, and Families: A Schoolwide Approach

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Administration & Leadership A look at how school leaders can get started bringing their community together to work toward shared goals. Successful relationships with the school community aren't developed overnight. It takes time and conscious strategic efforts to build trust and establish credibility.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Leadership Communication: Skills, Styles, & Tips for Improvement

# data[].attributes.headline
Leadership Communication Skills, Styles & Tips for Improvement 

# data[].attributes.subject
Leadership Communication Skills, Styles & Tips for Improvement 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Being a good leader is one of the greatest skills you could have in the business world. Yet, leadership doesn't come naturally to most people.

In fact, 69% of company managers report feeling uncomfortable communicating with employees. That tells us that the majority of leaders haven't been properly trained to be good leaders.

After all, being an effective communicator is certainly one of the key traits a good leader should have.

Yet, the kind of communication leaders rely on is naturally different than the business communication most of us engage in on a daily basis.

With that in mind, we set out to answer some of our burning questions about leadership communication, such as:

How do we define leadership communication (and what are some of its main characteristics),

What makes someone an effective leader (and which skills would they need to nurture to become an effective leader),

What are the 7 leadership communication styles, and

How would someone go about developing their leadership communication style?

Along the way, we'll also provide some examples of successful communication in leadership roles.

So, without further ado, let's dive into the subject of leadership communication.

Leadership communication is often seen as downward communication that relays information concerning an organization or company and its employees from those in leadership positions to employees.

However, many leaders are also called upon to communicate that type of information to external parties such as clients, customers, or shareholders.

In the interest of providing a more specific definition, we reached out to a management consultant, executive coach, and the Founder/CEO of DSC Consulting Solutions, Dawn S. Cone, Ph.D.

She noted that the style of delivery is a big aspect of leadership communication, saying:

Having determined that the style of communication is a big part of communication in leadership roles, we set out to find the most common characteristics of leadership communication with the help of more experts.

According to Paul Gunn Jr, a thought leader, WSJ best-selling author, and member of the Forbes Business Council, the strength of a great leader lies in their ability "to communicate difficult orders and directives with expectations even in the face of not being liked."

When asked to elaborate, he put forward the idea that leadership communication is action-oriented:

In other words, effective leadership communication allows leaders to:

Share information quickly and clearly,

Empower employees to reach their goals,

Respond to their employees' needs and desires, and, above all,

Drive change and results.

Ultimately, this type of communication is usually focused on boosting productivity. However, that doesn't mean that leadership shouldn't take their employees' emotions into account.

Understanding the emotional and motivational aspects of professional communication is a huge component of leadership communication. After all, leaders need to be able to:

Creating an environment in which employees feel safe to make progress at their own pace and contribute to their organization's success is a key task of communication in leadership positions.

For another perspective on this, we turned to Harvard Business School Professors Anthony Mayo and Joshua Margolis.

In their course on leadership, they examine leadership styles through 3 distinct frameworks:

1. Imprint- which looks at the way others perceive their leaders,

2. Functions - which looks at the ways leaders mobilize their teams, and

3. Motivations - which looks at the various stimuli or incentives that prompt leaders to do things in a certain way.

Mayo and Margolis believe that looking at our impacts through these frameworks can help us discover our leadership styles and become more effective in our roles.

According to Diane DiResta, a workplace communications coach and author, effective leaders should utilize a variety of communication styles when interacting with employees, partners, and customers.

After all, in addition to impacting employees, leadership communication is also crucial for establishing strong relationships with third parties and building a reputation for the business.

Therefore, the communication style leaders use should depend on the circumstances of the exchange. DiResta highlights some of the most prominent communication styles being:

Directive and to the point, e.g. a leader who sticks to doling out business-related tasks,

Expressive, warm, and personal, e.g. a leader who easily engages in friendly small talk,

Methodical, step-by-step, e.g. a leader who plans for contingencies and isn't afraid to embrace collaborative leadership by building consensus,

Analytical, e.g. a leader who carefully weighs the pros and cons of any situation before reaching a decision, and

Asking questions, e.g. a leader who deliberates before moving ahead with any plan.

The way leaders communicate shouldn't always be the same - it's always good to look at things from different perspectives.

Thankfully, there are many leaders who successfully communicate with their employees, partners, and community.

But, before we list the people we can look up to in that regard, let's talk about what an effective leader even looks like.

According to DiResta, an effective leader is characterized by a unique set of trait s:

"Effective leaders:
In line with DiResta's perspective, Cynthia Moore, a leadership coach, mentor, and speaker, gives her view of what makes an effective leader:

Learning about the traits and skills that set the stage for successful leadership communication will help us examine the various leadership communication styles we'll discuss later on. With that in mind, let's see which communication skills tend to come in handy for people in leadership roles.

To understand what makes a good leader and a good communicator, we asked Dr. Cone to share her point of view. She suggested that perspective is one of the most important skills a leader should develop:

We can agree with Dr. Cone on this - the role of a leader isn't an easy one, particularly in the newly established remote or hybrid work environments. The leaders of these so-called distributed teams face a whole new set of challenges.

With so many employees working from different locations and sometimes even countries, keeping everyone connected is not the only concern.

But, despite the recent changes in workplace and employee management, some things - such as the communication skills necessary to become a successful leader - haven't changed. Namely, some of the most prominent skills that define a good leader include:

Those last few traits are crucial, according to Paul Gunn Jr:

Ultimately, good leadership is reflected in a leader's ability to see beyond all the numbers, all the setbacks, and all other issues, and actually help others go through rough times.

Effective leadership communication can take on many forms. As we have established, leaders need to be able to adjust their approach to various circumstances.

Going forward, we will discuss the ways in which 4 widely celebrated leaders approach leadership communication in practice.

Even before she was elected for a second term as PM of New Zealand, Jacinda Ardern stirred the world with her authentic, kind, and empathetic approach to leadership. Her decisiveness and resolution have proved crucial for her country in times of trouble.

In her own words, leadership is all about bridging the gap between different opinions:

"To me, leadership is not about necessarily being the loudest in the room, but instead being the bridge, or the thing that is missing in the discussion, and trying to build a consensus from there."

Ultimately, Ardern's greatest strength is her ability to show empathy through her work, which has secured her position. What's more, she's well aware that engaging her people and calming them in times of crisis is what will ultimately get the job done.
💡 Pumble Pro Tip
In the early days of HubSpot, culture wasn't Brian Halligan's main concern. According to him, the founder's job is never done, so there's no time to pause and reflect on what you're building:

"As a founder, you're always fighting a fire, there's always a problem, you're always working on some issues where you can't really step back and look back and take stock of what you've done."

According to a Jungle Ventures interview, both Halligan and his co-founder Dharmesh Shah believed that thinking about company culture was a "waste of time" at the beginning of their careers.

So, what changed their minds? Well, talking to other CEOs, notably iRobot founder Colin Angle, helped Halligan and Shah understand that culture helps leaders build a big company. That made them invest in their company's culture as one of the major products of their company - and the thing that helps them attract talented employees.

The decision that helped HubSpot transform the way it communicates with prospective and current employees was elevating an employee from the marketing team, Katie Burke, to be their first HR employee. The move exemplifies Brian's thoughts on employee communication at HubSpot - it's a marketing approach.

Even though Halligan stepped down as CEO of HubSpot in September 2021, the influence of his leadership communication style is still felt in the company. That much is evident by the number of awards HubSpot continues to receive on an annual basis from Comparably's user base.

Awarded the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund for emerging talent, Aurora James has quickly become a big name in the fashion industry. She stands behind Brother Vellies, a people-oriented and sustainable luxury brand with workshops in Ethiopia, South Africa, Kenya, and Morocco, providing jobs for hundreds of people.

More recently, in June 2020, James launched the 15 Percent Pledge with the goal of diversifying the beauty and fashion community and closing the racial wealth gap.

Her initiative prompts retailers to dedicate 15% of their shelf space to Black-owned brands. James remains hopeful that the fashion industry will be able to reevaluate what business usually looks like and have more consideration toward the people they work with.

Aurora James' enterprise is primarily influenced by her social values - and so is her style of leadership.

Ultimately, according to Aurora James, it's all about being reflective:

"Success is evident in thoughtfulness and longevity."

Back in 2013, John Foley and a few engineers of Peloton only had a prototype in their hands. Fast-forward to today, and we're looking at a billion-dollar business led by Foley, an aspiring visionary.

Putting his team first has helped Foley establish Peloton as one of the best companies to work in - a company that "sells happiness".

In an interview for ​​the Radiate CEO Series by Nasdaq, Foley said that most great leaders are characterized by the same things - hard work, compassion, and leading from the front.

Ultimately, Foley believes that work environments that allow employees to make mistakes are the road to success.

According to Foley, perfection is overrated - which is why his advice to young leaders boils down to making incremental progress:

"Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Just get stuff done, every day. If it's not perfect, f i x it the next day. But keep putting points on the board every day."

Now, before we examine the various leadership communication styles, we ought to understand the differences between leadership styles and leadership communication styles. According to Cynthia Moore, distinguishing between the two is fairly easy:

In other words, leadership style is about the type of leader someone is, whereas leadership communication style is about the way they communicate.

But, why do we place such emphasis on these concepts at all?

Well, at this point, most people understand the impact poor workplace communication can have on teams. That's why leaders should work hard to develop their communication skills.

As DiResta told us, great leaders should be on a continual journey of self-improvement:

Getting this feedback usually requires leaders to develop an internal communication strategy that fits their style of communication and reflects the company culture.

Having said that, let's take a look at 7 communication styles you can use for communication in leadership roles.

Now that we've seen some examples of good leadership, let's talk about the communication styles they all use.

According to a Forbes article by Ashira Prossak, an internationally recognized communication coach, trainer, and speaker, most leaders should be able to fall back on the following leadership communication styles:

Though there is some overlap between these communication styles, Cynthia Moore noted that the delegating communication style ought to be on the list too.

Going forward, we'll talk about:

What each of these communication styles looks like,

When is an appropriate time to use a particular communication style, and

Phrases that will get you in the mindset of a certain style.

On top of that, we'll also showcase an example of an exchange for each of the leadership communication styles we'll discuss. To do this, we'll show messages exchanged between leaders and their team members on Pumble, a business messaging app.

So, without further ado, let's explore the 7 communication styles in leadership.

Listening has proved essential to effective leadership - and, according to Moore, it's one of the pillars of communication in general.

Leaders who devote themselves to actively listening to their employees are usually very good at solving issues quickly and efficiently.

Ultimately, great listeners tend to be fully present in every conversation. They don't interrupt, and they don't have hidden agendas when participating in conversations. Instead, they:

Ask follow-up questions,

Listen more than they speak,

Share their interlocutor's interests,

Let others take their time when speaking, and

Focus on learning (which makes them great at summarizing what they've heard).

Leaders who practice this style of communication are genuinely interested in learning what goes on in their organization. They are actively seeking out employee feedback, ideas, and thoughts because they know it will help them do better.

As such, this style of leadership communication should be helpful when:

Useful phrases to support listening communication style

Some of the phrases you could use to show your employees you're actively listening include:

According to Prossak, coaching can help employees build and develop a wide range of skills - but only in low-pressure situations.

This style of communication is similar to teaching and advising styles. Namely, it's a style that requires leaders to provide their workers with a framework - while also letting them reach their goals by choosing their own path.

Coaches tend to understand how to get the most out of people - they can:

Inspire others,

Communicate effectively,

Teach and train future leaders,

Show genuine interest in their team,

Make their employees feel emotionally safe,

Guide and empower those under their leadership, and

Ask the right questions, ensuring that employees retain their autonomy and ownership.

When deciding whether to employ a coaching communication style, most leaders will have to take time into account.

Coaching is only effective in situations that don't require immediate decision-making because it takes time for this communication style to develop.

In other words, this style of communication is useful when:

There's enough time to achieve the goal,

You are certain that an employee only needs a little support,

Employees need your advice to make progress with a task or project, or

You see that your employees are struggling with getting started with a project.

Useful phrases to support coaching communication style

If you want to try the coaching communication style, use the following phrases:

Fundamentally, strong leaders are also amazing teachers.

That's why this leadership communication style is essential for helping employees master new skills and improve their performance.

Now, there are 3 key points when it comes to the teaching style of leadership communication:

1. Laying out a foundation for employees to follow,

2. Outlining the steps to take, and,

3. Explaining the benefits of learning a new skill.

To avoid confusion, you should focus on explaining the WHY behind everything, especially if you want to teach your employees a new skill.

Ultimately, teachers should be able to explain the reasoning behind their instructions and the best practices they share. On top of that, they should also be able to adapt to every situation easily and keep their students engaged.

So, how do you know you've got what it takes to be a great teacher? Well, outstanding teachers are usually:

Great listeners,

Empathetic and kind,

Patient and practical,

Flexible and adaptable,

Engaging and motivating,

Focused on collaboration, and, above all

Always willing to share their knowledge.

The teaching communication style should be reserved for situations where employees are struggling with mastering certain skills or completing tasks.

Useful phrases to support teaching communication style

When using the teaching communication style with your employees, consider some of the following phrases:

The directing style of communication allows leaders to specify the steps employees should take to make progress on a project.

As such, this style is particularly helpful when employees are struggling with finishing a project or are stuck on a certain task.

Since the directing communication style is mostly task-oriented, it can be a useful tool when you need to:

Support new employees with their daily tasks, or

Ensure the completion of less creative and even mundane tasks.

The problem is that some people confuse directing with dictating. The key difference is in the leader's style of delivery - they should be providing instructions, rather than orders.

Leaders who employ this style of communication should use emotional intelligence to regulate their emotions. They shouldn't get upset about small issues.

Instead, strong directors should:

Provide clear instructions and guidelines,

See the "big picture" behind every project,

Successfully navigate stressful situations, and

Value and respect diverse perspectives and viewpoints.

With mindful directing, most leaders will be able to help their employees finish tasks and projects successfully and produce desired outcomes.

Useful phrases to support directing communication style

Use the following phrases to get into the directing spirit:

Most leaders will spend a lot of their time advising the people in their surroundings, including their employees and even business partners.

As experts in their field, the majority of leaders will be able to provide advice to help employees resolve a misunderstanding or handle a tricky situation.

Still, it's important to know when taking the role of an advisor is warranted. Namely, leaders should only turn to this style of communication when they need to:

Clarify a specific situation,

Answer employees' questions,

Provide an alternative perspective,

Help a team go through a roadblock, or

Resolve conflict between employees.

In those situations, a leader acting as an advisor can be a positive role model by:

Showing their expertise,

Taking everyone's opinion into account,

Helping achieve result-driven objectives,

Creating a collaborative work environment,

Being passionate about tackling new challenges, and

Having a genuine interest in providing constructive advice to others.

Still, overusing this communication style can make some leaders fall into the trap of complacency.

Ultimately, the advice you dole out should promote your employees' professional development.

Eventually, they should be able to work through any issues and push forward without needing the leaders' advice.

Useful phrases to support advising communication style

When in advisory mode, try using these phrases:

Knowing how to motivate employees is an integral part of a leader's job description. Thanks to a strong call-to-action approach, good motivators are able to help people move forward and inspire them to do their best work.

Leaders who use this style of communication tend to be pretty optimistic. They also:

Support teamwork,

Have a clear vision and goals,

Inspire employees to do their best,

Praise and reward individual achievements, and

Recognize the importance of effective communication.

However, the successful implementation of this style of leadership communication depends on the leader's perception.

In other words, knowing your people and the motivation methods they respond to is crucial. While some respond well to motivational quotes about teamwork, others may prefer a verbal show of appreciation for their skills, insight, and perspective. The leader's job is to know which method to employ.

On top of that, you should also know when this style of leadership communication is necessary.

Generally, a motivational approach should work best when you have to:

Encourage employees and boost morale,

Help an employee who is struggling in their new/old position,

Deliver company news or communicate upcoming changes, or

Give your team the final boost they need to complete a task or project.

Useful phrases to support motivating communication style

Here are some useful phrases to help you inspire and motivate your team:

The delegating communication style is arguably the most hands-off of all leadership communication styles we've mentioned here.

After all, delegation assumes the transfer of responsibility to the employees - especially when there's a clear goal to strive for, a specific task or project to complete.

It's a great way to approach self-driven employees and offer them more autonomy and a chance to learn valuable leadership skills.

Great delegators know:

What to delegate and when,

How to define the desired outcome,

Their employees' strengths and weaknesses,

How to encourage better communication among team members, and

How to provide the necessary information, resources, and tools.

But, as always, leaders who opt for this way of communication have to be aware of the pitfalls of its ineffective use.

Namely, according to Cynthia Moore, delegation can be a "disastrous approach for newly-formed and inexperienced teams."

Additionally, Moore shared some caveats concerning the optimal conditions for the use of this style of communication, saying:

So, ultimately, this style of leadership communication works best in combination with some of the previous styles we have discussed.

Useful phrases to support delegating communication style

If you're about to delegate responsibility, have these phrases in mind:

As Diane DiResta notes, adaptability is the key to honing your leadership communication skills.

She believes that one style won't work with every employee or every situation - a stance shared by Prossak and Moore.

DiResta goes on to explain that leaders can develop a leadership communication style by:

In essence, there's no leadership communication style that fits all occasions and overcomes all communication challenges.

Ultimately, being a good leader is all about being wise enough to know when to use each of the leadership communication styles we've discussed.

So, how do you become a better leader? Well, adhering to the following tips won't hurt!

When we spoke to Cynthia Moore about leadership communication styles, she noted that a true leader should never be blinded by their ego.

Rather than being "focused on themselves as a leader,"Moore finds that the more helpful stance would be "a more emphatic one that focuses on what is important for the people the leader leads."

Ultimately, this seems like a key point for improving communication as a leader, because it allows you to develop your communication style in a more assertive way.

When leaders put their egos aside and approach situations and people from a different perspective, Moore argues they become "less driven by fears of how they are perceived [and] more driven by identifying what serves the team/department/organization's goals and its members."

Finally, by choosing to put the psychological safety of your people above everything else, you'll get out of your comfort zone and expose yourself to negative perceptions.

For Moore, this represents a possibility to escape "the paradox of potentially creating a situation where people don't feel 'heard' and thereby potentially leading to negative perception."

On a similar note, Moore notes that leaders often get stuck on the way they are perceived:

This insecurity can - and should - drive leaders to constantly be on a journey of self-improvement.

As Moore sees it, "enhancing a leader's communication often starts with strengthening the listening skill." She believes that listening without judgment is vital to gaining a good understanding of the situation.

Being self-confident and quick-witted is similarly crucial for improving communication skills for leaders. Moore emphasizes the importance of being able to think of quality responses while still listening and not missing vital information on the way.

Lastly, having a role model to look up to can greatly contribute to the way you communicate as a leader. It can give you an idea of what to aspire to, what to improve, and what traits you may want to mirror.

As we have established, when practicing leadership communication, adaptability and flexibility will be your best friends.

Keeping an open mind is essential for successful communication, particularly if you work in a cross-generational, hybrid, or distributed work environment.

Considering that Prossak, DiResta, and Moore all emphasize the ability to adapt to every situation and each employee as essential for enhancing leadership communication styles, there's no reason to fear or resist this step.

In fact, according to Cynthia Moore, great leaders should be able to switch between various communication styles even within a single conversation.

Even Dr. Cone noted that leaders should operate beyond leadership communication strategies to ensure the best results:

In other words, take into account the unique nature of your team before opting for any of the leadership communication styles we have discussed.

Perhaps the best way to showcase your leadership skills is to learn to empower your people by delegating.

Trusting your employees in this way will make them more excited to show you what they can do.

Teaching your workers to be good at decision-making and prioritizing will also make your job easier in the long run.

In any case, you won't know who's got the skills to do it until you actually give them a chance.

And, even if you have to be away for some time, you'll be sure that the ones you've left in charge can keep work going.

Whether you decide your team is ready to take on more responsibility or not, it's still important to make sure everyone feels like their work is valued.

After all, who doesn't want to know they are contributing to the company and its vision?

With that in mind, you can start by giving credit where it's due. For example, you can provide employee recognition by acknowledging everyone's contributions to the team project.

On top of that, you could also organize some team-building events - or even try some virtual team-building activities. Finishing the activities with an awards ceremony of sorts can be a great way to acknowledge your employees' efforts in a more public - yet still casual - way.

These kinds of solutions will create a culture of employee recognition and pave the way for more peer-to-peer recognition as well. So, in addition to being able to connect with your team, encouraging employee recognition will also foster a sense of community and cohesion in your company.

Working conditions can have a great impact on how your people see you as a leader and how they respond to your leadership communication style.

Furthermore, it can also affect their performance, their communication with others, and their devotion to the company.

Luckily, there are concrete steps you can take to establish a healthy work environment for your team.

For one, you can start by creating a good internal communication strategy. That sets the stage for more open communication, which in turn increases employee engagement and makes employees feel more valued.

The first step to establishing that kind of open communication is finding a team communication tool that works for your team.

On top of that, you should try to keep your workplace as stress-free as possible. Keeping your employees' mental health in mind should help you circumvent burnout and other stress-related consequences of overwork.

Lastly, in a good work environment, employees should have access to any relevant company information at all times. After all, you can't commit to being a good leader if you're constantly fielding questions on working hours, company policies, health care plans, holidays, etc.

One way or another, p oor communication will be responsible for the majority of your company's issues, including but not limited to:

Increased stress levels,

Decreased productivity, and

Missed performance goals.

Adding poor leadership communication into the mix will only expedite the rate of employee turnover and project failures.

Luckily, leadership is a skill like any other - it can be learned, practiced, and perfected - but only if you're ready to work on it every hour of every day.

By choosing to focus on your own improvement, you will be providing your employees with a great role model who can:

Inspire them to keep improving themselves,

Assess what is behind them and shed light on what lies ahead,

Teach them to make decisions confidently and independently, as well as

Be considerate and understanding of whatever might be going on in their lives.

Only through constant self-improvement and introspection will you be able to communicate your mission and vision to your team.

So, choose your words wisely, practice active listening, and be as flexible as the situation requires you to be.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Leadership Communication: Skills, Styles, & Tips for Improvement

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Mastering communication in leadership positions requires an understanding of communication strategies, styles, and skills.

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
What is a Theory of change? - Enablers of Change

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In one of our recent episodes we covered designing an extension program. While putting that together, we realised that there were other important aspects to cover that complement the design of an extension program. One of these is developing a Theory of change. But that brings us to the questions-what is a Theory of change and how would we use one?

Theory of change has often been used in development contexts since the 1990s. A Theory of change is an explanation or a description of the pathway to change. It outlines what the preconditions are to achieve your long term outcome and makes the steps to achieving change explicit. This is important because we can see the cause and effects and whether there are gaps. We can identify assumptions and check to make sure these make sense. Activities can be clearly linked to outcomes, and ultimately a Theory of change provides the opportunity for review and reflection, both from inside and outside a team, because the thinking is explicit.

Theories of change link outcomes and activities to explain how and why the desired change is expected to come about (Clark & Anderson, 2004). In fact they are sometimes called a causal model, as they help explain why something will cause something else. A Theory of change explains the change!

So how would we create a Theory of change? There are three steps: draft the causal pathways, test the logic and scope, and finally, monitor, review and summarise. The first step, draft out the pathways or explanations, starts with defining our outcomes; the results for our program. This is where the Theory of change links into Bennett's Hierarchy. Is the outcome you're seeking knowledge, attitude, skills or aspirational change? Is it practice change, and if so, what kind of practice change? Or maybe it's at the top of Bennett's hierarchy and it's a social, economic, environmental or cultural change? (We've done an episode on this too, if you need a refresher!) Get this clear first! Then workshop and start asking what needs to be in place for that to happen to identify the preconditions for the outcome. This uses the project team and appropriate stakeholders to help develop the Theory of change.

The second step is to test the logic and scope. This means we take the Theory of change and we reflect and review it with the project team and others associated with the program, as a means of checking that it truly reflects what the program is trying to do and that there are no gaps.

The third and final step is to monitor, review and summarise. This is when we set up the evaluation framework associated with the Theory of change-something that is relatively easy to do once we have completed the Theory of change.

We wondered if it might be helpful at this point to look at a simple Theory of change as an example. This one comes from an organisation in New Zealand called Inspiring Communities. They offer services that help accelerate change. Their summary sentence for their Theory of change says: " community-led development strengthens social connections so communities thrive ". The precondition is strengthening connections and the outcome is thriving communities. They have a diagram that shows a detailed outline of their Theory of change which is worth looking at. As usual we have put the link to this at the bottom of this blog post.

Another example we thought was good is from Katoa, a Māori Indigenous research organisation. This Theory of change relates to 'Dress for success', a not-for-profit who provides work outfits to women to help them get ready to enter paid employment. Their Theory of change could sound something like this: if we provide work clothes for those unable to afford them, then these work clothes will help people create a good impression at job interviews. If people create a good impression at job interviews then they will be more successful in their search for paid employment. If people are more successful in their search for paid employment then you can assume they are more likely to get a job, which then leads to better economic outcomes for individuals and families and so on.

So a Theory of change is a tool to help us explain how and why a change program works. It highlights why it might make a difference, and helps us design appropriate activities and evaluation.

At this point we would like to acknowledge a couple of people who helped us with this topic. Firstly, Col Freeman who ran an excellent APEN Roadshow back in 2016 and helped us understand just what a Theory of change was all about. Secondly, Jane Wightman, who after listening to our episode on designing an extension program, emailed and suggested we should follow up with a Theory of change episode. And she even sent us a paper to help... thank you to you both!

Well, you have read our thoughts, now we would like to hear yours! Add a comment below the blog post and tell us about your experiences using a Theory of change, including any tips and further ideas about it. We don't want this to be just a one-way conversation - join in by sharing your thoughts and ideas with us!

Thanks folks for reading this Enablers of change post. Remember to subscribe to our newsletter if you would like to know when new episodes are available. And if you liked what you heard, please tell your friends so they can join the conversation!
Resources
Anderson, A. A. (2006). The community builder's approach to Theory of Change. https://www.Theoryofchange.org/pdf/TOC_fac_guide.pdf

Clark, H., & Anderson, A. A. (2004). Theories of change and logic models: Telling them apart. In American Evaluation Association Conference. Atlanta: GA. https://www.Theoryofchange.org/wp-content/uploads/toco_library/pdf/TOCs_and_Logic_Models_forAEA.pdf

Community-led development Theory of change mentioned in the episode: https://inspiringcommunities.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/CLD-Theory-of-Change-Diagram-with-explanation-2018.pdf

Katoa Theory of change example: https://www.katoa.net.nz/kaupapa-maori-evaluation/Theory-of-change

Theory of change primer: https://www.thegef.org/sites/default/files/council-meeting-documents/EN_GEF_STAP_C.57_Inf.04_Theory%20of%20Change%20Primer_0.pdf

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What is a Theory of change? - Enablers of Change

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
What is a Theory of change and how would we use one?

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
School Leadership and Student Outcomes Identifying

# data[].attributes.attachment_caption
Put teachers at the heart of education reform

# data[].attributes.headline
Put teachers at the heart of education reform 

# data[].attributes.subject
Put teachers at the heart of education reform 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Put teachers at the heart of education reform

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Politicians planning major assessment or curriculum reform need to prioritise consulting and supporting teachers, writes IB director-general Olli-Pekka Heinonen