8 comments on “Going to the hard places

  1. Well stated. Part of having the ability to go to those hard places is the humility that must be involved. Furthermore it needs to be on both sides. Your comments about being focused on the outcomes are relevant and probably too often overlooked. Keeping the outcome in mind certainly allows for the feedback to come from that “place of caring”. Thanks so much for sharing.

  2. I’m going to start off my next class on peer-editing with your post, as it mirrors the same message we discuss in class. My gr. 8’s, who’ve been through a year of peer-editing with me, understand the value of honest feedback, going to the ‘hard place’and therefore give feedback in a respectful manner. My new gr. 7’s are still reluctant to go there, for fear of offending.
    Last week, when we had this discussion again, I asked, “How valuable, or fair is it, for the student who gets feedback from an honest peer-editor, vs. the one whose peer-editor is afraid, worried about offending?”
    The gr. 7/8 students will love the sports analogy of cheerleader vs. coach.
    Great post!

  3. Great point about the value of humility in the process Rob.

    Heather, I LOVE that you are sharing this with students! Please let me know if I should edit anything, there are a couple places that I think my writing could use some help. 🙂 Peer editing is a difficult but valuable task, and it is a great example of where being critical can be very meaningful and beneficial.

  4. David, these points are so important, yet so hard for us as leaders to embrace. Especially as a new administrator, it is difficult to go to these hard places, even though that when we do, great things can result! I will think of your words this week as I work to get through some tricky situations!!

  5. “If we truly want our team to improve, then we need to make sure that we start with having high expectations for ourselves and for all of our team members.”

    Team members need to see the leader expecting no more, or less of himself/herself than he/she expects of others. And if successes are authentically celebrated, the caring will shine through.

  6. Really thought provoking blog post. It’s interesting how some of the most important facets of leadership are not those that immediately come to mind. But without the important skills you’ve outlined above, noone could hope to be a great leader.

  7. You are so right about having to ‘go to the hard places’. I learnt that early in my headship. When I moved schools I tried to make a ‘praise sandwich’ from the beginning so that staff always knew that there would be an area for development. It made it easier when those areas were more tricky both for me delivering them & for staff receiving.

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