Guest Sara Ticer
GuestForum Replies Created
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Just as priming, preparing, and ushering our leaders into our meetings, equally important is having a strong closing. “A strong closing has two phases, corresponding to two distinct needs among your guests: looking inward and turning outward. Looking inward is about taking a moment to understand, remember, acknowledge, and reflect on what just transpired—and to bond as a group one last time. Turning outward is about preparing to part from one another and retake your place in the world.” And “engaging in some meaning-making at the end is crucial. What transpired here? And why does that matter?” (p. 259)
Those excerpts reinforced my thinking around a coaching strategy that I am trying to consistently use to close out many of my meetings. To facilitate meaning making, provide for transition, and to apply what was discussed. I ask leaders to reflect on what they did/learned and identify one or a couple of things they can do in the next few days or weeks before meeting again. Also, I really liked what Parker said on p. 259 about how the guests “can talk about it with others” and “guide guests toward some kind of collective exercise of stock-taking.” I plan to incorporate these ideas because I think it can help leaders move from “me to we” and also build the power of the collective. I need to get better at encouraging them to write down their reflections and that is a goal I am setting for myself for next year.
Another takeaway I appreciated was the reminder that “just as you don’t open a gathering with logistics, you should never end a gathering with logistics, and that includes thank-yous (p. 271) And… “Here’s a simple solution: do it as the second-to-last thing.” (p. 272) As a result of reading this chapter, before many of my final meetings in June, I became more intentional in my closing by doing logistics and thank-yous before moving into final reflections and thoughts about next steps for next year. It seemed to me to be a more powerful way to close.
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I made numerous notations in this chapter as I believe it is particularly relevant for our work with school leaders. The pieces that Jessica and Joann referenced were ones that I loved, too. To follow up on Joann’s “poke at a source of power” I also appreciated the excerpt, “touching on these elements with care can produce transformative gatherings, because you can dig below the typical conversation into the bedrock of values.” (p. 237)
If we are really going to support and coach our leaders to make the kinds of change that will create transforming experiences for their students, we need to invite some good controversy into our work together. There will be times to raise the temperature with some thought-provoking and tough questions and engage in dialogue that gets at the values and beliefs below the surface. To invite in this good controversy, relationships built on trust are the prerequisite to deeper, more meaningful conversations. And even with trusted relationships it is all about sensing the right time and respectfully navigating the conversation with the leader. Therefore, there will be times to lower the temperature.
So, to outweigh the risks of introducing controversy and to offer gifts into our work with school leaders we need to build trusting relationships, shine a light on their successes and what they are doing well in their schools, and invite them to check their “best self” at the door. What if we can help leaders enter “a temporary alternate world” where we acknowledge the possibility that risk may be perceived …(p. 244) “as a threat to one’s current state that could destabilize the ways things are” but that “the risk is what allows for the possibility of the gift”? Coaching relationship and conversations that encourage leaders to surface the issues, address the “sacred cows,” and take risks to say what is often unsaid, hopefully will position leaders to create the conditions needed for change in their school.
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There were a few excerpts that particularly resonated with me that I thought could apply to both copilot and counterpart work. P. 207 – “A gatherer brings people together…And yet so often when we gather, we are gathered in ways that hide our need for help and portray us in the strongest and least heart-stirring light. It is in gathering that we meet those who could help us, and it is in gathering that we pretend not to need them, because we have it all figured out. P. 210 – “Another tactic that helps to undam realness in gatherings is a push for people’s experiences over their ideas…Many gatherings would be improved if people were simply asked for their stories…p.212 – “Story is about a decision that you made. It’s not about what happens to you.”
I think I probably ask more for ideas rather than encouraging people to share their experiences or stories. Ideas and theories keep us “in our head” and experiences and stories connect the heart to thought-provoking opportunities and possibility thinking. As I thought more about all this, I hope to be more intentional and encourage participants, through conversations and coaching, to come as their authentic selves, not their “best self.” As a coach, to ask the right questions, those designed to go below the surface, and to take risks at being “real,” might lead to deeper connections with each other and provide a better opportunity to help one another. For leaders to meet the challenges that are impacting school change and improved outcomes for students, the coaching and cohort environment should be designed so that it is not just “ok,” but rather it is expected, that our meetings are a safe space where honest dialogue, sharing fears, and what is not going well can occur.
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Like Joann’s response to Jessica, I also was curious at first about the difference between norms and pop-up rules. What I like about the notion of pop-up rules is that it adds freshness and a reminder of the purpose for the gathering. From my experience, we often set group norms that are static, proceed to list them off, and then just go on with the business at hand, not really paying much attention to the application of the norm(s). And to try to make the norms more effective, we’ll spend time at the beginning of the year gathering from our participants what the norms in action sound and look like, only to find they slide off the radar in subsequent meetings.
I thought, at the time we started our copilot and counterpart meetings, that I should have engaged folks in a norm-setting process. I only did it informally. After reading this chapter and reflecting on my own experience with norm-setting I am thinking of a restart for next year. Perhaps we could collaborate and establish a few norms but then find a creative way to inject a pop-up rule on top of the norms. This could add a spark, create a sense of purpose, and keep in mind that each meeting or gathering, even if a repeated event, will exist only once. Maybe we could even ask principals to bring a pop-up rule to a meeting after modeling it ourselves, initially, to engage and connect.
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The idea of being an intentional gatherer and (p.94) “…design your gatherings for the kinds of connections you want to create” led me to think about how the coach and facilitator can actively practice protecting, equalizing, and connecting principals. Equalizing or equity of voice is one area that I want to find more ways to address. Nina had some great ideas around this. I find that some participants are better able to “shorten the runway” to allow time for others to share their perspectives and ideas but others can go long. As the author notes, p. 89 – “You have to be aware of the power dynamics at our gathering and be willing to do something about them…” I look for opportunities to segue to bring in additional voices, but I want to find more proactive ways to equalize the participation.
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I loved this chapter and p. 175 spoke to me about importance of “beginnings”– “…However vital it may seem to start with (this) housekeeping, you are missing an opportunity to sear your gathering’s purpose into the minds of your guests…revealing to your guests that you do not, in fact, care about the things you claim to care about as much as you profess.” <div>
The chapter caused me to reflect on the countless meetings, professional development sessions, conferences, events, etc. that I have both attended and hosted. I thought about the ones that were inspiring and memorable and those that felt stilted and uneventful. Those that were the most powerful had a strong start and finish, along with meaningful content, but logistics and housekeeping were sandwiched somewhere in between. The gathering that starts or ends with housekeeping miss an opportunity to hook and inspire guests at the beginning and close with a reason to come back for more. This notion is a good reminder to me not to kill the mood with the logistics or inadvertently signal the wrong message.
Another concept that resonated with me in this chapter was the piece on “fuse your guests.” P. 181 – Your next task is to fuse people, to turn a motley collection of attendees into a tribe. A talented gatherer doesn’t hope for disparate people to become a group. She makes them a group.” The examples of the Tough Mudder Pledge, the John Hopkins study that put in place good gathering principles, and the teacher who used yarn to build a web of connections with his students all had a powerful impact on effective collaboration and outcomes. Could we explore ways to build our virtual webs or do some symbolic gesture or “pledge” to help leaders have horizontal linkages to bind them together?
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There were many pieces of this chapter that struck me, but I’ll reference one on p. 54 – “…figuring the venue is about deciding how you want to nudge those chosen few to be the fullest versions of themselves and the best guests.” While our virtual venue is obviously determined, I appreciated what Jessica spoke to around helping leaders arrive at a place of readiness. Personally, I think I could have done a better job of addressing the positives and the constraints of the virtual space with the principals in my groups and could have been more intentional in how to practice displacement. Thinking towards next year, perhaps, together, they could come up with ideas and strategies that will help them be “present,” and define parameters for the virtual meeting space. It might be time well spent to at the beginning of the year to brainstorm and share ideas on how to create the space and engage in displacement so that they can be the “fullest versions of themselves.”
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There were many nuggets in this chapter that resonated with me: One was on page 15: To start with a focus on what readers rather than editors thought signaled a major change in New York Times culture. This is an analogy to having the focus stay on what the principal thinks (and values) and not the coach.
Another quote I liked is on page 17: What are the ingredients for a sharp, bold, meaningful gathering purpose?… Specificity is a crucial ingredient. The more focused and particular a gathering is, the more narrowly it frames itself and the passion it arouses. I have found this to be the case when working with principals. If we can work our way through a problem of practice, they feel so empowered and that they have accomplished something meaningful in our time together.
Principals are busy people. They need to know that the time they spend in any meeting or coaching session is worthwhile and will help them improve outcomes for students, so I think it is important to provide leaders at the very beginning with a very clear understanding of the “why” of Portico, the progression of the work, and the role of individual coaching and cohorts. At the same time, focus on what principals are working on and explore how Portico is relevant to their experience, their goals, and their hopes and dreams for their school. Every coaching session needs to have a clearly articulated purpose and one that focuses on the principal and their school improvement efforts.
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In the beginning, I spent time with individual principals becoming acquainted, asking them to share about themselves and I did likewise. Getting to know one another has us helped grow our coaching relationship as the year has progressed.
During each copilot I ask the leader to share a win and/or something that they have been working on since the last time we met that is going well related to our Portico work. At the end of the meeting, I ask the principal for their reflection and next step(s). This serves as an entry point or check in at the next month’s meeting. Also, the Leadership Profile and the Leadership Capabilities summary in Portico were great tools to use during the first few months to reflect on strengths and areas for growth, get some baseline information about the school, and do some possibility thinking.
Some of the principals in my cohort groups knew each other from some virtual PLC training we have done. This helped with some initial relationship building. We spent time, when we first convened, learning about each other and each other’s school context. We start our meeting with a “win.” Because principals are in different places, I look for some common themes to build upon that connects to copilot work which can bring the group together. I also look for connections among them and their work and ask them to elaborate and share with one another. I often ask a principal, before Counterpart, if they would be willing to share one of their artifacts, a strategy, or an activity that relates to our topic and is a common interest or need among the group.
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Joann, I agree with you about the difficulty to sometimes read the audience in a virtual space. The non-verbal interactions that naturally occur in an in-person environment are not nearly as evident in the virtual environment. I also think some activities are not as easy to do or process in the virtual space. I read an interesting study on how brainstorming activities are not as effective in zoom type meetings because participants are busy trying to follow virtual meeting etiquette rules and focus on paying attention to the other person’s face on the screen. They say that the brain is not as efficient to think creatively while maintaining visual attention towards the other person. The researcher suggests that participants turn off their camera during the brainstorming activity, reflect and write their ideas, and then use their audio to share out. This made a lot of sense to me, and I am curious how it could apply to our work with leaders. I would love to dialogue with you more about your experiences and think together about ways to manage constraints to make it more conducive for leaders to share struggles and take risks.