You may not know this, but I am a stubborn son-of-a-gun most of the time. Ask most people who know me, and they'll recount dozens of stories where I fought battles on principle. And while my ideas were often right, my delivery stunk and I was ignored. "That's just Bill spouting off again," colleagues would say.
Oftentimes, my biggest conflicts would be with administrators over school-wide decisions that I thought were poorly designed or implemented. Burbling with passion, I would argue vehemently in favor of my position. I saw communication as a battle---and I've never enjoyed losing!
That's why a recent conversation about building consensus on the Teacher Leaders Network struck so close to home. Listening to my colleagues discuss their efforts to be consensus builders reminded me of my own personal struggles to be a connector instead of a competitor in my own building.
The turning point in my professional career happened one day during second block. Preparing for an upcoming classroom conversation, my students and I spent the better part of two hours talking about the differences between competitive and collaborative dialogue. "Both styles," I explained, "have value. It's picking the right style for the right setting that defines how influential you'll be."
Almost immediately, I realized that my competitive nature cheapened who I was within our organization.
So I've spent the past few years working on building collaborative relationships with my colleagues---and those relationships have been critical to the success of our school's learning community. Because I'm often seen as an ally instead of an opponent, I'm able to shape thinking with insights from the classroom.
Don't get me wrong....My competitive streak still runs strong and I've rubbed more than a few people raw.
It's just that I've learned that collaboration isn't half bad either.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I have found the social dynamics piece to be one of the most challenging aspects of developing, working in, and supporting professional learning teams.
Has anyone else found any strategies that are particularly effective in helping to negotiate difficult conversations and opinions in productive ways?
I completely agree with you. I used to think it was all about sharing ideas...but also winning people over to my way of thinking. It wasn't that I couldn't be helpful or kind to other colleagues...but I think I've morphed into someone that wants to understand their perspective. Find the value in what that perspective brings to the table....mull it over and see how it fits.
I see this professional dance as more of a jigsaw puzzle than a single solution thing.
You go Bill!!!!
Post a Comment