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Driving change within an organization demands a leader who can self-differentiate. This type of leader can maintain a sense of detachment from the group while effectively guiding the situation toward the desired goal (Kaufaman, 2013). Leading an organization takes a calm, organized individual who is not easily pulled into emotional triangles. One must also be able to view issues from a neutral vantage point and diffuse problems before they arise. 

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Self-differentiated leadership and Crucial Conversations 

While reflecting on becoming a self-differentiated leader, I need to keep my main goal in mind: to aid in the advancement of mathematics education by utilizing blended and flipped learning. My innovation plan outlines these goals in detail. With new strategies come new anxieties, so I must be a strong leader. I must face issues without being pulled into the negativity and remain neutral in the face of challenges. 

 

Authentic leadership involves uplifting others alongside personal growth. Throughout my participation in the ADL program and beyond, I am committed to evolving as a leader and inspiring others to join me on this transformative journey.

 

View my Blog about Self-Differentiated Leaders for more information. 

Conversations become crucial when stakes are high, emotions run strong, and opinions vary (Patterson et al., 2011).  In education, these situations can make or break an organization. Keeping the overall goal in mind when approaching a conversation is vital to continued success. Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler, outlines the steps needed for a productive conversation. 

 

  1. Choose your Topic: When determining the subject of discussion, it's imperative to remain focused on the relevant content, identify recurring patterns, and analyze how these patterns impact relationships. This is called CPR, Content, Pattern, and Relationship (Patterson et al., 2011).

  2. Start with the heart: Focus on what you want. We must know our true motives for a conversation before moving forward. 

  3. ​Master my stories: When strong emotions are involved, we must take a chance to retrace our path. We must ask ourselves why we feel how we do, separate the facts from the story, and be on the lookout for victims' accounts. 

  4. ​Learn to look: We must look for when the conversation becomes crucial. We need to focus on whether we or others are moving toward violence or silence, and we need to identify stressors (Patterson et al., 2011).

  5. Make it safe: Safety in a conversation comes in many forms. We need to ensure that we are focused in our conversations so as not to cause misunderstandings. It is also vital that we maintain mutual respect during difficult conversations. 

  6. STATE my path: When having a crucial conversation, we need to maintain confidence in our path. Following the STATE method, sharing your facts, telling your story, asking for others' input, talking tentatively, and encouraging testing of your ideas is vital. 

  7. Explore other paths: This step is for listening; to participate actively in a crucial conversation, we must listen to others. We need to ask for input, mirror their feelings, paraphrase their thinking, and take a guess at others' viewpoints. Before responding, we must agree on similarities, build on missing facts, and compare disagreements. 

  8. Move to action: From here, we decide what to do next. With a successful conversation, we should have a new path forward to action that can bring about positive change.

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Utilizing the strategies from Crucial Conversations, Crucial Influence, and 4DX, an organization can make impactful changes that can last and grow over time. I look forward to putting these skills into action as an educator. 

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References: 

Alex Kaufaman. (2013, August 24). Friedman's Theory of Differentiated Leadership Made Simple [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/i9H-i9lHr28?si=fbC-hsI-0zNORe9x

 

Patterson, K., Grenny, J., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2011). Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes are High, Second edition. McGraw Hill Professional. 

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