1. Elementary Principals’ Statewide Mentoring Meeting Thursday, September 17, 2015

2.  Grow your professional network;  Ensure familiarity with SAI’s Mentoring and Induction program resources and expectations;  Process what has contributed to a successful start to the school year;  Consult with colleagues regarding a leadership challenge;  Discuss pertinent legal issues;  Gain insight from practicing principals regarding leadership strategies and behaviors to improve instruction;  Identify strategies and practices for dealing with difficult people; and  Adopt a strategy/ies to improve leadership-life fit. Outcomes:

3. Links  Resources : http://www.sai-iowa.org/sept-15-elementary- principal-mentoring.cfm  Evaluation : http://bit.ly/SAIMentor91715  Mentoring Matters: http://www.sai-iowa.org/mentoring-and- induction.cfm

4.  Name  School/District  Your building’s focus for professional learning (a word or phrase) Welcome!!

5. As you reflect on these first few weeks of school, what has contributed to your successful start? Grounding Activity

6. Learning Community: Leadership Consultancy

7. Protocol  Leader who has traveled the farthest will be the first presenter  Timekeeper/facilitator will be the person to the left of the presenter  Presenter shares an overview of the dilemma and poses his/her focus question. 2 MINUTES

8. Protocol  Consultancy Group asks clarifying questions – those with brief, factual answers.  Consultancy Group asks probing questions:  Worded to help presenter clarify and expand his/her thinking about the dilemma presented to the group.  Help presenter analyze the dilemma. 2 MINUTES

9. Protocol  Consultancy Group talks with each other about the dilemma presented while the presenter listens and takes notes:  What did we hear?  What didn’t we hear that might be relevant?  What assumptions seem to be operating?  What questions does the dilemma raise for us?  What do we think about the dilemma?  What might we do or try if faced with a similar dilemma? What have we done in similar situations? 5 MINUTES

10. Protocol  Presenter reflects on what he/she heard and on what he/she is now thinking, sharing with the group anything that particularly resonated during the consultancy. 5 MINUTES  Rotate to second presenter. Rotate

11. Legal Update and Scenario Matt Carver, SAI

12. Modified Discussion Panel: Strategies to Improve Instruction

13.  Tara Owen, Ankeny  Kim Nelson, Alden  Darin Jones, Montezuma Welcome, Panelists!!

14. Working Productively with Difficult People Dana Schon, SAI

16. Six Stinkers  Wes Whiner  Donna Drama Queen  Negative Ned  Nancy Know-it-All  Betsy Bully  Rick Resister

18. Wes Whiner Wes’s World  He’s the only one who works hard.  His glass is half empty.  He’s the school martyr. Working with Wes  Listen to his complaints/concerns (one-on- one).  Assure him you value his work.  Help him problem-solve as needed.  Empower him with the leadership to create his own solution to be shared with you according to your timeline.

19. Donna Drama Queen Donna’s World  She’s the only one with things going on in her world.  The world revolves around her. (loves the limelight)  She has a victim mindset.  Lives by hyperbole – exaggerates everything. Dealing with Donna  Be direct.  Have the hard conversation.  Maintain your own emotional composure.

20. Negative Ned Ned’s World  Struggles to see the positive in anything.  Attacks even the best of ideas.  Holds a generally pessimistic outlook. Navigating Ned  Be clear with Ned about his negative attitude and behavior and the impact he has on the school.  Clearly communicate your expectations moving forward.

22. Nancy Know-it-All Nancy’s World  Struggles with being wrong.  Always has an opinion.  Can’t help correcting everyone else.  Enamored with her the sound of her own voice. Navigating Nancy  Be empathetic. Her behavior may stem from confidence issues.  Utilize her strengths.  Be strategic in how you group her with other staff/teams.  Have the difficult conversation as needed.  Invite her to consider how she might engage others in the conversation and processing.

23. Betsy Bully Betsy’s World  Gains enjoyment from tormenting others.  Undermines the work of others.  Puts others down to make them feel small.  Spreads gossip and rumors. Dealing with Betsy  Have the hard conversation immediately.  Be sure through your modeling and behavior that your staff know bullying behavior is not tolerated.  Be prepared to deliver serious consequences including termination.

24. Rick Resister Rick’s World  Lack of confidence: Who wants to try when failure seems inevitable?  Arrogance: “I don’t need to change. Others have the problem.”  Bitterness: “I haven’t been treated right so I’m not going along with your plan.”  Lack of passion: It’s not important.  Negative history: “I’ve tried before and it didn’t work.”  Defeatism: What’s the use.  Fear of failure: “I’ll be embarrassed if I try and fail.” Working with Rick  Listen! Listen! Listen!  Ask questions.

25.  If you took a step forward, what would it look like?  What’s important about not moving forward?  What’s important about moving forward?  What imperfect behavior would you like to try?  What’s important about keeping things the same?  How might you keep things the same and try something new?  What happens if you do nothing?  What would you like me to ask you the next time we meet?  What obstacles have you overcome in the past? How might that apply here?  Who might be helpful? Working with Rick Resistor

26. Six Thinking Hats as a Strategy for Working with Difficult People From the work of Edward deBono

27. The Six Hats and The Six Stinkers  The six hats engages all participants in considering multiple perspectives, one view at a time.  Participants are supported in thinking along parallel lines.

28. What is parallel thinking? At any moment everyone is looking in the same direction.

29. The six hats widen our lens:  Six colors of hats for six types of thinking  Each hat identifies a type of thinking  Hats are directions of thinking  Hats help a group use parallel thinking  You can “put on” and “take off” a hat

30. Six colors…  White: neutral, objective  Red: emotional, passionate  Black: serious, somber  Yellow: sunny, positive  Green: growth, fertility  Blue: cool, sky above

31. …and six hats  White: objective facts & figures; data & information  Red: emotions, feelings, & intuitions  Black: cautious, careful, & critical judgment  Yellow: hope, positive & beneficial  Green: creativity, ideas & lateral thinking  Blue: process control & organization of thinking (thinking about thinking)

32. Wearing the hats  Direction, not description  Set out to think in a certain direction  “Let’s have some black hat thinking…”  Not categories of people  Not: “He’s a black hat thinker.”  Everyone can and should use all the hats  Not right v. wrong  Thinking through the issues from multiple points of view.  Surfacing potential gaps  Use in whole or in part

33. Benefits of Six Thinking Hats  Provides a common language  Experience & intelligence of each person (Diversity of thought)  Use more of our brains  Helps people work against type, preference  Removal of ego (reduce confrontation)  Save time  Focus (one thing at a time)  Create, evaluate & implement action plans

34. The Blue Hat  Thinking about thinking  Instructions for thinking  The organization of thinking  Control of the other hats  Discipline and focus

35. The Blue Hat Role  Control of thinking & the process  Begin & end session with blue hat  Facilitator, session leader ’ s role  Choreography  open, sequence, close  Focus: what should we be thinking about  Asking the right questions  Defining & clarifying the problem  Setting the thinking tasks

36. Open with the blue hat…  why we are here  what we are thinking about  definition of the situation or problem  alternative definitions  what we want to achieve  where we want to end up  the background to the thinking  a plan for the sequence of hats

37. …and close with the blue hat  What we have achieved  Outcome  Conclusion  Design  Solution  Next steps

38. White Hat Thinking  Neutral, objective information  Facts & figures  Review existing information, search for gaps, analyze past trends  Questions:  What information do we have?  What information do we need?  What information is missing?  What questions do we need to ask?  Is it fact or belief? (checked facts v. believed facts)  Excludes opinions, hunches, judgments  Removes feelings & impressions

39. White Hat Questions  What information do we have?  What information do we need?  What information is missing?  What questions do we need to ask?  Is it fact or belief? (checked facts v. believed facts)

40. Red Hat Thinking  Emotions & feelings  Hunches, intuitions, impressions, gut instincts  Doesn’t have to be logical or consistent  No justifications, reasons or basis  Consider how other people will react emotionally

41. Red Hat Questions  What is your gut reaction to this plan?  What is your opinion?  What do you like or not like?  What emotions are involved (fear, anger, hatred, suspicion, enthusiasm, joy)?  How do you think our staff (stakeholders/board/parents/students) will feel?

42. Yellow Hat Thinking  Positive & speculative  Positive thinking, optimism, opportunity  Benefits  Best-case scenarios  Exploration

43. Yellow Hat Questions  What ideas, suggestions, or proposals are there for how to approach this issue?  What is the value/benefit in how this plan has been designed?  What positives do you see?  What could be done to make this more effective?  Under what conditions will this work?  What is your vision for how this can move forward?

44. Green Hat Thinking  New ideas, concepts, perceptions  Deliberate creation of new ideas  Alternatives and more alternatives  New approaches to problems  Creative & lateral thinking

45. Green Hat Questions  Let’s think “outside the box.”  What are some fresh ideas or approaches?  This is the time for any wild or crazy or “far out” idea.  What are all of our alternatives?  How can we reshape a certain idea?  We’ve always done it this way; let’s “green hat” it … how else can we do it?

46. Black Hat Thinking  Cautious and careful  Logical negative – why it won’t work  Critical judgment, pessimistic view  Separates logical negative from emotional  Focus on errors, evidence, conclusions  Logical & truthful, but not necessarily fair

47. Black Hat Questions  What will happen if we take this action?  What can go wrong if we proceed with this idea or implement this suggestion?  What are the weaknesses that we need to overcome?  What is the worst case scenario?  Why won’t this work?

48. Six hats summary Blue: control & organization of thinking White: objective facts & figures Red: emotions & feelings Yellow: hope, positive & speculative Green: creativity, ideas & lateral thinking Black: cautious & careful

50. Red Hat Questions  What is your gut reaction to this plan?  What is your opinion?  What do you like or not like?  What emotions are involved (fear, anger, hatred, suspicion, enthusiasm, joy)?  How do you think our staff (stakeholders/board/parents/students) will feel?

51. Group Process  Describe the group’s interactions.  What themes emerged from the conversation?

52. Black Hat Questions  What will happen if we take this action?  What can go wrong if we proceed with this idea or implement this suggestion?  What are the weaknesses that we need to overcome?  What is the worst case scenario?  Why won’t this work?

53. Group Process  Describe the group’s interactions.  What themes emerged from the conversation?

54. Yellow Hat Questions  What is the value/benefit in how this plan has been designed?  What positives do you see?  What could be done to make this more effective?  Under what conditions will this work?  What is your vision for how this can move forward?

55. Group Process  Describe the group’s interactions.  What themes emerged from the conversation?

57. Leadership-life Fit: The Myth of Multi-tasking Dana Schon, SAI

58. The Notion of Balance…  Is discussed most frequently discussed in the negative  Keeps us focused on the problem rather than the solution  Assumes we are all the same  Infers there is a “right” answer  Leads us to judge  Results in unproductive guilt  Suggests the goal is a 50-50 split between work and life  Leaves no room for periods where there is more work and less life and vice versa; and  Ignores the constantly changing reality of work and life

59. What about a work-life fit?  Honors our unique situations throughout various points in our lives  Leads us to inspire  Recognizes multiple options based upon each person’s current circumstance  Acknowledges the ebb and flow of life’s events  Values flexibility

60. Priority Pow Toon http://www.powtoon.com/show/dOaqcU ue9T8/priority/#/

61. The Eisenhower Box What is important is seldom urgent, and what is urgent is seldom important. ~Dwight Eisenhower, 34 th President of the United States

62. You can do anything once you stop trying to do everything.

63. Upcoming learning opportunities: http://www.sai-iowa.org/events.cfm Evaluation: http://bit.ly/SAIMentor91715 Final Thoughts & Evaluation