Why was he talking to a stranger?

Colleagues,

MVP: Go make a positive difference by coaching someone today!
 
Two weeks ago, I was in a school talking with a middle school math teacher. His students were working on a big genetics project. I went through the 5-minute coaching process with him and asked the three questions about the genetics unit:

1. What went well?
2. Were there any surprises?
3. Would you do anything differently?

 
He responded enthusiastically to the third question and shared that he only realized towards the end of the unit that he could have incorporated more math and worked with the math teacher to create an integrated unit that would have had a bigger impact on kids and teachers.
 
As a school leader, this would be valuable information that I could circle back to with the team. How do we support opportunities within the team to work more collaboratively? 
 
Here’s the kicker – the teacher told me all about his unit even though he had never met me before! I was a stranger and just started asking questions.
 
People want to talk about their work. They want to share, and they value opportunities to reflect.
 
Reflect on your week:

• What did you do as a leader that helped someone grow?
• In working to develop the people around you, were there any surprises this week?
• Was there anything that you would do differently to have a greater impact on growing your people?

 
I hope you saw what I did there 😉
 
Today’s intention: Take five minutes and grow someone by asking three simple questions.
 
Cheers!

Frederick