Category: Leadership

10 Indicators of Good Decision Making Processes

by LesLee Bickford

If you lead a team, you most likely have facilitated decision-making processes. And I’m willing to guess they haven’t always gone as smoothly as you hoped. Perhaps you’ve tried to build consensus only to find you haven’t gotten anywhere. Or perhaps you’ve made a decision on behalf of your team only to find that people were upset they weren’t involved. 

Decision-making can be hard work, especially when levels of urgency are high.

These 10 indicators of good decision-making processes can make it easier.

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4 Steps to Better Conflict

by LesLee Bickford

In order for teams to be effective, they need to have conflict. Not destructive conflict. Not where people shout or are passive aggressive or where pent up frustrations culminate in some sort of rupture. Teams need healthy conflict—the kind that allows for disagreements, different viewpoints, and a path forward that deepens relationships on a team.  

In order to foster this kind of conflict, you need to plan for it.

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Have You Learned These Three Lessons Yet?

by LesLee Bickford

As I planned for our welcome back professional development days this fall, I wanted to create experiences that would leave our staff feeling connected, inspired, empowered and motivated to launch the year. I started the year with hope and optimism; I focused on slowing down and working to create emotionally, intellectually and physically safe environments for adults and for students. Then reality set. Within weeks I could see it  everywhere I looked—educators are not well.

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Three Things to Consider Doing Differently This Year With Your Team

by LesLee Bickford

Summer is renewal time for educators, and this year more than ever, educators need to recover and replenish so they can return reenergized in the fall. As we emerge from this pandemic, it is important to consider these three things to do differently this year with your team.

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Are you a manager looking to coach? Start here.

by LesLee Bickford

I am so frequently asked a version of the question, “How can I coach as a boss?” that I will be holding a workshop this summer (Coaching When You’re the Boss) to help equip all you managers out there to do just that. 

The short answer is, yes. The much more important answer is, yes if you are both very intentional and capable. 

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How to Begin Conversations about Racial Identity

by LesLee Bickford

By Elena Aguilar, President and Founder In Episode 5 of The Bright Morning Podcast, I spoke to a very special person who told me a story about a couple of powerful conversations about race, racial identity, and racism. I want you to be able to have powerful conversation—conversations that heal and bring us into closer,

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Developing a Theory of Action

by LesLee Bickford

By Elena Aguilar, President and Founder In Episode 4 of The Bright Morning Podcast, I referenced a theory of action. I coached Jill through the initial steps to create a draft of a theory of action to lead folks in her district towards having conversations about racial inequities. In my coaching and consulting with leaders,

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