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Opening the Door to Coaching Conversations

Foreword by Joellen Killion

This companion and follow-up book to Coaching Conversations brings the coaching style of leadership to life with stories of real people using coaching skills to empower their staff.

Full description

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Product Details
  • Grade Level: K-12
  • ISBN: 9781452202570
  • Published By: Corwin
  • Year: 2012
  • Page Count: 184
  • Publication date: December 24, 2012
Price: $39.95

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This book is not available as a review copy.
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Author(s) Table of Contents Reviews

Description

What does coach leadership look like in action?

A leader doesn't have to solve every problem personally to be effective. In fact, helping others learn to resolve issues and implement their own solutions is the key to sustainable leadership and an empowered staff. This companion and follow-up book to Coaching Conversations brings the coaching style of leadership to life with stories from the experienced coaches on the Results Coaching team. Featuring examples of real people facing real problems who use coaching skills with great success, each chapter deals with a challenging leadership area and includes space for personal reflection, questions, and next steps. Topics include

  • Core values
  • Building trust and community
  • High expectations
  • School turnaround
  • Garnering genuine buy-in
  • Difficult conversations
  • Accountability
  • Balancing personal and professional commitments

As you focus on developing those around you, you earn the trust and loyalty of your team. This book's examples demonstrate that coach leadership is not only possible, it is the smartest way to lead in the 21st century!


Key features

The authors make use of stories from their own coaching practice and from Coaching For Results, Inc. colleagues. The stories provide extensive real-life examples of how conversations helped school leaders think through "sticky" issues in their work. Examples span stories about teachers, support staff, central office personnel, parents, students, and/or community interactions, reflecting the breadth of leadership issues for a broad audience. Each chapter:
  • Begins with a related quote
  • Gives background for the story(ies)
  • Includes two or more stories from the field as examples of how an educator successfully resolved an issue
  • Provides a section with explanations about the coaching skills embedded in the conversations
  • Highlights key solution ideas derived from the stories and reflections
  • Ends with a set of reflective questions and a personal journaling area for the reader. The reflection questions and space for journaling will assist the reader in processing the information and considering implications for their own practice.

Also included is an annotated bibliography and an appendix or two that highlights coach-like skills, such as a list of powerful questions and a list of stems for offering reflective feedback.

Author(s)

Linda M. Gross Cheliotes
Consulting Description


Linda Gross Cheliotes has over 38 years of successful educational experience, including fourteen years as a school administrator. As principal, she transformed her underperforming school to a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. She was named a National Distinguished Principal in 2002 and holds a doctorate in Organizational Leadership.

For the past two years, Dr. Gross has been a coach and trainer with Coaching for Results, Inc, a national consortium of school leadership coaches. She is a founding member and coach for NAESP’s principal mentor certification program. Dr. Gross currently works with the New York City Council of School Administrators’ Educational Leadership Institute, providing professional development for assistant principals who aspire to become principals. She has presented numerous professional development programs at the national, state, and local levels.

Dr. Gross is a member of the International Coach Federation and the National Association of Elementary School Principals.

Marceta F. Reilly

Consulting Description



Marceta Reilly, PhD, has 42 years of experience in education, moving from teacher to principal to school superintendent in Kansas. Her vision and passion were to create schools that were welcoming to students and families, and centers of learning and success for the entire community.

Dr. Reilly is now a leadership coach and has the Professional Certified Coach (PCC) credential from the International Coach Federation. She is a founding member of Coaching for Results, Inc., and dedicated to partnering with school leaders who are doing transformational work. She uses coaching conversations to help her clients gain insight and confidence, and she helps build their capacity to be extraordinary leaders, based on their individual, innate strengths.

Dr. Reilly regularly conducts workshops about coaching conversations. She is a frequent speaker at state and national conferences, and has been invited to present these ideas to audiences in China (2007) and India (2009).

Learn more at http://marcetareilly.com/leadership-that-inspires.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

About the Authors

Preface

Matrix of Stories

1. What is a Coaching Conversation?

Coach Leader Man—Feeding the Hunger! by Vicky Dearing

2. Discovering and Using Your Core Values

From Terminator to Hope Builder by Marceta Reilly

A Yearning for More by Karen Anderson

Courage at the Core by Riva Korashan

Leading With Your Core Values by Dave Winans

3. Building Trust and Community

Better Late Than Never by Linda Gross Cheliotes

Language Matters by Karen Anderson

The Safest Haven by Dave Winans

From Parent Intrusion to Parent Involvement by Diana Williams

4. Holding Up High Expectations for All

Finding Your Leadership Voice by Marceta Reilly

Being Contagious Makes You Better by Karen Anderson

Turning Around a Failing School by Sandee Crowther

5. Changing How We Change

I Want To…But by Linda Gross Cheliotes

The Crucial “Aha” Moment by Gina Marx

Changing a Relationship Through Language by Kathy Kee

Acting out My Future—Life is Just a Performance by Joan Hearne

6. Getting Genuine Buy-In: Framing Expectations to Support Change

Reflected Glory by Sue Kidd

Scoring With the Music Teacher by Kathy Kee

It’s In the Details by Bob Carter

Change Happens One By One by Joan Hearne

7. Engaging in Difficult Conversations

Moving Staff Up or Out by Marceta Reilly

Reflection: A Closer Look by Joan Hearne

A Marginal Teacher Spurs the Evolution of a Coach Leader by Gina Marx

Facing Our Dragons by Kathy Kee

8. Changing Blamers Into Believers

Softening Discipline At the Edges by Marceta Reilly

Caught In the Middle by Reba Schumacher

Nobody At This School Gets Me! by Frances Shuster

9. Everyone is Accountable

Monkey Collector by Linda Gross Cheliotes

Whose Problem—Whose Solution? by Sandee Crowther

Just Call Me Mom by Linda Gross Cheliotes

Middle School Under Attack by Edna Harris

10. Balancing Personal and Professional Commitments

Sitting on a Seesaw by Linda Gross Cheliotes

The 180 Degree Turnaround by Linda Gross Cheliotes

Reframing Balance by Riva Korashan

Running In Circles by Marceta Reilly

11. Navigating Successful Life Transitions

Rewiring by Linda Gross Cheliotes

I Feel Like a Failure by Dayna Richardson

Investing In the Next Steps by Joan Hearne

12. Summary

Appendix

References

Index

Reviews

Quote by Bonnie Tryon, Past President, School Administrators Association of New York: If you are looking for straight talk about real educational conversations that matter …without the sugar coating and jargon that many educational books contain…pick this one up. It is the real deal; it will make a difference in your mentoring and coaching practice!
If you are looking for straight talk about real educational conversations that matter …without the sugar coating and jargon that many educational books contain…pick this one up. It is the real deal; it will make a difference in your mentoring and coaching practice!
Bonnie Tryon, Past President
School Administrators Association of New York
Quote by Patricia Bowman, Academic Coordinator, University of California, Los Angeles: Where was a book like this when I first became a school principal? If I had read a book like this while I was a new principal, I know for certain that I would not have had so many difficult challenges during my first year. This book will be extremely beneficial for all those aspiring to be school leaders and those who are currently serving in a school leadership role. I loved the book and would definitely recommend it to any leadership training academy.
Where was a book like this when I first became a school principal? If I had read a book like this while I was a new principal, I know for certain that I would not have had so many difficult challenges during my first year. This book will be extremely beneficial for all those aspiring to be school leaders and those who are currently serving in a school leadership role. I loved the book and would definitely recommend it to any leadership training academy.
Patricia Bowman, Academic Coordinator
University of California, Los Angeles
Quote by Rosemarie Young, Principal, Jefferson County Public Schools, Louisville, KY: Opening the Door to Coaching Conversations is beneficial and has some strong recommendations for school leaders to effect change and school improvement. Much has been written on the need to build relationships in the school setting. Coaching staff to excellence is a concept that many leaders can utilize to become more effective leaders.
Opening the Door to Coaching Conversations is beneficial and has some strong recommendations for school leaders to effect change and school improvement. Much has been written on the need to build relationships in the school setting. Coaching staff to excellence is a concept that many leaders can utilize to become more effective leaders.
Rosemarie Young, Principal
Jefferson County Public Schools, Louisville, KY
Quote by Mark Turner, Adjunct Professor, Educational Consultant, & Mentor Coach, School Administrators Association of New York State, Latham, NY: Opening the Door to Coaching Conversations represents a collection of leadership behaviors, stories, conversations, and practices from which one can select to reflect on his or her own unique interests. It expands confidence and capacity to support change through coaching.
Opening the Door to Coaching Conversations represents a collection of leadership behaviors, stories, conversations, and practices from which one can select to reflect on his or her own unique interests. It expands confidence and capacity to support change through coaching.
Mark Turner, Adjunct Professor, Educational Consultant, & Mentor Coach
School Administrators Association of New York State, Latham, NY
Quote by Lynn Macan, Superintendent, Cobleskill-Richmondville CSD, Cobleskill, NY: Coaching is one of the most promising practices in the reformation of our educational practices. This book explains and exemplifies the essential elements of effective coaching, and brings them to life through a variety of stories that will resonate in some way with every reader. This book is a gift to the field change process in which we are all engaged.
Coaching is one of the most promising practices in the reformation of our educational practices. This book explains and exemplifies the essential elements of effective coaching, and brings them to life through a variety of stories that will resonate in some way with every reader. This book is a gift to the field change process in which we are all engaged.
Lynn Macan, Superintendent
Cobleskill-Richmondville CSD, Cobleskill, NY
Quote by Sean Beggin, Assistant Principal, Andover High School, Andover, MN: Opening the Door to Coaching Conversations is a book that will not collect dust on the shelf. It is written in a manner that can be used either as a book to read cover to cover or as a quick reference guide to help plan how to deal with unique situations. The book is an easy read, yet very useful for busy school leaders.
Opening the Door to Coaching Conversations is a book that will not collect dust on the shelf. It is written in a manner that can be used either as a book to read cover to cover or as a quick reference guide to help plan how to deal with unique situations. The book is an easy read, yet very useful for busy school leaders.
Sean Beggin, Assistant Principal
Andover High School, Andover, MN
Quote by Midwest Book Review, October 2012: "The focus on coach leadership principles as they play out in real-world situations makes for a powerful guide highly recommended for any education collection interested in coaching team teaching."
"The focus on coach leadership principles as they play out in real-world situations makes for a powerful guide highly recommended for any education collection interested in coaching team teaching."
Midwest Book Review, October 2012
Quote by The International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching, December 2012: “An indispensable practical coach-leader’s guide into how to transform a simple conversation into an intentional and productive dialogue in which the coach-leader engages their staff to take action and achieve the desired results."
“An indispensable practical coach-leader’s guide into how to transform a simple conversation into an intentional and productive dialogue in which the coach-leader engages their staff to take action and achieve the desired results."
The International Journal of Mentoring and Coaching
December 2012
Price: $39.95

Review Copies

This book is not available as a review copy.

Related Resources

  • Access to companion resources is available with the purchase of this book.

Other Titles in: Leadership | Principal Mentoring, Induction & Coaching | School Culture & Climate