ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
The Power of a Single Word: Communicating with Intentionality
Reliability is the precondition for trust.
– Wolfgang Schauble
In this roundtable, Dr. JoAnn Sternke shared tools and resources on how to make your communication highly reliable by being intentional in the words you choose and crafting your message with empathy, transparency, timeliness and follow-through.
In the discussion groups, JoAnn challenged education leaders to reflect on their communication strategies during reentry:
- Thinking of the impact COVID has had, what has been a key communication challenge you have experienced as you communicated your Reentry Plans?
- What is a communication strategy you used to communicate more effectively about your Reentry Plans?
- As you think of your next adjustment to your Reentry Plan, what is one message you will work to communicate with more reliability?
Roundtable Resources
Leading Change with Empathy - 9P Online
Nothing stays the same. In fact, if we keep doing things the same way we've always done them, it's likely our performance will decline. Change is the only constant in our organizations and in life, and for most, change is uncomfortable. For organizations to stay relevant and innovative, teams must work through fears quickly.
One Word Makes a Difference - 9P Online
Try Mary's "and/but" exercise at your next team meeting. Afterwards, notice if you feel the barriers she describes. Reflect on the words you use with your team on a regular basis. Are you building relationships, inspiring others, and creating momentum?
Model the Way by Managing Up - 9P Online
Manage up is used to create the habit of focusing on the positive, while stamping out the negative. It allows us to model for others the sentiment of recognition and appreciation for hard work. We validate for our employees that we live the values we have deemed important to fulfilling our mission and vision...
Start with Why - 9P Online
Consider your listeners. Put yourself in their shoes and consider what you would want and need to hear. Think about key words you'll use. Intentionality around the why is very important, explains Studer Education coach, Dr. JoAnn Sternke, in a podcast on intentional communication.
The Toolkits
Communicate with Greater Clarity: Leveraging the Execution Triangle
This toolkit focuses on how to leverage the principles of the Studer Education Execution Triangle to enhance the clarity of your written and spoken communication. If you want to communicate with greater clarity, the three key principles in this toolkit will assist you in developing and deploying your message.
Return to Learn: Organizational Excellence Execution and Improvement
The practices and tools in this toolkit provide a framework for deploying a process that aligns measures, actions, input, results and conversations to help the team stay focused on serving students and their families well and providing them with an excellent education.
Future Roundtable Sessions
Each week, our coaches lead a discussion with a community of leaders who are facing similar challenges. These 60-minute sessions are free and allow opportunities to learn from expert leadership coaches and have candid conversations with other leaders about barriers, share successful practices, and re-center on what works.
