Title Details

ELENA AGUILAR is a teacher, coach and consultant with over twenty years of experience working in schools. Elena is also the author of The Art of Coaching: Effective Strategies for School Transformation. She has been a frequent writer for Edutopia since 2008 and writes a blog on EdWeek Teacher for coaches.

A Tale of Two Teams • What’s in This Book? • Who Is This Book For? • Toward a Beloved Community

Chapter 1: Refining a Vision 1

A Note on Terms • What Is a Great Team? • What Makes an Effective Team? • Why Do We Need Teams? • When Do We Really Need a Team? • How Do We Build Teams?

Chapter 2: Knowing Ourselves as Leaders 13

The Amygdala in a Strange Land • Exploring the Terrain of Leadership • The Potential of Transformational Leadership • Spotting the Tentacles of Power • Emotions Are Contagious

Chapter 3: Creating a Culture of Trust 39

Why Human Bingo Doesn’t Build Trust • Trust Isn’t Built in a Day, But We Can Lay Bricks Every Hour • Use Hindsight to Strengthen Foresight

Chapter 4: Defining Purpose, Process, and Product 63

The Necessity of a Reason for Being • It’s All about How We Work Together • What Are We Going to Do Together? • Mapping Out the Journey

Chapter 5: Laying a Foundation for Trust 95

Community Agreements Build Culture • A Good Norm Is Not Hard to Find • Getting from Here to Norms • Make Your Norms Serve You • Setting Intentions: A Counterpart to Norms • A Beloved Community

Chapter 6: Developing the Emotional Intelligence of a Team 121

What Is the Emotional Intelligence of a Team? • How Do I Create an Emotionally Intelligent Team? • Managing Unexpected Change • Taming the Stress Demons

Chapter 7: Cultivating Healthy Communication 137

A Blueprint for Transformational Conversations • Constructing Good Conversations • Twenty Ways to Improve Your Team’s Communication • Giving Feedback • Equity of Participation

Chapter 8: Making Good Decisions 159

Indicators of Effective Decision Making • Identifying Decision-Making Moments • Who Is Involved and How Much Say DoThey Get • Decision-Making Processes • Facilitating Discussions • When Conversations Get Stuck • Reflection and Feedback

Chapter 9: Supporting Adult Learners 183

The Big Picture:The Learning Organization • From Theory to Practice • Common Challenges • Dealing with Resistance

Chapter 10: Orchestrating Meaningful Meetings 205

To Meet or Not to Meet? • Why Meet? • Which Activities Should We Do? • How Do I Choose What to Do?

Chapter 11: Setting the Stage for Artful Meetings 231

Start with Feedback • Don’t Forget the Facilitator’s Agenda • Prepare Your Internal Self • Put on the Finishing Touches • Find the Joy in Planning

Chapter 12: Navigating Conflict 245

What Is Conflict and Why Is It So Scary? • What Is Healthy Conflict in a Team? • How Can I Facilitate Healthy Conflict? • A Note on Talking about Race and Other Really Hard Things • How Can I Respond to Unhealthy Conflict? • What If None of These Suggestions Work?

Chapter 13: Assessing Organizational Conditions 269

The Primacy of Purpose • Focus, Focus, Focus • Alignment Up and Out • Stability • Leadership • Membership • A Culture of Learning • Trust • Decision Making • Time

CONCLUSION: COMING TO AN END 291

Ten Truths about Building Teams • Amid the Redwoods

APPENDICES 297

APPENDIX A: FACILITATOR CORE COMPETENCIES 299

APPENDIX B: TEAM EFFECTIVENESS SELF-ASSESSMENT 305

APPENDIX C: COMMUNITY-BUILDING ACTIVITIES AND RANDOM GROUPING STRATEGIES 307

APPENDIX D: FACILITATION PLANNING TOOL AND FACILITATION OBSERVATION TOOL 313

APPENDIX E: ACTIVITIES FOR MEETINGS 319

E1.The Consultancy Protocol • E2.The Feedback Protocol • E3. Chalk Talk • E4. DYADS

APPENDIX F: RECOMMENDED RESOURCES 327

On Emotions and Self-Knowledge • On Leadership • On Brain Science • On Managing Change • On Systems Thinking • On Community Building • On Meetings and Facilitation • On Communication • Race, Racism, and Systemic Oppression • For Inspiration

APPENDIX G: PLAN FOR TEAM BUILDING 331

For Leading a New Team • When Continuing to Lead a Team and Identifying Next Steps

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 335

ABOUT THE AUTHOR 339

REFERENCES 341

INDEX 345