Hard Conversations Unpacked
The Whos, the Whens, and the What-Ifs
1st Edition
Published on 23. March 2016
Book
Paperback/Softback
112 pages
978-1-5063-0290-4 (ISBN)
Description
Learn to speak up for what really matters
Tough talks are never easy, but in her best-selling book, Having Hard Conversations, Jennifer Abrams showed educators how to speak intentionally with colleagues about work-related issues through a planned, interactive, and personal approach. In this sequel, she moves readers deeper into the nuances of how to prepare for those conversations while building expectations for positive and meaningful outcomes.
Putting clarity before accountability, or by being clear about what should be understood before going in, can and will increase the favorable results of those tough talks. With an emphasis on what needs to happen before, during, and after hard conversations, this resource explores
What humane, growth-producing, and "other-centered" conversations sound like
How race, culture, gender, and generational filters influence perceptions and how to account for them
How to spot and work with organizational dynamics that could influence discussions
How to conduct hard conversations with supervisors
Plan for positive outcomes from hard conversations. Let this resource empower you to expect and professionally navigate environmental influences, unexpected pushback, and uncomfortable silences toward real understanding and progress.
"Abrams, who cites a broad and current body of literature, provides a valuable rationale for why certain ways of talking are more effective than others."
Robert J. Garmston - Professor Emeritus & Co-Developer of COgnitive Coaching & Adaptive Schools
California State University, Sacramento
"In order to grow as learners, educators and leaders, we need to be provided with feedback that will enhance our growth. That feedback doesn't come easily. We shy away from providing honest feedback because we're afraid it will be "taken the wrong way." That is why I love Having Hard Conversations 2.0. Jennifer Abrams brings us through the process beautifully with a great deal of honesty, and we can learn a great deal from her insight. This is an important read for anyone in education."
Peter De Witt - Former School Principal
Finding Common Ground Blog, Corwin
Tough talks are never easy, but in her best-selling book, Having Hard Conversations, Jennifer Abrams showed educators how to speak intentionally with colleagues about work-related issues through a planned, interactive, and personal approach. In this sequel, she moves readers deeper into the nuances of how to prepare for those conversations while building expectations for positive and meaningful outcomes.
Putting clarity before accountability, or by being clear about what should be understood before going in, can and will increase the favorable results of those tough talks. With an emphasis on what needs to happen before, during, and after hard conversations, this resource explores
What humane, growth-producing, and "other-centered" conversations sound like
How race, culture, gender, and generational filters influence perceptions and how to account for them
How to spot and work with organizational dynamics that could influence discussions
How to conduct hard conversations with supervisors
Plan for positive outcomes from hard conversations. Let this resource empower you to expect and professionally navigate environmental influences, unexpected pushback, and uncomfortable silences toward real understanding and progress.
"Abrams, who cites a broad and current body of literature, provides a valuable rationale for why certain ways of talking are more effective than others."
Robert J. Garmston - Professor Emeritus & Co-Developer of COgnitive Coaching & Adaptive Schools
California State University, Sacramento
"In order to grow as learners, educators and leaders, we need to be provided with feedback that will enhance our growth. That feedback doesn't come easily. We shy away from providing honest feedback because we're afraid it will be "taken the wrong way." That is why I love Having Hard Conversations 2.0. Jennifer Abrams brings us through the process beautifully with a great deal of honesty, and we can learn a great deal from her insight. This is an important read for anyone in education."
Peter De Witt - Former School Principal
Finding Common Ground Blog, Corwin
Reviews / Votes
Abrams, who cites a broad and current body of literature, provides a valuable rationale for why certain ways of talking are more effective than others. -- Robert J. Garmston - Professor Emeritus & Co-Developer of COgnitive Coaching & Adaptive Schools In order to grow as learners, educators and leaders, we need to be provided with feedback that will enhance our growth. That feedback doesn't come easily. We shy away from providing honest feedback because we're afraid it will be "taken the wrong way." That is why I love Having Hard Conversations 2.0. Jennifer Abrams brings us through the process beautifully with a great deal of honesty, and we can learn a great deal from her insight. This is an important read for anyone in education. -- Peter De Witt - Former School Principal Having Hard Conversations 2.0 Extending the Learning is definitely a book for our times. Jennifer Abrams has given us the why, what and how to have a productive and professional dialogue. Jennifer shares with us how to truly talk and interact with one another, to face and address issues professionally so that we can begin to create a culture for growth and improvement. Having hard conversations may not be comfortable for us, but they are even more necessary in our complex and changing world. This book is a must read for all of us! -- Judy Newhouse - Executive Director Hard Conversations 2.0: Extending the Learning delves deeper into the science and practice of effectively communicating introduced in the first book. Practitioners who have used her conversation templates previously will embrace the enhancements Jennifer offers throughout with specific examples, scenarios and tools. This takes the next step to encourage and support us in having those hard conversations with a humane growth-producing mindset. -- Susan Thompson - Chief Human Capital Officer Having Hard Conversations '2.0' provides us with accessible research, reflective questions, effective frameworks and explicit language that empowers us to 'speak up for what matters'n our organizations. Whether adressing issues of performance or system change, this book helps us in our drive toward competence by clearly identifying what an appropriately planned hard conversation looks like, sounds like and feels like. Opportunities for guided self-reflection and a framework for scripting makes it possible for all members of an organization - positional leader or not - be 'other-focused' and engage in necessary hard conversations that are respectful, humane and growth producing and moves us all towards desired change. -- Luciana Cardarelli - Education LeadershipMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Thousand Oaks
United States
Publishing group
SAGE Publications Inc
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 280 mm
Width: 216 mm
Thickness: 6 mm
Weight
310 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-5063-0290-4 (9781506302904)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Jennifer Abrams is an international educational and communications consultant for public and private schools, hospitals, universities and non-profits. She trains and coaches teachers, administrators, nurses, hospital personnel and others on successful instructional practices, new employee support, supervision and evaluation, generational savvy, having hard conversations and effective collaboration skills.
In Palo Alto USD (Palo Alto, CA), Abrams led professional development sessions and provided new teacher and supervisor trainings at both the elementary and secondary level. From 2000-2011, she was lead coach for the Palo Alto-Mountain View-Los Altos-Saratoga-Los Gatos Consortium's Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program.
In her educational consulting work, she has presented at annual conferences such as Learning Forward, ASCD, NASSP, and the New Teacher Center Annual Symposium, as well as at the Teachers' and Principals' Centers for International School Leadership. Her communications consulting in the health care sector includes training and coaching work at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula and Stanford Hospitals.
Her publications include Having Hard Conversations, published by Corwin Press in 2009, the chapter "Habits of Mind for the School Savvy Leader" in Art Costa's and Bena Kallick's book Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind: 16 Essential Characteristics for Success, and contributions to the book Mentors in the Making: Developing New Leaders for New Teachers published by Teachers College Press. Her most recent book with co-author Valerie Von Frank, Generational Savvy: How to be Effective with Educators of All Generations, was published by Corwin Press in 2013.
She considers herself a "voice coach," helping others learn how to best use their voices, be it in a group, in front of a classroom, coaching a colleague, in a supervisory role and most recently in writing for the stage, as she does as a Board Member of the National New Play Network. Abrams holds a Master's degree in Education from Stanford University and a Bachelor's degree in English from Tufts University.
Watch clips of Abrams' interview with NPR's Claudio Sanchez, from the ASCD Master Class Leadership Series
In Palo Alto USD (Palo Alto, CA), Abrams led professional development sessions and provided new teacher and supervisor trainings at both the elementary and secondary level. From 2000-2011, she was lead coach for the Palo Alto-Mountain View-Los Altos-Saratoga-Los Gatos Consortium's Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment Program.
In her educational consulting work, she has presented at annual conferences such as Learning Forward, ASCD, NASSP, and the New Teacher Center Annual Symposium, as well as at the Teachers' and Principals' Centers for International School Leadership. Her communications consulting in the health care sector includes training and coaching work at the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula and Stanford Hospitals.
Her publications include Having Hard Conversations, published by Corwin Press in 2009, the chapter "Habits of Mind for the School Savvy Leader" in Art Costa's and Bena Kallick's book Learning and Leading with Habits of Mind: 16 Essential Characteristics for Success, and contributions to the book Mentors in the Making: Developing New Leaders for New Teachers published by Teachers College Press. Her most recent book with co-author Valerie Von Frank, Generational Savvy: How to be Effective with Educators of All Generations, was published by Corwin Press in 2013.
She considers herself a "voice coach," helping others learn how to best use their voices, be it in a group, in front of a classroom, coaching a colleague, in a supervisory role and most recently in writing for the stage, as she does as a Board Member of the National New Play Network. Abrams holds a Master's degree in Education from Stanford University and a Bachelor's degree in English from Tufts University.
Watch clips of Abrams' interview with NPR's Claudio Sanchez, from the ASCD Master Class Leadership Series
Content
Foreword by Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter 1. Is This Really a Hard Conversation or Something Else?
Chapter 2. Clarity, Clarity, Clarity
Chapter 3. Being Other-Focused: Planning the Hard Conversation
Chapter 4. Organizational Politics, Working With Supervisors or Groups, and Hard Conversations
Chapter 5. Scripting a Humane, Growth-Producing Conversation
Chapter 6. What If They Say . . . ? Possible Responses
Chapter 7. How to Be a Better Recipient of Feedback
Conclusion
Resource: Inspirational Quotes for Having Hard Conversations
References and Suggested Readings
Index
Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter 1. Is This Really a Hard Conversation or Something Else?
Chapter 2. Clarity, Clarity, Clarity
Chapter 3. Being Other-Focused: Planning the Hard Conversation
Chapter 4. Organizational Politics, Working With Supervisors or Groups, and Hard Conversations
Chapter 5. Scripting a Humane, Growth-Producing Conversation
Chapter 6. What If They Say . . . ? Possible Responses
Chapter 7. How to Be a Better Recipient of Feedback
Conclusion
Resource: Inspirational Quotes for Having Hard Conversations
References and Suggested Readings
Index