My EQ Action Plan
Category Archives: MLLC
Middle Leaders Leading change course
MLLC – Module 2 Emotional intelligence: Self-evaluation of emotional intelligence
Global Leadership Foundation Emotional Intelligence Test
The test results are interesting as I felt that I have good relationship management skills but the test showed this as my weakest area. It did confirm my thoughts about my self management skills.
I scored highly in the Social-Awareness category, which is not that surprising given my role as an EAL teacher and Development Officer for International Education. I have worked on building my racial literacy and acknowledge my white privilege. I hope that I use my position to help raise ethnic minorities and make families feel seen and heard in the work I do.
After finishing the test, I went back and reflected on self awareness and discovered that I do exhibit many of the qualities such as:
- Embrace a growth mindset.
- Set boundaries.
- Recognize destructive habits.
- Get better at anticipating things so you can come up with an action plan.
- Ask the right questions.
On reflection, these are skills that I have developed as an adult after experiencing Gender Based Violence in a previous relationship and seeking help through supportive agencies and counselling. While this was a very difficult time in my life, I am a better person and have learned to like myself as a result of the support I have received, from family, friends and colleagues.
MLLC Module 2 – Emotional intelligence: Core competencies
Core competencies of emotional intelligence
Emotional and social intelligence is the capacity for recognising our own feelings and those of others, for motivating ourselves, and for managing emotions effectively in ourselves and in others. It describes the behaviours that sustain people in challenging roles, or as their careers become more demanding, and it captures the qualities that help people deal effectively with change.
After watching a short clip by Daniel Goleman, I recorded some of my initial understanding of the significance of each of the four domains of emotional intelligence:
Self-awareness is the ability to focus on yourself and how your actions, thoughts, or emotions do or don’t align with your internal standards.
Self-management is your ability to regulate your behaviours, thoughts, and emotions in a productive way. This means excelling in both personal and professional responsibilities for the benefit of yourself and your team.
Social Awareness is the ability to take the perspective of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds and cultures. The ability to understand social and ethical norms for behaviour and to recognize family, school, and community resources and supports
Good relationship management is about communication, conflict management, and people skills
My Reflections on my strengths
- What experiences would give evidence for your thinking?
I feel that I have good self management and relationship management skills.
Through my role as an EAL teacher , it is vital that I am able to communicate effectively with staff, pupils and families. This is also true of my International Education Development Officer role. I am able to initiate contact with others and cultivate friendship. I resist stereotypes and stand up for the rights of others. This was developed over my time, supporting refugees and asylum seeker families to access education and welcome them into Glasgow.
I consider myself skilled at monitoring my own thoughts, feelings, and actions in the workplace comes. I have good time management, meeting all deadlines giving to me. I value self care and make boundaries to ensure I have a work-life balance and don’t suffer from burn out. I have excellent organisational skills: prioritise jobs to do well, meet deadlines, and set goals.
- What might those you work with suggest?
Practicing teamwork and collaborative problem-solving are tools I use in both my roles. Colleagues seek my opinion and advice and I offer support and help when needed. I stay calm under pressure and make decisions quickly and effectively, weighing all options. Colleagues are reassured by my confident in my your knowledge, skills, and abilities. I am a valued member of the team.
MLLC Module 1 – Coaching as a model of practice
Learning outcomes
- Learn about the coaching spectrum and identify the differences between coaching and mentoring.
- Learn about the GROW model of coaching.
- Learn about different kinds of coaching questions.
- Plan a coaching conversation using some of the coaching questions.
- Reflect on that coaching conversation.
Coaching and mentoring – the coaching spectrum
The difference between coaching and mentoring to me….
A mentor is someone who shares their knowledge, skills and/or experience, to help another to develop and grow. A coach is someone who provides guidance and helps them reach their full potential. Coach and student are equals working in partnership. Coach does not require direct experience of student’s role. Mentor has more experience than student and shares it with more junior or inexperienced employee.
The Ten Principles of Coaching (Merlevede and Bridoux 2004)
- Be non-judgmental.
- Be non-critical.
- Believe that people have all the answers to their problems within them.
- Respect a person’s confidentiality.
- Be positive and believe that there are always solutions to issues.
- Pay attention to recognising and pointing out strengths and building and maintaining self-esteem.
- Challenge individuals to move beyond their comfort zone.
- Break down big goals into manageable steps.
- Believe that self-knowledge improves performance.
- Hold a genuine willingness to learn from the people you coach.
GROW template for coaching conversation
| Goal |
| What are your ideal outcomes?
Who are the key people in your network of support?
|
| Reality |
| How will we measure success?
How will you stay self-aware and mindful when things get busy?
|
| Options |
| Tell me about a time when the problem happened and you were able to get to grips with it better. What was different about that time?
Have you discussed this with anyone else? What were their initial thoughts or reactions?
|
| Wrap-up |
| Who else may be affected by this? How do you think you can address this?
What else can you do to set this initiative in place?
Is there anything else that occurs to you?
|
MLLC: Five characteristics of middle leadership – self reflection
My coaching wheel:
3.4.1 Develop and sustain a range of inclusive and supportive relationships, processes and practices which promote a culture of self-evaluation in line with agreed strategic and operational priorities
3.4.3 Collaborate with colleagues, learners, parents/carers and families and the wider learning community in identifying, agreeing and implementing improvement priorities
Middle Leaders Leading Change – Module 1: Section 2 – Five characteristics of middle leadership
In Conversation With – Dr Kylie Lipscombe (Bing video)
Notes taken while watching:
- Formal position
- Gives a backing or ‘street cred’ to position. Do you have to be a teacher to be classed as a middle leader? Does it need to be formal?
- Teacher agency
- Informal teacher leadership – is this middle leadership? ML influence change and have an impact of the learning and teaching happening in school.
- Positionality
- difficult to balance teaching and new role at times. Middle leaders at across roles and work between school and the system of change. work in a subculture between school management and teachers to bring change.
- Relational leading
- trust is major factor and so important. Collaboration is key. Mentoring staff and leading new practices, through CPD or peer observation, team teaching etc.
- Accountability
- burn out is a real risk, make it manageable! Formal roles need to have a remit that is clearly defined.
