Hi. I'm Mark.
I'm an Executive Headteacher & Leadership Coach.
My mission is to help leaders to thrive, making them better than they ever imagined.
Leaders grow and thrive by extracting the learning from their lived leadership. This learning I refer to as #LeadershipLessons
In this newsletter, I will share with you my #LeadershipLessons and the #LeadershipLessons of those I work with as a leader and coach, to inspire you and help you to reflect on your own.
Peaks & Valleys
One way to uncover #LeadershipLessons is to reflect on and share the highpoints of your week (the peaks) and the low points of the week (the valleys). Often, the stories of our 'peaks' reveal our leadership values. The 'valleys' or struggles point us to areas of growth and development.
What were the peak moments of your leadership over the last couple of weeks?
Where were the valleys?
What #LeadershipLessons can you extract from these moments? Share them with me: @MrMPritchard
Today’s Leadership Lesson
I coach a number of groups and individuals who explore their leadership and their learning. Frequently, leaders want to discuss their ‘valley’ moments - the frustrations or disappointments that they have faced recently. Usually, these involve:
someone not meeting expectations
personality clashes, or
a situation where the leader feels frustrated, annoyed or powerless.
The negative emotions we can feel in such circumstances can translate, unhelpfully, into negative actions: moaning and complaining; avoidance and procrastination; negative self-talk or negative talk about others. The emotions we feel when challenged can even extend to anger, leading to angry behaviours, such as lashing out and retaliating or destructive actions that cause harm.
When exploring the options available with leaders who face such circumstances, frequently the most productive, creative and inspiring action they decide to take is to get curious.
What leaders learn in our coaching sessions is that feeling frustration, disappointment or anger is a sign that our values and expectations don’t align with the other person’s (or organisation’s). Rather than railing against them in anger, leaders can choose to be proactively curious, to ask themselves - and others:
what they might have missed
what others see that they don’t
what other values are being prioritised and why
Where anger can be destructive, curiosity can be empowering.
Hence, today’s #LeadershipLesson: When you feel frustrated or disappointed with a situation or another person, don’t get angry. Get Curious.
Do you have a goal that you want - or need - to achieve?
For the month of August, I have a small number of one-to-one workshops available to leaders who are determined to reach their goals but who have found change hard.
I work with individuals in their own dedicated workshop to uncover their personal and deep-seated reasons for resisting change, and begin to find creative ways to overcome this ‘immunity’. The approach is powerful and is based on the research of Harvard professors Dr Robert Kegan and Dr Lisa Lahey.
Here’s what an experienced Headteacher said about this workshop:
“Mark has the unique skill of putting you in a place where you feel completely at ease to explore your thoughts and go deeper than you expected. I was lucky enough to attend his workshop and can honestly say it was one of the most enlightening and thought provoking sessions I’ve experienced in a while. Mark is excellent at connecting authentically which is a rare thing.”
For August only, a 90 minute, one-to-one workshop is available for the significantly discounted price of £39.
Click the button below to find our more and to book a workshop:
Leadership Coaching for less than a tenner per hour!
I am busily planning my next Coaching Group to support leaders in schools for the start of the new academic year.
Sessions will be for 90 minutes every Sunday morning (9:30-11am) from 4/9/22 for 6 weeks.
That is 9 hours of leadership coaching right from the very beginning of the school year when leaders need it most.
Group coaching is ideal for leaders who:
want to grow and learn
may be new to a leadership role or context
will benefit from the space to reflect, meeting a diverse group of leaders and sharing their leadership learning
The whole coaching programme, including a personalised coaching report and certification at the end, will cost only £89. That is less than £10 per hour of leadership coaching.
I have had lots of interest and spaces are extremely limited. If you would like to express an interest or find out more, please complete this form with no commitment:
Testimonials - in their own words
One Headteacher tweeted this about group coaching with me:
“An incredible opportunity to receive coaching from an incredible human and a talented, authentic leader. I’ve signed up!”
A Deputy Headteacher tweeted:
“Please do not pass up this very generous offer. Mark is an excellent person and a fantastic coach. You will grow in more ways than you know. Sign up now; you will not regret this.”
Currently on my bedside table…
If you're like me, you'll have a number of books on the go at any one time. I share my current reading so that it might inspire yours:
Why Has Nobody Told Me This Before? by Dr Julie Smith
Are You Listening? Stories from a Coaching Life by Jenny Rogers
Leadership: Being, Knowing, Doing by Stephen Tierney
#LeadershipLessons from others:
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
Melody Beattie