Hard conversations and candid feedback are necessary in schools with a healthy and professional culture of growth and development. And yet, most educators were never actually taught how to do either one well.

Over the years, we have had professional learning around how to run a faculty meeting and how to write a lesson plan. Yet, for the most part, in administrative credentialing programs or leadership development within school systems, it is still common to not focus on adult-to-adult communication — we don’t share with one another some post-meeting feedback that the tone in a parent meeting could have undermined trust or share post-workshop about the language used in giving directions might have come across as controlling rather than clear.

We have many credentials in education and yet we don’t always have a credential in how to talk effectively with other adults. And it’s getting in the way of our schools being even more successful.