September 2021 Parenta magazine

GROWing self-confidence as a
leader … and getting your team
ready for a new term
Petra, the manager of a day nursery, recently shared how worried she is about her team. She said
“We have been through so much. The COVID-19 pandemic, working throughout the 2020 lockdown as
keyworkers, a long-overdue inspection looming, and now the EYFS changes for September. I sense staff
confidence has been knocked and they all need a boost to get them up and running again.”
Petra asked what she could do to help boost the team’s confidence. As part of the
coaching conversation, I introduced the popular GROW model (originated by John
Whitmore, 1937-2017) to help frame Petra’s thinking.
There is a logical process to asking
coaching questions using this model:
• Goal – what do you want?
• Reality – where are you now?
• Options – what could you do?
• Will/wrap up – what will
you do?
(Fig 1)
What do we want to
achieve by the end of
this meeting?
What can we
commit to, who will
do it and by when?
Goal
will
GROW
As our first session progressed, Petra
reflected that as the leader, she had been
supporting everyone else for the past year
and a half. She had been in fire-fighting
mode since the pandemic hit and had just
about managed the day-to-day operations
of the nursery, including two COVID bubble
lockdowns, very stressed families, reduced
occupancy and a staff bereavement. When
Petra recognised the enormity of what she
had been carrying during this time, she
let out a huge sigh. “I think I just need to
What is happening now?
What resources do we
have/need?
Reality
options
What ideas can
we come up with
to achieve our goal?
take a break and relax for a while,” she
declared. She planned two weeks off and
took her young family on a camping trip.
As a leader, it is important that you look
after yourself first, and be a role model
for those who work with you/for you.
Initially, Petra wanted to make sure all the
staff were ok but quickly realised her own
confidence had been knocked. She was
running on empty and needed to fill her
tank.
On her return, Petra was visibly more
relaxed and her head was clear. She was
pleased she had allowed herself a break
and made sure that all her staff had a
break over the summer too.
I offered the GROW model to Petra again,
and this time she started to put some
plans in place. Here are some of the
thoughts that arose from the session:
Goal –
What do you want to achieve?
I want to re-engage with my staff so they
are ready for a new start in September. By
the end of today I want to have started a
plan for a training week at the end of the
month.
Reality –
Where are you in relation to your goal
now?
There has been so much stress with the
impact of COVID, not least losing a longstanding
member of staff to the illness.
The practitioners have given so much
they could not think straight and some of
them have definitely doubted their ability
to take on more changes right now. Their
internal resources were low. Thoughts are
emerging about how I can help everyone
move forward. We do need to do some
work on the EYFS changes, they are small
but necessary for our practice.
Options –
Consider 5 options
As we have a whole week together when
the nursery is closed there are lots of things
we can do.
1. Everyone is worried about having
to talk about their children to an
inspector– I know they all know their
children’s learning and development
inside out, but they think they will forget
everything they know in the moment if
asked on the spot. We could put some
informal practice conversations in.
2. We could have a session on the EYFS
statutory changes and build this into
the week in the form of a quiz or a
presentation from each team.
3. We could do a session on how
confident they are. I could ask them on
a scale of 1-10 how confident they are
in their role. This could be on several
aspects e.g. confidence in engaging
with parents, confidence with facing
change, confidence with delivery of
educational programmes. I could do
this twice, at the beginning and end of
our training week.
4. The room leaders could lead a
session on getting to know their team
members more, their strengths and
areas for development, or something
fun like sharing a fact that no one else
knows about you.
5. We could have a fun day such as a
treasure hunt in the community or
making something for the nursery.
Will/wrap up –
What actions will you take? Who will
help you?
I will take these ideas away and work on
each idea with my leadership team and
from this we can make a timetable of
events throughout the week. I am sure my
deputies will have some great ideas too
and I must remember I don’t have to do it
all myself. I will aim to make some of the
work entertaining and ensure there is time
for staff to shape the learning. I will make
sure there is time for them to enjoy being
together in their rooms.
I will make sure I am available to join in and
be present if the staff just need to share any
worries on concerns and I will make sure I
am available to listen.
What could you do?
This session with Petra brought out some
important points for nursery leaders and
their staff in building confidence within the
team:
1. Revisit your vision for the setting with
your team, to make sure your values
and practices are aligned.
2. Provide time to just be with each other
during the nursery day – just 5-10 mins
at the start or end of the day is enough
for a check-in. Everyone has responded
differently to the pandemic and
everyone manages change differently
so it is important to know how
individuals are thinking and feeling.
3. Use “on the scale of 1-10 how confident
are you?” to help you appreciate
where other people are, and respond
appropriately, giving more time to
those who are feeling less sure.
4. If team members are worried
about talking to others about their
key children let them practice with
someone they feel most comfortable
with. Repeat this opportunity regularly
so it becomes a natural part of the
nursery week.
5. Practice the GROW model with staff
during supervision or introduce it as
part of the training week. GROW can
help you manage difficult conversations
and also helps place the responsibility
on the practitioner/team member to
think through issues for themselves.
6. Make sure you are looking after your
own wellbeing and that someone else
is keeping you in mind too e.g. your
own supervisor/coach.
Ruth Mercer
Ruth Mercer is a coach and consultant,
with a career background in early
education. Ruth is committed to creating
a positive learning environment for staff,
children and families. She has a successful
track record of 1:1 coaching for leaders and
group coaching across the maintained
and PVI sector. She supports leaders
and managers in developing a coaching
approach in their settings through
bespoke consultancy and introductory
training on coaching and mentoring for all
staff.
Ruth is currently writing about coaching
with a playful approach.
Contact: ruthmercercoaching@gmail.com
Website: www.ruthmercercoaching.com
7. Celebrate your learning together with
a display or short film or a website
update – everyone needs recognising
for contributions made within their
role.
References:
• https://www.coachingcultureatwork.
com/the-grow-model (Fig 1)
• Whitmore, J. (2015) Coaching for
Performance (4th ed) NB Publishing
22 September 2021 | parenta.com
parenta.com | September 2021 23