Why I hate ice-breakers, or, your colleagues have brains as well!

Over the years I have undertaken many activities which have induced terror in me, most often as a result of altitude and the potential death-inducing effect of gravity experienced on high mountains. But nothing compares to that feeling of terror I experience whenever a course-leader utters the word "ice-breaker" resulting in a tail-spin of fear and loathing as I descend to depths of misery! Why do I hate these apparently innocuous preliminaries? There are a variety of reasons so here are just a few.

Firstly I don't want to share details of my life, loves, hobbies, achievements, failures and so on with a bunch of strangers. Then I don't want to play silly games with a bunch of other people who also don't want to play games. Thirdly, do your job; I've come here to learn something, not bugger about. And fourthly (and in this list most importantly), I have a brain, I'm a professionally and academically successful and intelligent teacher, so treat me like one.

Before I go further here's a true story. Many years ago I attended a course (no idea what on) and I ended up on a table of relatively young female teachers (this was simply luck-of-the-draw). The ice-breaker was to share our most memorable days. My table-mates were either dim-witted or genuinely nosey since they all robotically poured out fond memories of recent wedding days. Utterly disinterested in the activity, and by now the banality of my colleagues, my turn raised some eyebrows. I happily explained that my most memorable day was seeing Stoke City beat Brentford at Cardiff's Millenium Stadium in a football playoff final. They struggled to comprehend how I placed this above my own wedding day, and their collective sense of humour failed completely when I explained that it was possible I would have another wedding day but I would never get to see Stoke win a playoff final again! Ice-breakers: treat with contempt!

In my list of objections the last one is the one I want to spend a little time discussing as I believe it is at the heart of good INSET as well as at the heart of good leadership, don't forget your colleagues have brains as well! 

I have now worked in every phase of education from nursery through to Universities and what I'm about to say is an observation rather than scientific fact, but by and large I have seen more primary colleagues treated as being brainless than in the secondary phase. This may be for a raft of reasons, none of which can be properly justified but I suspect that because there are far more primary heads than secondary that it stands a good chance that there are more poor primary heads than secondary (I'm not implying that the percentage is different), and also that secondary teachers, with their subject degrees (rather than education degrees), are a tad arsier! Please don't have a go at me over this point.

Here are some tips:

Discuss, debate and justify: if you can't justify your actions you are on slippery ice. Your colleagues will see through you and be asking what book did you get that idea from. Be prepared to discuss and debate your ideas, your colleagues may not agree with you but they will respect a cogent argument, supported by theory and evidence, and with a plan in tow. You must put in the leg work. Understand your subject and be ready for counter-arguments. Before I present an idea to colleagues I always make sure I have come up with a list of negatives and have thought about these viewpoints and how I will talk them through.

Listen and adapt: do you really know it all? It isn't a particularly appealing trait and it is highly likely that there is lot more experience in front of you than you have. Acknowledge and listen to concerns, recognise that there may be a multiplicity of opinions and be prepared to incorporate ideas from the staff. This has many benefits, staff will realise you will listen, that you are treating them as professionals, that you want to share and not simply impose, and that you are also aware that you do not know everything. This is a sign of strength and not weakness.

You don't know everything: it is true, you may have been doing the job 25 years but there are things you don't know. It will do your credibility no harm to (occasionally!) admit this and to use the knowledge and experience of others. Also be prepared to admit when you are wrong or to change your mind. I have done this on several occasions especially when as a secondary trained leader I had to lead a middle school with KS2.

Appeal to colleagues on an intellectual level: they are intelligent people and they will mostly appreciate you recognising this. Explain to them the research findings, the studies and the current developments. Don't assume that they do not want to know, if you are asking someone to change their established practice you had better have a good reason for doing so!

If you are an aspiring leader then reflect on these points and try to remember any situation in which you have been treated as if you are a wiles five year old. These negative experiences are crucial in the development of good leaders, you must remember how it feels to be led badly before you can lead well. I should also add that I am far from perfect, I know I have done exactly what I'm suggesting you should not do, but I hope I have learned from my actions and that I am now a better leader for it.

At the heart of this is a concept I have discussed in an earlier posting, that of authority and power. I have claimed that authority, the true stamp of leadership, is granted to you by others, unlike power which is simply a contractual undertaking. Please click HERE to read that article.

Some of the worst leadership I have encountered has been from those who treat their colleagues as simply worker-ants, they treat them as their proletarian labourers rather than as trusted, intelligent and professional colleagues. Why is this? I only have opinions but I believe it comes down to possibly two main reasons, the first being that they are leading simply because they want to be in charge and the second because they are actually the dim-wit!

Finally I do have a confession to make. In my leadership INSET package I do use an ice-breaker, it goes something like this. "Go and grab a coffee and a biscuit and chat to your colleagues. Come back in 10 minutes."