Finding Opportunities in Every Coaching Conversation (Empowering Educators Podcast)
How often do you retreat into your shell when a conversation gets a little tricky?
I joined Gretchen Bridgers on Always A Lesson’s Empowering Educators Podcast (episode 380) to talk about one of my favorite topics: the opportunities hiding inside everyday conversations.
“If you can continue the conversation instead of retreating in your shell, then you are finding opportunities.”
Every Conversation Can Open a Door
As coaches (and teachers and leaders), we have dozens of conversations a day. Most of them feel small. But meaningful conversations bring new perspectives, build stronger relationships, and create real professional growth, if we’re intentional about them.
How to Be More Intentional With Your Conversations
- Stay curious. Ask one more question before you move on.
- Listen for the need. Frustrations and worries often point to the next coaching opportunity.
- Offer a next step. Something small and specific, like “Can I stop by Thursday?”
- Follow up. Circling back shows you were really listening.
When we continue the conversation instead of letting it fizzle, we turn small talk into relationships, and relationships into growth.
Listen to Episode 380
Listen to Opportunities in Conversation with Chrissy Beltran on Apple Podcasts, or search for Empowering Educators wherever you listen.
Tools for Building Relationships Through Conversation
If some of your conversations feel harder than others, my Coaching Resistant Teachers PD video will help you keep the door open. And a quick printable note from your coach is a sweet way to continue the conversation later.
Keep Reading
- Always Be Coaching: How Your Coaching Mindset Shapes Every Conversation
- Coaching Resistant Teachers: 5 Days to Rebuild the Relationship
Want More Coaching Strategies Like These?
Everything I shared in this conversation connects to my new book, Expand Your Coaching Toolbox (ASCD + ISTE). It’s packed with practical, differentiated coaching strategies for building relationships, building knowledge and alignment, and building classroom skill, so you can meet every teacher right where they are.
