Page 5 - Leadership Basics 9

Foreword

We had the wonderful experience of escorting a group of experienced leaders on an educational
tour to Hanoi. The leaders had not been to Vietnam before and they really enjoyed it. In particular
they loved the shopping! The leaders were all very effective at bargaining with the shop keepers
and expert at getting the ‘best price’. This might be a gross exaggeration because I am sure that
there are many leaders reading this who hate shopping and detest bargaining with stall keepers
(many of the male leaders in particular will claim loudly that they do not like shopping). But it is
definitely true that experienced leaders are very good at bargaining and negotiation.

28 years ago, when some of us started teaching, the leader did not have to negotiate – or
collaborate – with his or her staff, the leader just directed and teachers (within reason) just
followed. Back then if students collaborated in class it was considered cheating. Fortunately things
have changed. Nowadays we encourage students to collaborate and work together in teams, and
negotiating with staff is a matter of day to day necessity.

Being an effective leader today means being able to engage staff in joint decision making and
collaborative team work. Leaders have to be able to share leadership with their senior team, and be
able to get the best out of teachers – and this means being good at negotiation.

This booklet is designed to enhance leaders interpersonal and management skills. It has been
developed to help hone interpersonal skills when negotiating with staff in decision making.

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