The Skillful Team Leader

Get the most out of your PLCs and teacher teams!

All teams face hurdles. What distinguishes the skillful team leader from a less effective one is his or her approach in overcoming them. Whether you are a team leader or a trainer of team leaders, this book is an essential resource for you.

Elisa MacDonald offers a skillful approach to team leadership rooted in values, mindset, intelligence, and skill. Readers will learn from reality-based examples illustrating common team hurdles in collaboration, shared leadership, goal setting and attainment, rigorous discourse, and continuous improvement. This practical guide features:

• Research-based and field-tested solutions for preventing and overcoming hurdles
• Brief follow-up sections with tips for sustaining positive change
• Ways to work beyond the team to shape and influence school culture
• Prompts to apply learning to your own leadership hurdles
• A common chapter format for easy reference and flexible use

_"Teacher teams have become a common fixture of North American schools. However, not all teams make the best use of their meeting time by engaging in sustained, professional learning. Written in a clear, practitioner-friendly style, this book provides team leaders with an array of useful strategies to address common team hurdles and realize the promise of powerful, collaborative learning."
_—Jim Knight, Author of Instructional Coaching

_"This book is a fantastic resource for someone who leads teams every day. The vignettes echo the very real challenges that I continually see in team meetings. The book is organized so that I can easily find practical strategies to apply right away when I am facing major challenges in my daily work."
_— Karen Coyle Aylward, Literacy Coach and Team Leader
Boston, MA