Justin Coulson
Connection as Currency: Building Trust and Belonging in Schools
For centuries the greatest leaders and thinkers have emphasised the supreme motivating power of purpose. The whole of our existence is elevated when we find something to live for. Educators are typically clear on their purpose. But the vision that comes from finding your ‘why’ can be obscured with procedural priorities, the cry of the curriculum, and everyday events that pummel purpose into a long-forgotten idea meant only for dreamers (or new teachers), but not pragmatic realists at the coalface. Modern science is pushing the pendulum back towards promoting purpose at work. But for your average educator, overwhelmed by the day-to-day demands of classroom teaching, it can be easy to lose track of that deeper ‘why’, particularly when expectations are increasing, wellbeing is dropping, and other career alternatives begin to appear more promising – and purposeful.
Educational leaders want to encourage purpose – but how? And more importantly, how can they encourage staff buy-in to the big-picture purpose of the school in a way that encourages a sense of autonomy and control in staff who don’t want to be told what to do, or what their purpose “should” be. Top-down approaches are shown to have high failure rates.
When staff live and work with purpose and we support autonomy we see improved productivity, satisfaction, wellbeing, and positive outcomes at all levels of the school community. And we see employees, teams, and organisations deliver on the promise they make to those they work with. Join Dr Justin Coulson for this powerful talk about finding purpose in the workplace, and discovering, developing, and leading a purpose-driven, autonomously motivated team.