Over the last few days, I’ve been reading a ton about how to run an effective meeting. I don’t know why, but articles keep popping up in my news feed with titles like, “Five Tips for Running an Effective Meeting” and “Want to Have More Productive Meetings? Start Here.”

That kind of content resonates with me times ten simply because I’m a big believer in the power of Professional Learning Communities. When teams of teachers work together effectively, they all become stronger. That matters.

But the most recent article that I read — titled How to Run a Meeting and republished from a March, 1976 issue of the Harvard Business Journal — included a bit of advice that goes well beyond simply structuring meetings. In it, author Antony Jay writes:

“Real opposition to decisions within organizations usually consists of one part disagreement with the decision to nine parts resentment at not being consulted before the decision. For most people on most issues, it is enough to know that their views were heard and considered. They may regret that they were not followed, but they accept the outcome.”

Antony Jay, How to Run a Meeting, March, 1976

That resonates, doesn’t it?

Nothing cripples forward progress in a school more than resistance to important decisions made by school leaders. We’ve all worked in buildings where small (or large) groups of teachers have actively worked to sabotage “the best laid plans” of principals or school improvement teams.

In fact, I’d go as far as to argue that the most successful school leaders are those who know how to address staff resistance the best — and that begins by understanding the reasons that people resist change efforts in the first place.

I’ve learned the most about the reasons that staff resist important ideas from my friend and colleague Anthony Muhammad.

Anthony argues that there are four major reasons that teachers resist change efforts:

• They don’t know why the task that you are asking them to tackle is important.
• They don’t know how to do what you are asking them to do.
• They don’t trust the person who is making the ask.
• There’s no outside demand to take action.

I’d add Jay’s point to Anthony’s list, too: People resist because they resent not being consulted before an important decision is made.

And that’s GOOD news for school leaders.

Here’s why: Consulting people before you make important decisions isn’t that hard to do. It requires nothing more than a bit of time, a willingness to clearly articulate your reasoning, and an openness to addressing the questions and suggestions that your staff bring to the table with them.

In the end, you might still end up making the exact same decision that you planned to make all along — and that’s fine. Your staff will be ready to move forward together with you because they know that their ideas and concerns were heard and considered carefully before any final plans were put in place. That’s the very definition of “achieving consensus.”

Does this make any sense?

Related Radical Reads: