S3. Seek the Brutal Facts – Coach and Practice
This behaviour develops a leader’s ability to face reality with honesty and curiosity, creating a culture where truth is valued over comfort.
Behaviour focus
Encouraging leaders to build routines for honest reflection, data use, and feedback, so decisions are grounded in evidence rather than assumptions.
Purpose
To improve judgment, accountability, and problem-solving by ensuring that leaders and teams consistently confront what is true, even when it is uncomfortable.
| Action Steps | Key Questions | Practice |
| Gather unfiltered data. Help the leader identify where they might be seeing only partial or filtered information. | What data are you not currently seeing? Who might have insight that you don’t? | Ask the leader to plan one data-gathering action this week, such as a student voice survey, lesson drop-in, or parent conversation. Debrief the experience in the next session. |
| Model curiosity, not blame. Encourage the leader to treat problems as opportunities to learn, not to assign fault. | How can you ask questions that invite honesty rather than defensiveness? | Practise a meeting where results have dipped. Practise responding with curiosity, e.g. “Help me understand what’s happening here,” and reflect on tone and phrasing. |
| Create safety for truth-telling. Support the leader to build trust so that colleagues feel able to share uncomfortable truths. | What could you do to make it safe for people to speak openly with you? | Ask the leader to invite honest feedback from their team on one area of leadership. Rehearse how they will frame the request and how they will respond when hearing difficult truths. |
| Act visibly on what you learn. Encourage the leader to show that feedback and data lead to action. | How will people know their honesty made a difference? | Practise closing the loop: write a short follow-up message or update to staff showing how feedback has shaped a change. Rehearse the wording to ensure it sounds authentic and appreciative. |