Intentional Moves
How Skillful Team Leaders Impact Learning
A Joint Publication with Learning Forward
For maximum impact, let intention drive your actions.
Leading a team means more than running meetings. It’s leading collaborative learning for continuous improvement. Like effective teachers in the classroom, skillful team leaders decide what they are aiming to achieve and make small, intentional moves to produce powerful learning outcomes for teachers and students.
In this long-awaited follow-up to her best-selling book, The Skillful Team Leader, acclaimed educator Elisa MacDonald presents nearly 150 effective moves, organized by intention, for any educator who leads a team.
In this book, you'll find strategies to lead with purpose and direction, including how to:
- foster an inclusive environment and strengthen team trust
- interrupt bias and cultivate diverse perspectives
- navigate resistance and manage conflict
- facilitate data analysis
- lead peer observation
- assess your team’s collaboration
and so much more!
Written in a practitioner-friendly format with a light tone and relatable stories, this is a must-have book for all team leaders and those who support them in your school.
Free resources
Chapter 1: Skillful Intentional Leadership
In the first chapter of Intentional Moves, explore the four key tenets of a skillful approach, the 10 skillful team leader (STL) primary intentions, the STLs highligheted in the book, how the book is structured, and more.
Introduction to The Ten STL Primary Intentions
Discover the moves covered within the 10 skillful team leader (STL) primary intentions in this detailed table of contents and tips for reading Intentional Moves.
The Upside (and Downside) of Being a Peer Leader
"Being a peer leader poses unique challenges, but also offers unexpected advantages. In the following pages, I explore five understandings that skillful team leaders (STLs) have about peer leadership." - Intentional Moves.
Manage Conflict
Explore moves skillful team leaders (STLs) can employ to manage conflict in this excerpt from Intentional Moves.
Work Toward a S-M-A-A-H-R-T Goal
Even goals that technically meet the SMART criteria—specific, measurable, attainable, results-driven, and time-bound—don't always advance student learning. Skillful team leaders align goals to priorities and ensure people have a heartfelt commitment to reaching them.
"It’s refreshing to read a book that discusses high functioning teams within the context of moving the needle on student learning. No longer do we have the luxury of defining success based on whether teams follow norms, stay on task, and get work done. Rather, this book frames how we can be intentional about impacting student learning, teacher practice, and school culture and climate through skillful team collaboration. "
"The beauty of this book rests in its authenticity. MacDonald draws from research and extensive experience to identify 10 essential goals for skillful team leaders and specifies explicit moves and targeted strategies for realization of each. The result is an engaging, user-friendly, encyclopedia of wisdom and hands-on practices. All team leaders who desire to produce results that matter will treasure this book."
"This comprehensive book is rich with strategies for district, school and teacher teams ready to make decisions and improvements that will positively affect students' success. Whether you are new to leading teams or a veteran, this is sure to be your go-to resource to take on the challenging work of leading collaborative learning. The stories and examples are universally relatable and the color coded sections make it a very accessible read. This book is sure to leave you feeling empowered and recharged with hope and possibility."
Sample Materials & Chapters
Chapter 1. Skillful Intentional Leadership
Chapter 2. Don’t Settle for High-Functioning Teams
