To move forward in the school improvement process, school leaders must address the behaviors of difficult and resistant staff members and send the message that a few people cannot halt change. Working With Difficult and Resistant Staff is designed with the practicing school leader in mind. The chapters are arranged to make sense for people first learning the skills they need to manage difficult and resistant staff members. While the book follows a logical progression, each chapter can also stand alone, allowing busy practitioners to find information about their most pressing issues. The chapters are brief enough to be read and digested quickly but contain enough focused information to help principals learn the strategies they need to make an immediate impact. The introduction presents some of the situations and conditions that can contribute to people s difficult or resistant behaviors. Armed with this important information, readers will be able to plan and monitor conditions to minimize difficulties and maximize their success with new projects or changes in procedures. Understanding what may cause people to become difficult or resistant is an important foundation to have as a leader, but knowing what to do to deal with such people is even more important. The bulk of the book offer specific insights and strategies to help readers understand and deal with eight types of difficult people that they may encounter the Underminers, the Contrarians, the Recruiters, the Challenged, the On-the-Job Retirees, the Resident Experts, the Unelected Representatives, and the Whiners and Complainers. Working With Difficult and Resistant Staff includes helpful scenarios illustrating the main points being addressed. These stories are factual and are based on the authors and other principals experiences. By applying the skills and strategies the book describes, educators will be able to identify, confront, and manage all of the difficult and resistant people they encounter. The authors suggest that readers consider which approaches best fit the needs of their own schools. They can first implement the strategies they find most comfortable and then test new ideas as they build the expectations for good program implementation. Using this valuable framework, school leaders will be able to understand how difficult and resistant people developed and address their negative behaviors to ensure change.
