Driving Change from Within: The Power of Knowing Your Team

To better teach students, educators at Millbrook often step out from behind the desk and become students themselves. One of the ways our faculty engage in learning is by participating in professional development programs during the summer. This year, Zhaohong Wen, the World Language Department Chair, Mandarin Instructor, and International Student Program Coordinator at Millbrook, attended a particularly helpful seminar.

Over a week in June at Pomfret School’s Grauer Institute, Mrs. Wen and other educators from around the country immersed themselves in the topic of “Driving School Change from Within.” The program focused on department chairs like Mrs. Wen, who emphasized the value of playing the role of student as she went through the program.

“I’m new to this position this year. I’m a student here,” she said, referencing her recent appointment to World Language Department Chair. With that attitude of embracing learning—and a positive review from fellow Millbrook department head Joe Raciti, who attended the training the year prior—Mrs. Wen eagerly volunteered to head to Pomfret’s Connecticut campus.

The novelty of living like a boarding school student during the training also stood out to her. “It’s really nice to be a student, actually—living in the dorm and going to classes and eating in the dining hall, meeting all the new people,” she said. “That was a very new experience for me, because I never lived in a boarding school. … Even when I went to college, I was a day student, so I didn’t have the boarding experience. So that was a takeaway: it’s so nice to be a student.”

According to Mrs. Wen, the professional development dovetailed perfectly with Millbrook’s mission, as the training reminded her that to effectively lead her department, she would need to view her interactions with faculty through a coaching lens.

“We say, ‘known and needed, every student is known and needed,’ and with this coaching lens, the strategy is to know the members of the department,” she stated. The goal, she said, is to determine team members’ value priorities. Then, in any given situation the department leader can draw on that information to communicate and collaborate more efficiently and effectively.

For example, Mrs. Wen said, one team member might value friendship most, while another is more focused on fairness, and yet another prioritizes status or autonomy. Understanding these unique perspectives can help a department leader smoothly navigate the complexities of managing people. If a department chair knows where their team members are coming from, they can adapt their approach as necessary.

“When you talk to people, which lens do you use?” Mrs. Wen rhetorically asked. “Personal growth, emotional support, compassion? Is it a system management problem or an equity problem? Using those different lenses helps us to have a conversation, asking the perfect questions. I feel that it’s really helpful to have that mindset when communicating with department members.”

In addition to adding valuable tools to her leadership work belt, Mrs. Wen took comfort in finding solidarity with other educators at the training.

“Although we’re from different private schools from all over the country, when we talked about the issues, the challenges, what we wanted to do to build a department, it’s very similar. Everyone has the same problems—it doesn’t matter if they have 100 years of history or 1,000 students, they’re facing the same problems and wanting to do the same things.”

One final nugget of wisdom Mrs. Wen carried back from the training is the idea that change cannot happen in a comfort zone. 

Mrs. Wen’s professional development experience is just one example of how Millbrook embraces change and all its challenges. Our mission of knowing, needing, and preparing students is facilitated by department leaders like Mrs. Wen who focus on understanding, valuing, and growing our faculty.