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Rachel Johnson is an author, podcaster, leadership thinker and coach, and CEO of PiXL, an organisation working alongside more than 2,000 schools across the UK and beyond.
With extensive experience working directly with leaders and teams, Rachel understands the real challenges that can get in the way of effective leadership, from the way we think and make decisions to the barriers that affect performance, relationships and progress.
Rachel brings these insights to the stage through engaging, practical keynotes that challenge audiences to think differently and, importantly, give them tools they can put into action. Her speaking explores leadership, team performance, overcoming barriers, managing change and creating the conditions for people to thrive.
She is the creator of the PiXL Pearls and PiXL Leadership Bookclub podcasts, which have built a global audience and are ranked among the UK’s top three most popular podcasts for educational leaders. Rachel is also a three time published author with Hachette Learning, with books exploring the barriers that hold individuals and teams back and practical ways to think differently about how we live and lead.
Rachel’s sessions combine honest and relatable reflections on leadership with practical frameworks, research from a wide range of industries and a clear focus on what audiences can do differently as a result.
As featured on: BBC Radio Gloucestershire | BBC Radio Ulster | LBC | The Belfast Telegraph
This session explores people pleasing and fawn responses and how that can stand in the way of clarity in our leadership. It also explores our relationship with boundaries; what they are, why we may need them, when we may need to change them and how boundaries can help us and the culture of our teams. With practical examples of how we can move forward in these areas, this session will help the human and the leader!
Most people struggle with having to have honest or challenging conversations. We call these conversations ‘difficult’ but they don’t need to be that way. The secret of doing these conversations well sits with our ability to stay in adult, avoid drama, be clear and to listen to understand not to listen to speak. Using some of the research from the world of hostage negotiation, medicine and palliative care, we look at different ways of having conversations where all parties have the chance to thrive.
Life is rarely simple, sometimes it is not as clear as ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ or ‘do’ or ‘don’t, often we need to take two opposite extremes and find out how we find the perfect spot in the middle. This isn’t about compromise, it is about seeing the reality of the situation, weighing up what is important and understanding the nuance. Using examples of how other organisations have balanced two opposing ideas, this session will help you create your own leadership paradoxes and to define the sweet spot. Even more importantly, it will delve into how we can then check we are staying in the place we want to be in.
Schools are the only place where our ‘customers’ are with us for such an extended period time over the most critical years of their lives. It is not only young people though, it is their families too. We want young people to achieve the best outcomes they can and to leave with the character that will set them up for whatever life throws at them in the future. For either of those things to happen, belonging, connection and ‘moments’ are crucial alongside teaching the essential knowledge young people need. This session will explore what we can learn from organisations around the world and how we can apply some of what they do, to our schools.
We are surrounded by brutal facts, whether that is the context our school is in, what a student is facing or what we are facing ourselves. How we deal with brutal facts matters. We also, at the same time, need to have optimism. It is crucial that we are people who lead with hope. However, we need to hold both of these things at the same time. What happens when we become too optimistic in our leadership? What happens when we lose our hope? How can we address the brutal facts and stay hopeful and make change happen? This session explores what we can do and how we can do it.
Feeling like you can’t prioritise? Is everything urgent? Are your to do list totally out of control? If you are feeling like you are managed by your workload rather than managing it, this session will help you find a way through. We will explore practical approaches to prioritising, knowing what matters, celebrating success and knowing where to put your weight. We will also explore how to shift mindsets which may be holding us back and exploring the thinking traps we often get stuck in.
Just a huge thank you to Rachel. We asked for a complex keynote, which I knew would be a challenge for anyone delivering it, but Rachel achieved exactly what we asked for. We couldn’t have asked for more and I really appreciate the time and effort Rachel put into tailoring this session for us. A valuable and inspiring keynote from Rachel Johnson filled with engaging insights and practical takeaways to further enhance our approach to learner support and motivation.
One of our most successful and well received speakers in our 10 year history. Rachel spoke to the needs of our entire community; providing a positive message of hope, purpose and belonging.
