Lynn Williams, a recently retired Wake County principal and now a part-time faculty member at NCSU, is serving as the certified facilitator of the VitalSmarts sessions and providing coaching to participants. Twenty-five principals representing 10 districts attended Day 1 of the Crucial Conversations Training, a two-day course that teaches skills for staying in a positive dialogue when confronting an emotional, high-stakes, and potentially controversial issue. The cohort will come together in March for VitalSmarts’ Influencer training, a two-day leadership course that teaches proven strategies to drive rapid and sustainable organizational change.