A Leader’s Guide to Listening to Learn: 10 Actionable Takeaways
Guest Post: 10 Tips to Embed The Listening to Learn Leadership Trait
As an educational leadership coach, one of the most important skills I encourage leaders to develop is active listening. I read the previous Inclusiveteach post on how “Listening to Learn” was a desired trait for school leaders and wanted to share my top 10 tips for developing this skill. When utilised effectively in decision-making, it has far-reaching benefits for student outcomes, staff morale and community trust. Listening leads to understanding, just hearing each other out is the start of working together as a powerful leadership team.
Leadership alone can feel isolating without investing in understanding others. In this post, I provide 10 takeaways from years of coaching on how incorporating “Listening to Learn” practices improves impact and career longevity for headteachers and school leaders.
1. Create a Space to Listen
As a leader, it is important to set the tone for listening. Show stakeholders, including parents, that you value their voices by engaging with them without distractions from devices and back-to-back meetings. The cardinal sin of listening to learn is to double book or be late to meetings.
2. Carve Out Time
Block dedicated periods on your calendar, whether whole days spent visiting classrooms or 30 minutes weekly for one-on-one staff listening tours. Quality over quantity to show investment. Book 15 minutes a day to walk the halls to get a sense of the atmosphere and culture of the school
3. Vary Your Methods
Try small feedback circles, online commenting tools, anonymous surveys or 360-degree reviews to reach diverse groups comfortably sharing candid reflections. Test multiple approaches to find the best cultural fit for your school.
4. Listen Without Bias
Be conscious of preconceptions that could cloud your receptiveness. Note any patterns of interrupting or defences that surface in sessions and commit to checking internal biases through reflection.
5. Probe for Riches Below the Surface
Ask thoughtful follow-ups or have conversation guides handy to draw out complete perspectives, underlying concerns or innovative ideas that could emerge from safe exploration.
6. Cross-Reference Themes
Look for commonalities across comment streams but also important outliers. The latter may signal specific stakeholder needs still requiring your accommodation as good equity-based leadership demands.
7. Provide Transparency
Share at least general summaries of what you have been working on along with initial actions resulting as tangible proof feedback from your staff held value and power over preemptive plans, what did they say that led you to amend your plans? Nurture your influence on your teams over time.
8. Celebrate Small Wins
In staff forums especially, make sure to recognise positive anecdotes, and existing program strengths and even attempt to listen for mood-boosting glimmers amidst the harder messages to soften any blowback from critics, and there will always be critics.
9. Have Patience and Follow Through
Rome wasn’t built in a day and systemic modifications require longer than people expect. Commit to revisiting progress periodically as listening’s true impact lies in consistency over results. Building trusting relationships that promote risk-taking and a culture of innovation is a slow process that is easier to break than build.
10. Find a Mentor
Find a dedicated leadership coach or mentor to provide the same candid critique to optimise self-awareness, minimise blindspots and spur your growth as a humble learner always improving practice. You can browse LinkedIn or identify a mentor through your professional networks or union. Your board of governors should support the financial investment in their school leaders.
Summary
In closing, adopting active listening transforms school leaders into empathetic allies working interdependently with school communities rather than apart from them. I hope you find these reflections help strengthen your working relationships.
