Listening Leaders Help Create Equitable, High-Performing Schools

Strong communication skills are essential for today’s administrators and instructional coaches. And, being an effective listener is a key asset for everyone who works with teachers, students, parents, and administrators. Yet, for many time-pressed educators, listening is an underdeveloped skill.

If you are interested in honing your listening skills with an emphasis on ensuring equity for all, I have a book for you: The Listening Leader: Creating the Conditions for Equitable School Transformation, by Shane Safir.

Safir’s biography lists her background as a coach, writer, and facilitator. She is the founding principal of the public June Jordan School of Equity in San Francisco.

The book is organized into 12 chapters with a foreword by Michael Fullan and an introduction by the author. Each chapter begins with a story, which quickly hooks the reader. The content is grouped around major themes, including:

  • The Transformational Power of Listening
  • Awareness: “What do I need to know and understand to become a Listening Leader?”
  • Relational Capital: “How do I build the interpersonal currency needed to support and develop adult learning?”
  • Complex Change: “How do I diagnose and navigate the challenges I face as a leader?”

As an added bonus, Safir provides eight appendices containing useful tools like a Listening Leader Rubric, the Six Stances of a Listening Leader, protocols for promoting and practicing listening, and using stories to nurture rich academic conversations.

The table of contents, index and Chapter One can be reviewed on the Jossey-Bass/Wiley website using this link (click on ‘Read an Excerpt’ under the book cover).

The Characteristics of a Listening Leader

The author defines a Listening Leader as someone who “lead[s] with questions more than answers, and they demonstrate care, curiosity, and regard for every person who crosses their path” (p. xxvii). But she doesn’t stop there. She notes that Listening Leadership is also about “an orientation toward collegiality, shared leadership, professional growth, and equity.”

I was particularly struck by a table Safir created to differentiate between a “listening mindset” and a “telling mindset,” where she pulls heavily from Carol Dweck’s research on a growth mindset.

Safir describes four types of leadership archetypes, ranging from Peacekeeper and Listening Leader to Manager and Driver. Each archetypes is characterized by certain behaviors and mindsets.

As an example, Listening Leaders lead from “a moral imperative,” view relationships as a “key to results, [and] adult learning as a vehicle to student learning” (p. 6).

David Rock’s SCARF Model

Safir also draws heavily on the research of David Rock and his SCARF model, an acronym that encourages leaders to consider the possible reaction of others when engaging in a conversation: Status, Certainty, Autonomy, Relatedness, and Fairness (see my blog on his work here).

She illustrates Rock’s SCARF model for her readers:

Ask the Author

Safir concludes each chapter with a set of questions that have been posed to her throughout her career. For example, in the chapter that stresses the importance of building trust, there is a question about responding effectively to “bids.” A bid is a gesture, a statement, or a look by someone else seeking to engage you in a conversation.

Safir notes that “each bid you receive is an opportunity to build trust or to betray, as well as an opportunity to activate a reward or a threat for the other person” (p. 84). In the Q&A, she provides seven tips for those interested in becoming more attuned to bids from others.

The Six Circle Model

Finally, another tool referenced by Safir really got me thinking: The Six Circle Model, originated by Margaret Wheatley and refined by Tim Dalmau and Steve Zuiback.

Leading for Equity: Wheatley’s 6 Circle Model Explained

Open up the file and take a look at the circles. You’ll notice a green line that separates the upper three concentric circles from the bottom three circles. The upper circles (structures, patterns, process) represent the more concrete things that we can track and measure. These circles are part of our daily routine.

One of the reasons that Wheatley created the circles was her observation of some managers who thought that working only on the upper circles could change a culture and improve productivity. She disagreed, noting:

We need processes to help us reweave connections, to discover shared interests, to listen to one another’s stories and dreams. We need processes that take advantage of our natural ability to network, to communicate when something is meaningful to us. We need processes that invite us to participate, that honor our creativity and commitment to the organization.

That’s why she emphasizes the circles beneath the green line: relationships, information, and identity.

When I first saw the word information in the bottom circle, I wondered about its presence beneath the line. Then I read this quote: “Information is like oxygen in a system. In its absence, people will ‘make it up’ in an effort to keep moving forward. Access to information greatly minimizes the negative rumors that can occur within organizations.”

We’ve all been in situations where we’ve felt paralyzed because we don’t have enough information about what’s going on. Or worse, we’ve found ourselves in situations where others think hoarding information and controlling access increases their power and stature. To build trust and collective efficacy, embracing free-flowing and timely information is a must. And, as Safir points out, “Listening acts as a conduit for healthy information flow” (p. 88).

The other two circles: relationships and identity are fairly self-explanatory. Safir explains that relationships are the outward signs of “the quality of trust and mutual regard” existing among a group of people (p. 88). And, “identity addresses the human pursuit of meaning,” according to Safir.

As I reflected on this model, it seemed that awareness of it would be useful to those of us who coach others. It might help remind us that while the circles above the line are important, we risk only surface conversations and collaborations unless we also tend to the circles below the line.

Food for thought

Hopefully, this blog has given you food for thought. Maybe some of you will consider ordering the book. Most importantly, however, let me invite you to become an intentional listener—someone who understands the importance of relationship building and trust and its connection to tempering our tongue and activating our ears!