Listening: A quiet superpower?
- Tamara Zaple
- 7 days ago
- 4 min read
How listening to your staff can help drive the change your school truly needs.
Listening is often seen as the poor relation in the communication toolkit, lagging behind reading, writing and even speaking in how we teach, model and value it in schools. I’ve been a huge advocate for oracy for years, yet even I can admit that listening has sat quietly in the background for too long. It’s time to bring it to the forefront, especially in school leadership.
Look at the global political landscape. Growing unrest and the mainstreaming of once-fringe ideologies often stem from people not feeling seen or heard. This is not just a political issue, it’s human. The need to be heard is fundamental to our sense of worth, identity and belonging. So let’s think… what might be possible if we truly listened, well and often?
This blog explores the benefits of listening to staff, what gets in the way and how to do it well.
Why Listening Matters
Effective listening in schools leads to:
Better decision-making. Too often, leaders leap to fix problems without understanding what’s really going on. Staff insights, especially from those working closely with children and families, offer crucial, often overlooked perspectives.
More successful change. People are far more likely to support change, even if they disagree, when they feel genuinely heard.
Improved morale and trust. A culture of listening creates connection, agency, psychological safety and shared ownership.
Listening is not soft leadership, it’s smart leadership. But only when done well.
Where Listening Goes Wrong
A head once told me, “But if I ask staff what they think, they’ll expect me to do what they say.” That belief is common and there’s a solution. Listening doesn’t mean acting on every suggestion. But it does mean genuinely engaging with what’s been shared, showing you’ve understood and explaining how their views shaped your next steps.
In all honesty, I’ve done it myself. I wanted staff to know I was listening, so I adopted the “You Said, We Did” approach. But the danger here is oversimplification. At worse, when cherry-picked survey questions are thrown into the mix without depth or dialogue, people feel tokenised and can stop contributing altogether. Trust is damaged, listening becomes a tick-box exercise and not a cultural strength.
How to Listen Well
1. See it as a process, not a moment
The Double Diamond model, developed by the British Design Council and adapted for schools in Change Starts Here (Leaning & Lerner), helps reframe listening as part of purposeful design. The first diamond is about discovering and defining the problem; the second is about developing and delivering the solution. Both stages rely on engaging stakeholders, not as a one-off consultation but as a routine part of how decisions are made.
2. Stand back to see the system and notice the connections.
Systemic team coaching offers another valuable lens. It focuses not just on individuals but on relationships, power dynamics and interdependencies within a system. Standing back, listening and connecting the jots helps leaders, from the boardroom to the classroom, understand the invisible threads between people, and then co-construct change.
Looking beyond the conversations, there’s the noticing. Noticing what isn’t said and standing back and noticing what is happening in a moment. Taking the time amongst the busyness to reflect and ask “What is really going on here?” will surface hidden insights.
3. Go beyond surveys
Surveys are useful but only part of the toolkit. Platforms like Edurio offer benchmarking and robust data, while bespoke surveys can be tailored to your setting. But the fabric of good listening is psychological safety: a culture where staff feel safe to speak up, question decisions and share concerns without fear of blame. The micro-interactions are as important as the big listening gestures.
4. Build the right communication systems
Listening isn’t just about who speaks, it’s also about where, how and to whom. Do your SLT meetings have a clear plan for communication, feedback loops and consultation? Do phase leaders know how to gather views and feed them back? I learned the hard way how much smoother decisions run when staff input is built into the structure, not bolted on at the end.
Even small changes, like altering school pick-up procedures, can go wrong when decisions are made in isolation. I once made such a change, well-intentioned but rushed, and was met with frustration from staff, parents and pupils. Had I asked the right people sooner, the knock-on effects would have been spotted.
5. Use ‘slice teams’ to represent diverse views
James Manion’s concept of slice teams, small groups representing different roles and perspectives across a school, is a brilliant way to gather cross-sectional insights. These teams ensure leaders are hearing from the whole system, not just the loudest or most senior voices.
6. Embed a coaching culture
A listening culture is also a coaching culture. That doesn’t mean formal coaching sessions every week, but it does mean leaders adopting a more curious, empowering style in everyday conversations.
7. Don’t forget the feedback loop
Once you’ve gathered information, be intentional about how you analyse and act on it. Some issues require quick SLT conversations; others deserve a longer, multi-week process. Then, share what happened, transparently. Use conversations, newsletters, staff meetings, emails or a blend of channels. Just don’t skip the step. Because however you choose to feed back, it’s as vital as the listening itself.
Summary
Listening is a leadership superpower, one that shapes culture, deepens trust and helps schools thrive in complexity. But like any superpower, it needs to be used wisely.
The act of listening well is humble. It requires us to let go of certainty, lean into curiosity and lead with connection. And in a time when education is evolving rapidly and the pace is faster than ever, taking the time to step back and listen might just be the leadership attribute that makes the biggest difference.
References:
Change Starts Here: What if everything your school needed was right in front of you? (Shane Leaning and Efraim Lerner)
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