Beginning with the Brain
I have long loved learning about the brain and how it miraculously works FOR our body. Our brain figures out instantaneously how to respond to any given situation. Our brain knows how to respond to a positive event, such as holding your child for the first time. Similarly, our brain knows how to respond when we fear danger is near, such as the notion of being followed in a dark parking garage.
So, when I came upon Chapter 2 – The Core Tenets of Listening Leadership in Shane Safir’s The Listening Leader, it was easy to get pulled in to how the brain is working for us and to draw parallels of how the brain leads the body and leaders lead an organization.
First, we must recognize that our brain seeks survival. When anyone is feeling their survival is in danger, we don’t respond as we would if we were calm. As cortisol floods the brain, our ability to problem solve isn’t functioning as it typically would – this is what is called an “amygdala hijack”. “Here’s the good news”, Safir notes:
As a leader, you can train your brain to recognize an amygdala attack hijack in yourself and others in order to choose a productive response.
To begin with, as listeners, we must address people’s basic needs – think of this as small deposits in someone’s emotional bank account. This might mean making the small details of your school environment feel workable, at peace, and physically appealing.
In this first tenet, Safir refers to it as “feed the lizard” or the amygdala of the brain. This conjures the idea of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs – first things first, I have to have my basic needs met in order to unlock the amygdala and let the real work to begin. As we learn how to create a positive climate where we are working for the good of our colleagues and the students we serve, it will be essential to know how to deescalate many types of situations.
This is where the second tenet comes in to play, which is as leaders we are called to “Learn to listen in ways that calm the amygdala – both yours and others”.
Digging a bit deeper, we come to tenet number three, regarding social threats and how the brain jumps into survival mode. Our school setting should be such that it is a low-threat but high-reward environment. In other words, creating an environment which is safe for students to take risks both academically and socially.
Tenet four, is the best news of all, that every brain grows in the right conditions. Research shows that our brains are hard-wired for learning, to seek connections between information and with people. This is also a pretty daunting task! Since every learner brings to the table a different set of experiences and schema, we must learn to listen to them in order to create the right conditions for growth.
I liken this to the work I put into my garden. I can prepare the soil, and plant my flowers at the perfect time, but if I hope the rain will be enough to keep them alive all summer long, I would be sadly mistaken. Similarly, I can’t have access to exceptional resources and a classroom full of students and hope that turning the pages of my resource will keep them flourishing.
My work in the garden will take attention. It will take watering, more than just the rain, in my work with teachers. Our students will need tending too. I must listen to their needs in order to prepare the right conditions for them to learn. Brains are wired to make connections, to create neural pathways and because of neuroplasticity, we have unlimited potential in our brains! Our brains can literally keep growing, and expanding due to our synapses and pathways responding to our environment.
The challenge to all educators is to build the culture that collectively believes in the ability for all students to learn, grow, and build both their emotional and brain capacity. This brings me to the fifth and last tenet of this chapter which focuses on building the culture of the school. Leaders of the school are challenged to create an immersion of positive experiences for the staff and students. This releases oxytocin, happy transmitters, which our brain seeks a repeat of more and more.
Let’s plan to create space for risk-taking that allows learners (both students and adults alike) the opportunity to feel safe enough to try again and again. Let’s create a scenario where the process of learning is important as well as the product. The more I learn about the brain and the more aware I become about listening well, the more excited I am to work in partnership with the teachers I serve and the leadership team at my site. I can’t wait to dig deeper into this book and let Shane lead us to new levels of excellence.
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