Building Purpose to Enhance Collective Efficacy
Given the context of typical high-pressure leadership, time constraints, and the need to get through the vast amounts of information and initiatives, “learning to be still” may be considered a pipe dream. However, the research reinforced the importance of leaders being able to intimately connect with teams by eliminating distraction and focusing on genuineness, absent judgment or fear. This collective awareness and listening research helped leaders establish deeper rapport and meaningful connection within teams and across the organization. Maxwell’s (2014) research shows us that great leaders facilitate deeper dialogue and emote challenges through a balance of purposeful questioning and intentional listening. Through the research, we found that if organizational leaders are going to pose grander questions, we needed to be ready to not just listen but to truly hear, embrace, and reflect the message. DuFour et al.’s (2016) PLC process provides the framework for leaders to ask questions while Maxwell (2014) provides the new paradigm for authentic listening.
Significance vs. Contribution It is somewhat undisputed that school organizations are made up of individuals whose primary purpose is to contribute to the greater good; that is the essence of being an educator. Educators are inherently contributing to the future by attempting to enhance the lives of students through teaching and learning. In his best-selling book The Eighth Habit: From Effectiveness to Greatness, Stephen R. Covey (2004) asserts, “Deep within each one of us there is an inner longing to live a life of greatness and contribution—to really matter, to really make a difference” (p. 28). All, or at least most, educators do want to make a difference in their professional lives. In The Multiplier Effect: Tapping the Genius Inside Our Schools, Liz Wiseman, Lois Allen, and Elise Foster (2013) further the case by saying, “When leaders connect people’s natural passion and native genius to big opportunities, those people are used at their highest point of contribution” (p. 34). However, although district leadership had the best of intentions, there were characteristics in the approach that resembled that of a car salesman. Leaders would typically cast a desperate pitch of a vision
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In regard to answers, however, we found an interesting nuance in the research. Although the concept of “answers” seemed straightforward, Maxwell (2014) had an interesting take for leaders. Rather than first seeking answers from individuals or teams, Maxwell (2014) proposes listening with intention and authenticity as the key ingredient for leaders, asserting, “Good leaders listen, learn, and then lead” (p. 49). Truly listening meant that leaders need to resist the fast pace and whirlwind of school life. In order to accomplish this sort of organic process of being present, leaders needed to adopt more of a “learn to be still” approach, as the legendary Eagles classic rock song states (Henley & Lynch, 1994). “Learning to be still” for leaders meant giving teams undivided attention, noticing nuances, empathizing, and wholeheartedly seeking to connect.
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