Smile and Let Smile

In one of the recent leadership circles, some of the most important truths arrived quietly: in pauses, hesitations, lowered voices.

Trust grows when leaders listen beneath the surface. When they hear the emotion, not just sentences. When they catch what people wanted to say but couldn’t.

Deep listening is how leaders earn deeper trust.

In my early years as a headmaster and as a schools administrator I was quick to respond. I knew – before colleagues opened their mouths. It was like being in a race. Always rushing to the next pit stop and chasing the finish line.

It was only much later I learned, that trust was earned through deep listening. I came across students with who I had spent hours in conversation, in detention classes. Those were the most valuable moments I had spent in those years. Because not only did I listen to what they had to say. But I was there absorbing what they didn’t. And that mattered most.

What are you being invited to hear more deeply today?

#SmileAndLetSmile #LiftCulture #CultureCode365 Day 33 | Listen for What’s Not Said