System Shift: Leading Change So Students Thrive

22: The Missing Foundation: Why School Collaboration Fails Without Trust, Safety, and Relationships

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What if the secret to your school’s success isn’t about having the smartest people or the best plan but about how safe people feel to speak up, take risks, and learn together?

In this episode of System Shift, we explore psychological safety, the foundation that makes collective efficacy possible. Drawing on research from Google and Harvard Business School’s Amy Edmondson, we break down how trust, safety, and relationships create the emotional infrastructure for authentic collaboration and how school leaders can build it intentionally.

In This Episode:

  • What Google and Harvard discovered about the link between psychological safety and high-performing teams
  • The difference between collaboration built on compliance vs. collaboration built on trust How three key elements—trust, safety, and relationships—create the foundation for collective efficacy
  • Practical ways to build psychological safety in schools and districts, including meeting norms and feedback practices
  • How protective factors like caring relationships, consistency, and high expectations strengthen staff connection and student outcomes (As a reminder, Episode 11 digs deep into Protective Factors. Check it out)
  • Why vulnerability and curiosity are leadership essentials in building a thriving culture

    • Key Takeaway:

    Psychological safety is the heart of effective collaboration. When educators trust one another, feel safe to take risks, and build authentic relationships, they unlock the collective potential of their teams and create schools where both adults and students thrive.

     

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    System Shift: Leading Change So Students ThriveBy Dr. Gail Angus, Dr. Leesa Huang, and Dr. Mary Beth Kropp