In coaching—whether you’re supporting a teacher, leading a professional learning team, or working with a school leader—listening is foundational. And yet, in the name of productivity, efficiency, or simply staying on schedule, we can too easily slip into haste. Listening with haste can be worse than not listening at all. When you respond to people too quickly, they’re likely to feel frustrated, demeaned, or unimportant. Coaches having a strong sense of what a teacher “needs” may rush a conversation—finishing sentences, jumping to solutions, or interpreting questions as pushbacks. Missing crucial signals and undermine trust.

Read the Harvard Business Review post, "Are You Really A Good Listener" here.

Listen to the Podcast with Christine Miles, "What’s It Costing You to Not Listen" here.

Listen to the "Radical Listening in Coaching" podcast here.

Subscribe to the Steve Barkley Ponders Out Loud podcast on iTunes or visit BarkleyPD.com to find new episodes!