How School Leaders Create a Positive School Climate | Empowered Educator

I was visiting classrooms with a principal.

As we walked between observations, I got curious.

In one classroom, students eagerly raised their hands, willing to take a risk even when they weren't sure of the answer. In another, students sat quietly, looking carefully at the teacher before speaking. Neither room was chaotic. Both were well managed. Yet they felt completely different.

As we debriefed, the principal asked, "What did you notice?"

The first thing that came to mind, I said, "The weather." She laughed, "What do you mean?"

I wasn't talking about the lesson. I was noticing the conditions.

In one room, the atmosphere felt warm. Students seemed comfortable trying, wondering, and occasionally being wrong. In the other, students appeared to be carefully reading the room before contributing. They were paying attention to whether it was safe to take a risk.

That moment reminded me that leaders, too, create weather long before we create results.

The questions we ask, the mistakes we notice, the reactions we have when things don't go as planned—all of these become part of the climate people experience around us.

The challenge is that we often focus on outcomes while overlooking conditions.

When engagement drops, we ask what's wrong with the people. When collaboration stalls, we ask what's wrong with the team.

💫  Thought Spark 💫 

What weather are people working in?

Try This:

This week, pay attention to the weather you create.

Notice:

• What happens when someone makes a mistake?
• What happens when someone disagrees?
• What happens when someone brings a new idea?

Before changing anything, simply observe the patterns.

Your Turn: 

If someone spent a week on your team, what weather would they say they experience most often? And what might become possible if the forecast shifted?