Listening: The First Act of Leadership

One of the most important lessons in institutional change is deceptively simple: start with what people need. When ECIS refocused its services around schools and educators, including professional development, bespoke training,conferences, events, media and communities of practice, the organisation also developed relationships with schools, universities and education leaders across more than 85 countries. ECIS are a not for profit charity organisation with 60 years of experience as thought leaders.

For schools, the principle is highly transferable. Before launching another initiative, leaders might ask: What problem are we actually trying to solve? Whose voice are we listening to? And how do we know this is what our community needs? Transformation becomes more meaningful when people recognise their own needs in it.

Culture before Change

Change can be announced from the top. Culture cannot. The ECIS approach draws on three ideas from Daniel Coyle's The Culture Code: building safety, sharing vulnerability and establishing purpose. These are not flashy leadership strategies. They are everyday behaviours that determine whether people feel safe enough to speak, admit uncertainty, ask for help and contribute. 

This has particular significance in schools.

A teacher who is afraid to admit that something is not working is unlikely to experiment. A middle leader who believes every decision must be approved from above is unlikely to innovate. A school where people understand the shared purpose behind change, however, has a better chance of turning an initiative into collective practice.

Perhaps the question for school leaders is not simply, ‘how do we manage change?’ but ‘how safe have we made it for people to change?’

Courage Is a Practice

Educational leadership often involves making decisions without having all the answers. ECIS's transformation included new programmes, new partnerships and entry into new markets. Its leadership framework describes bravery not as an innate quality but as a skill: identifying what is at risk, acting before certainty arrives and treating setbacks as information rather than as a verdict on failure.

That is an important distinction for schools.

Innovation does not require leaders who are fearless. It requires leaders who can acknowledge uncertainty without allowing it to become paralysis. When leaders model that behaviour, something else happens: other people receive permission to experiment too.

Leadership Is Not Ownership

Perhaps the most useful lesson is the distinction between leading something and owning it.

ECIS's approach emphasises distributed responsibility. Colleagues are trusted to lead programmes, members contribute through surveys and Special Interest Groups, and partnerships are structured collaboratively. The organisation's Mumbai conference with DAIS, for example, was developed as a joint venture. https://ecis.org/event/human-flourishing-mumbai/

For schools, this raises an important question: Are we developing leaders, or simply creating followers who execute decisions?

A principal who personally drives every initiative may create short-term momentum. But an institution becomes more resilient when leadership exists at multiple levels. Middle leaders, teachers, students and even parents can become contributors to change when they are given genuine ownership rather than symbolic participation.

The Leadership Test: What Remains?

There is another powerful idea embedded in the ECIS story: leadership should not depend entirely on the leader. The organisation describes an approach in which programmes are built to continue beyond any one individual's day-to-day stewardship. Success is measured through educators reached and schools served rather than personal recognition.

That offers a useful test for school leadership.

If a leader leaves tomorrow, what continues?

Does the culture survive? Do people still collaborate?Can middle leaders make decisions?Do the systems still serve their purpose?Does the community know why the work matters?

If the answer is yes, leadership has moved beyond personality and into institution-building.

From Growth to Meaning

ECIS's numbers tell one part of the story. Its professional development reach grew from 759 educators in 2019 to 25,000 in 2026. Its wider network now spans more than 85 countries.

But growth is not the most interesting lesson. The more important question is what made that growth possible.

It was a combination of listening, experimentation, collaboration, shared purpose and a willingness to distribute leadership. Those principles are not exclusive to an international education organisation. They are relevant to every school navigating a rapidly changing world. 

Schools do not become future-ready simply by adopting new technologies, launching new programmes or rewriting their strategic plans. They become future-ready when the people within them are able to question without fear, experiment without paralysis, collaborate without territoriality and lead without waiting for permission.

Perhaps that is the real work of educational transformation: not creating an institution that depends on exceptional leaders, but creating a culture in which ordinary people are empowered to do extraordinary work together.