Leaders who wish to build strong, professional learning cultures and healthy, thriving school communities need to be aware of and compassionate towards a key understanding on which few leaders focus: Educators have credentials in how to teach subjects and grade levels, but what they don’t have are credentials in how to talk to and with other adults.

Yet, for a strong and healthy school culture, leaders need to put energy and time into developing the skills and capacities for everyone to engage in healthy adult-to-adult communication.

Schools that don’t just survive, but thrive, are schools that expect, encourage and support everyone’s growth around skills for healthy adult-to-adult communication. The work of being a place of lifelong learning, continuous growth and successful innovation, must encourage both inner and outer development of those that work within them.