Be The Spark - November 2026
After a much-needed half-term break, we now begin the familiar path towards darker nights and colder mornings, when we may need to work a bit harder to bring warmth and brightness into both our homes and our working lives.
As fireworks burst into the skies across our communities this week, I’ve been reflecting on how these impressive displays of light and colour might provide a helpful reminder of the power that sits within us all, individually and collectively. As the loud explosions and colourful sparkles bring stirrings of excitement, joy and appreciation, let's remember that their extraordinary effects all began with a tiny spark. It is these individual sparks which trigger the release of their innate power, visibility and vitality. Only once released can each firework makes its own valuable contribution to the overall impact of varied colours, movements, speeds, shapes and sizes.
Through this metaphor, I’m wondering: how can we develop the confidence in ourselves and others, to be the spark releasing new ideas, perspectives and questions? What will enable these individual insights to become truly seen and heard, especially in dark and difficult times?
Our schools and communities are certainly navigating complex challenges, competing priorities, financial pressures, changing expectations and increasingly polarised debate.
When we feel frustrated, overwhelmed or powerless, it’s tempting to remain silent, particularly when speaking up could expose us to criticism or the fact that we don’t yet – or indeed may never - have the solution!
But what happens when everyone waits for someone else to make the first move, or for the answer to simply appear? The sky remains dark and unchanged.
We don't need permission to have ideas, values or convictions. And contribution isn’t just about having the solutions, but also raising the questions, sharing perspectives and voicing curiosity. Our capacity to speak up when we recognise something is not serving us, our children or our school exists regardless of job title, seniority or position. For example:
- the courage to question an established practice
- the willingness to challenge something that doesn't feel right
- the confidence to offer a new perspective
- the decision to start a conversation others may be avoiding
The widely-known concept of Radical Candor seems a helpful place to start when we think about the prospect of sparking some courageous conversations. Developed by Kim Scott, Radical Candor has become a popular principle to encourage speaking-up, recognising that constructive honesty is a positive act of contribution and care, rather than unhelpful disruption: “Care personally. Challenge directly.”
This is not to say that a single radical candor conversation will guarantee profound change, but at least we can know that we have provided a spark for deeper discussion, shed some light into a blindspot or dark corner, and as such created a shift, however small.
And that’s the point of a spark. It begins a cascade of other sparks.
Igniting the fuse is the first step. What happens next is rarely 100% within our control: the consequences will take time to unfold and depend on the conditions around us. What’s the level of readiness of others to accept this challenge to think or behave differently? What are the specific barriers preventing this and what are the cultural learned behaviours for responding to other perspectives?
Consequently, it can be scary to be the spark – what am I setting off? What if the resulting explosions are too much for people to handle? Too much for me? And on the other hand, what if I try to spark up a colourful conversation but it – or I – fizzle out weakly and end up feeling disempowered and worse than I do now? Is it worth the risks?
Being seen and being heard makes us vulnerable. It can also expose our depth of passion and strength of moral purpose. When we tap into these powerful bases of core values and sense of identity, it often stirs up uncomfortable emotions. And just like at a fireworks display, our human brain will remind us that safety comes first!
In his work on developing a 'Speak-Up Culture', Stephen Shedlestzky states that “speaking up must feel both safe and worthwhile”: people need to believe both that they can speak up without disproportionate personal consequences and that their contribution might lead to something useful. Consequently, people may choose to remain silent for two quite different reasons:
• Fear: “If I say this, what will happen to me?”
• Futility: “Even if I say this, will anything change?”
So even if our workplace appears friendly and safe, people can still disengage if their contributions are repeatedly ignored.
Shed’s Speak-Up Culture. You can read more about Shed’s Speak-Up Culture in this 2page resource: Read the Speak-Up Culture resource
In my recent conversation with EDI Consultant and Leadership Edge Coach, Harroop Sandhu, we discussed the relationship between our individual power to speak-up and how that sits within the responsibility of the system and wider leadership around us. Harroop shared a plethora of insights from her new book, Clear Enough to Act when the world feels divided, including lots of practical tips on how leaders can do the work to embed a culture of safe challenge and active perspective-gathering, I hope you enjoy listening as much as I did:
In 2019, The Fearless Organization by Amy Edmonson, published research into how to shift towards a workplace culture in which speaking up is normal rather than risky. Edmondson demonstrates the connection between psychological safety and the positive outcomes of organisational learning, innovation and performance, and gives leaders practical ways to invite and respond to challenge, including the more recent release a PSI (Psychological Safety Index) measurement tool.
The tool focuses on 4 key areas of psychological safety:
As Harroop describes here, regularly and deliberately gathering and exploring data around people’s experience of your school/Trust culture is like getting the spaghetti out of our heads and onto the table for us all to examine the patterns and co-construct the learnings.
Harroop and I also discuss the concept that “silence is data”- if people aren’t speaking-up, there is important work to do to understand why this is the case.
Edmonson concludes her book with a similar message, encouraging us to recognise that colleagues may have extraordinary ideas, insights and convictions, but never express them if the environment or conditions feel unsafe.
If you’re interested in further research into why people speak up or remain silent, and the consequences for individuals, teams and organisations, take a look at this substantial academic research review: Employee Voice and Silence: Taking Stock a Decade Later | Annual Reviews
Our greatest influence may, then, lie not simply in making our own ideas seen and heard, but in creating the conditions for others to bring their fullest, bravest selves to their work. This means recognising that unity of purpose doesn't require uniformity of thought; disagreement needn't mean division. Like a spectacular fireworks display, it is the interplay of different perspectives, each bringing something unique, that creates something extraordinary. Great leadership is about ensuring others feel safe, valued and empowered to contribute, turning individual sparks into collective, multi-coloured brilliance.
And embedding a coaching approach across your leadership provides an intentional and consistent way to set these conditions:
A positive speak-up culture requires more than encouraging employees to be candid: leaders must actively invite challenge, listen with curiosity rather than defensiveness, and respond fairly and constructively. When people see that their concerns and ideas are genuinely heard and valued, speaking up becomes a normal part of learning, improving and working together, rather than a risk to be avoided.
So, as you look to the challenges and opportunities ahead, perhaps consider the following questions:
What thought, perspective, question or feeling have I been holding back from expressing, and what would help me find the courage to share it?
How actively do I seek out different perspectives, and how do I create opportunities for voices that might otherwise go unheard?
How well does our school/Trust nurture the conditions in which people feel safe, valued and empowered to express difference? Is this genuinely part of “the way we do things around here”?
We all have the potential to ignite something extraordinary, whatever our position or title, but it takes courage to step forward, speak up and illuminate new thinking. As leaders, recognising that we have both the power and the responsibility to release that powerful potential in ourselves and others can be equally exhilarating and daunting.
In true English Teacher style, I will leave you with a poem encapsulating this conundrum: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.”
Warmest wishes for a fabulous Autumn 2,
Catherine Hulme
Owner Director
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