(49 Questions to Ask Your Board)
If, as is usual, there are several trustees, their chairman has a special obligation to see that the trustees as a group sustain a common purpose and are influential in helping the institution maintain consistent high-level performance toward its goals. The chairman is not simply the presider over meetings, but also must serve and lead the trustees as a group and act as their major contact with the active inside leadership.
― Robert Greenleaf1
Greenleaf describes the board chair’s indispensable contribution to good board member behavior by taking what amounts to a servant leadership role, in service to the full board, and leading colleagues by facilitating their boardsmanship behavior.
Boardsmanship is not only an individual responsibility. Because of its effect on governance, assuring good boardsmanship is also a responsibility of the full board and its individual members. It is facilitated primarily by the board president, or chair, who relies in turn on the support and cooperation of board colleagues.
NSBA offers some cautions about pitfalls board chairs should avoid:
- Not following parliamentary procedure. If the board president doesn’t control discussion, somebody else will – or, worse, no one will.
- Not following the agenda. This is the surest way to spring surprises on the superintendent and to make hasty board decisions.
- Allowing overbearing personalities on the board to appear to represent the entire board’s view.
- Not asking for the superintendent’s recommendation before requesting a vote.
― NSBA2
It is incumbent on the board as a body to set expectations for and facilitate good boardsmanship, and to deal with occasions of disruptive behavior by a renegade board member.
Scenario: Elizabeth was a poor performing teacher who had gone through several steps of remediation and probation, but her classroom teaching methods were not improving, and the board approved the superintendent’s recommendation to dismiss her. Elizabeth promptly went to the elections office and filed to run for an open seat on the school board. She won the seat and began an immediate campaign to fire the superintendent. Board meetings turned into a circus. Accusations of cheating, under the table dealings and misrepresentation were hurled during regular board meetings and executive sessions. Letters to the editor, op ed pieces and media interviews grew in number as Elizabeth stepped up her campaign. The board majority supported the superintendent in public and voted in a block against whatever Elizabeth wanted. Her true colors eventually became known. Numerous articles and letters to the editor exposed her background. The school board did not have to do anything. Even the local newspaper’s editorial board called her out and she eventually lost favor with the public. Elizabeth resigned from the board halfway through her elected first term.
The effective board ensures facilitation of board process through its chair, who enforces policy about board process in support of effective and efficient board work. The chair leads colleagues when enforcing board protocol that defines good board member behavior during meetings. The board supports the chair in implementing agenda-setting policy. The chair ensures that all voices are heard, and that individual board members do not impede or obstruct board business. If needed, individual board members speak out, reminding colleagues of their policies when individual behaviors are not corrected by the chair. The board assures orientation so new members understand protocol and how they can contribute to board success. It responds to boardsmanship problems as they occur by promoting more effective behaviors.
NOTE: Please feel free to comment. The opinions expressed in these blog entries are informed by references cited herein, and the experiences of the author. Your comments are welcome additions to the conversation.
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Excerpt from:
- A Framework for School Governance (2017) Rick Maloney
References:
- 1Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness (1977) Robert Greenleaf
- 2Becoming a Better Board Member (2006) NSBA
Next: Question 28 Does Your Board Give Itself Governance Guidance?