The August issue of The American School Board Journal is now online. Its Features section includes an article (Oath of Office) in which I describe an opportunity that presents itself whenever a new board member takes the oath of office. The rest of the board can more rapidly onboard that new member if they renew and recommit to their own oath at the same time, following up the oath ceremony with a whole-board discussion on the meaning of that oath. Read More …
Category: Framework
Organizing structure for the collective governance responsibilities of a board of directors
The Three-Legged Stool of Board Leadership
This month’s edition (February 2023) of the American School Board Journal included a feature article that I wrote, describing leadership, including school board leadership, as a 3-legged stool. Here’s how they introduce the topic: School boards must balance responsibility, authority, and accountability to successfully govern, writes board trainer and long-time school board leader Rick Maloney. Here’s a link to that article: The Three-Legged Stool
On the Value of Board Training
5 Topics that are useful for board member training, and 2 topics that are of no value (or even cause harm) to board member development.
8 Lessons Learned in Governance – Part 1
I posted an entry (the first of three installments) on 8 lessons learned in the 19 years since our board first learned about the Policy Governance (R) model of John Carver. This model is one way to approach the responsibilities of governance described on this site – A Framework to Governance. The first part deals with three lessons learned: Be wary of assumptions Change our mindset It’s all or nothing You can read this entry at policy.governance101.com Another successful model Read More …
Seven (Not So) Simple Rules for Board Success – Part II
Boards must assign responsibility for doing the work. They must delegate sufficient authority over the work to get the job done. And they must assure accountability for the work.
Seven (Not So) Simple Rules for Board Success – Part I
Board success depends on many elements, including the organization’s leadership and culture, the board’s actions, knowledge, and character, and the situation, but the purpose of board leadership can be simply defined as assuring, on behalf of the community, that the organization succeeds. One way to portray leadership is a three-legged stool – each leg must be present for the three to stand together – consisting of responsibility, authority, and accountability. Leaders at every level, including the board in its leadership role, must accept full responsibility for their level in the organization. They must know those whom they serve. They must assign responsibility for doing the work. They must delegate sufficient authority over the work to get the job done. And they must assure accountability for the work. Before all else, they must take responsibility and be accountable for the board’s own performance.
6 Focus Areas for the School Board
School boards should review 6 areas to help focus their efforts: the state, the community, the students, the district, the superintendent, and (most important) the board itself.
4 Types of Boards
What types of boards are there? And how does board governance compare with teaching as a profession? Understanding the Danielson Framework for Teaching may offer a starting point for answering these questions. Boards might be categorized into one of four different types, the first three of which are readily distinguished by their current levels of performance in the practice of governance. These board types are: 1. Dysfunctional – those that do actual harm to the board and the organization governed Read More …
Gaining New Members? Renew Your Whole Board (Part 3 of 3)
The Board Takes Responsibility for Accountability “Whenever the board gets a new member, a new board is formed.” Part 1 of this post introduced the idea of making the new members’ first day on the job one of intentional induction, not only for the new member but for the “new board” that is being formed. What if the board, seriously accepting responsibility for its own performance, took the opportunity to induct its newest members, while at the same time guiding Read More …
Gaining New Members? Renew Your Whole Board (Part 2 of 3)
The Board Takes Responsibility for Strategic Voice and Operational Guidance “Whenever the board gets a new member, a new board is formed.” Part 1 of this post introduced the above (a traditional saying about boards) as rationale for making the new members’ first day on the job one of intentional induction, not only for the new member but for the “new board” that is being formed. What if the board, seriously accepting responsibility for its own performance, took the opportunity Read More …