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: Lessons Learned
Lessons about governance that are gained by the hard-knock world of actual experience or (preferably) the experience of others.
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.
What’s Wrong with Board Professional Development?
This month’s issue of the American School Board Journal includes my article on board PD. In the article I discuss 6 shortcomings that limit the board’s ability to renew and enhance its governing performance and 5 ways that we can recalibrate our understanding of and approach to board professional development. Here’s a link to the article: What’s Wrong with Board Professional Development? (nsba.org)
What We Do in Board Meetings Matters
Comedian Henny Youngman had a joke (often repeated) that went like this: The patient says, “Doctor, it hurts when I do this.” [The doctor’s response:] “Then don’t do that!” Sometimes the first advice a board should follow if it wants to improve its performance is to find out what it does that hurts…then stop doing that.
What’s Wrong with Board Members?
“ἐπὶ δηλήσει δὲ καὶ ἀδικίῃ εἴρξειν (Do no harm)” – Hippocratic oath The first action a public board member takes upon being elected or appointed is to swear (or affirm) an oath of office, as prescribed in law, that promises among other things to support the constitution. Even private boards have a ceremony in which the new member is encouraged to dedicate their efforts to the best interests of the whole enterprise. We tend to think in terms of what Read More …