Tag: #governance

Question #7 – Does Your Board Take a Strategic Approach?

Rick Maloney

(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) “Boards are powerful. They select; evaluate; and, if they choose, terminate superintendents. They set goals, allocate resources, create policy frameworks, and oversee management and are the bridge between districts and the publics they serve.“ – Don McAdams1 The above succinctly describes the school board’s role and broadly outlines a strategic approach to carrying out that role. The effective board has a clear sense of its purpose. It distinguishes the strategic work of the board Read More …

Question #6 – Does Your Board Have the Work Ethic Needed for Growth?

Rick Maloney

(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) “On the most basic level, members have to keep up with continually changing state and federal mandates and laws, something that district staffers generally help with. They also need to keep up with promising initiatives to raise student achievement in and outside their district as well as continually evolving systems for monitoring data and engaging the community in school improvement. New board members especially need training in their roles and responsibilities and in laws Read More …

“Foundation of Knowledge” Article in the American School Board Journal

Rick Maloney

An article that offers advice on orientation/onboarding of a new school board member, focusing on a foundation of essential knowledge about the job, was printed in the August 2024 issue of ASBJ. Providing newcomers to your school board team with helpful knowledge informs them about serving in their role with knowledge that is critical to their success. It encourages that was take advantage of opportunities for learning and reflection about that foundation of knowledge over time. This article is the Read More …

Question #5 – Does Your Board Believe in Growth?

Rick Maloney

(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) “I remember often being praised for my intelligence rather than my efforts, and slowly but surely, I developed an aversion to difficult challenges. Most surprisingly, this extended beyond academic and even athletic challenges to emotional challenges. This was my greatest learning disability – this tendency to see performance as a reflection of character and, if I could not accomplish something right away, to avoid that task or treat it with contempt.”1 In relating the Read More …

Question #4 – (In Order to Serve) Is Your Board Willing to Lead?

Rick Maloney

(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) The most fundamental discipline of a board of directors is to direct the organization for high performance. Directing is a proactive discipline, focused on the future. But an alarming problem exists with many boards: they refuse to direct! – Jim Brown1 The above observation is a clear consequence of the fact that, while it is hard enough for individuals to prepare for a leadership role, it is even more difficult for a board of Read More …

Question #3 – (In Order to Lead) Is Your Board Committed to Serve?

Rick Maloney

(49 Questions to Ask Your Board) “The servant-leader is servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions.“ – Robert Greenleaf1 According to Greenleaf, those aspiring to leadership must choose first to serve, then to lead. This Read More …

Six (Not So) Simple Rules for School Board Success

Rick Maloney

Effective school boards build a base of competencies (knowledge and skills) that help them succeed in their roles. They know the difference between boardsmanship and governance. They use individual board member competencies (boardsmanship) that contribute to the work of the board, and whole-board competencies (governance) that can only be performed by the board working together. These competencies increase a board’s potential for success. However, to fully realize that potential, boards need the right beliefs, values, and attitudes—a mindset for success Read More …

On the Value of Board Training

Rick Maloney

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?

Rick Maloney

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)

Gaining New Members? Renew Your Whole Board (Part 3 of 3)

Rick Maloney

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 …