Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Lord Acton The Problem Early in my first career (24 years in the US Army) I occasionally heard of a senior officer being removed from command due to misconduct of some sort. Although relatively rare in an organization of hundreds of thousands, these incidents seemed to occur more often in situations where the leader was isolated from the next higher level of command, removed from the “prying eyes” of direct observation and supervision. Leaders Read More …
Tag: #schoolboards
Boards Matter – Part III
Boards Matter – Part III In the high-achieving districts, the board/superintendent team and school personnel consistently expressed an “elevating” view of students. Students were viewed as emerging and flexible and the school’s job was seen as releasing each student’s potential. Bartusek, L (ed.), Iowa School Board COMPASS: A Guide for Those Who Lead Board beliefs/behaviors correlate with student learning. Research specifically looking at school board effectiveness (the Iowa studies conducted in the late 1990s and subsequent work over the next Read More …
From the Boardroom: Questions Many Boards Never Think to Ask (Part IV)
From the Boardroom: Questions Many Boards Never Think to Ask (Part IV) February 18, 2018 Rick Maloney This is the last of a four-part series. In Parts I, II and III of this post, we considered questions rarely (maybe never) asked by Board members regarding orientation and professional development of board members, the full Board, and Superintendent/staff, and questions about some strategic Board-level functions. In this part, we will review a couple of ordinary board functions that at first don’t appear Read More …
From the Boardroom: Questions Many Boards Never Think to Ask (Part III)
In Parts I and II of this post, we considered questions rarely (maybe never) asked by Board members regarding orientation and professional development of board members, the full Board, and its Superintendent/staff. This third part will deal with questions about some strategic Board-level functions: About Planning Strategic Board Functions Strategic planning. Q#1: Does the Board take responsibility for strategic planning? The Board is likely to answer this question in the affirmative, as this is something the Board does pay attention to, Read More …
From the Boardroom: Questions Many Boards Never Think to Ask (Part II)
From the Boardroom: Questions Many #Boards Never Think to Ask (Part II) December 16, 2017 Rick Maloney In Part I of this post, we considered some questions rarely (perhaps never) asked by Board members regarding such topics as the orientation the Board provides to its members, ongoing Board member professional development, and professional development for the Board as a body, focusing on collective behaviors that are not addressed in individual Board member professional development. Some more “never think to ask” Read More …
From the Boardroom: Questions Boards Never Think to Ask (Part I)
From the Boardroom: Questions Many Boards Never Think to Ask (Part I) About Development Orientation of new and prospective board members. Q#1: Does the Board orient its new members? A: First of all, most boards fail altogether in providing any sort of orientation. Even if an orientation is provided, the board typically leaves such a ‘chore’ to its staff. Guess what? Whoever provides the orientation has a vested interest in training the new member in a way that makes sense Read More …
Board-CEO Relationship: A Three-Legged Stool
A Three-Legged Stool In any leadership situation, including the leadership role assumed by a board of directors, a conceptual trio of responsibility, authority, and accountability share an inseparable relationship. Boards of directors must understand this relationship if they are to succeed. Like the legs of a three-legged stool, they must be kept in balance, or they will not stand. Ineffective boards pay little or no attention to this essential balance. A hands-on board, for example, that refuses to delegate authority Read More …
Servant Leadership, A Dual Role for Boards
In his 1977 book Servant Leadership Robert Greenleaf tells of a journey, and a man named Leo… …who accompanies the party as the servant who does their menial chores, but who also sustains them with his spirit and his song. He is a person of extraordinary presence. All goes well until Leo disappears. Then the group falls into disarray and the journey is abandoned. They cannot make it without the servant Leo. The narrator, one of the party, after some Read More …
Dealing With the Board’s Limitations
Dealing with the Board’s Limitations Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself. – Leo Tolstoy Recently I described some limitations that can get in the way of board effectiveness, and offered ideas about: Board voice – Unless we “speak” as a board and in writing, what we say as board members has little impact. We should use the power of our “board voice” by putting it in writing; The board – Respect “the board” Read More …
The Ten-Year Agenda as a Strategic Device
Operational or Strategic? Most agendas, as described in a recent post (see The Board Agenda, August 18, 2017) are filled with operational matters. Finding out “what the staff are up to” is surely interesting to board members, and it is tempting to excuse it as part of the organizational accountability/evaluation/monitoring function for which a board is responsible, but it is too often just a matter of “wandering around” in the data. The problem with this situation is that there is Read More …