Making the Connection: Ethical Governance and Student Success

Manitoba School Boards Association Trustee DevelopmentNov. 2012

Outcomes for our Day:

Stronger understanding of: the link between board of trustee priorities and

student achievement and well-being;

governance as a collective leadership act;

the strengths each trustee brings to the table;

the critical role played by the board’s Superintendent. 

Trustees will explore  Key functions and responsibilities of school

boards The components of ethical leadership The multiple facets of their role as leaders Effective school board governance principles The match between board decision-making and

best practice in governance The link between effective governance and

student achievement

Breaking the Ice

Leaving a Legacy

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair.

So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

All my very best,

Jack Layton

August 20, 2011

The Legacy of Leadership

“The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. It’s got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet.”

T.Hesburgh

Leaving a Legacy

Identify 2 contributions you have made as a Board of School Trustees during your term.

What do you hope will be most strikingly different about your board in 5 years?

What is the biggest gap between what the organization claims it is and what it actually is?

Moral Purpose

Setting the conditions that will provide a high quality education for every student to succeed in school and in life is the absolute first priority of a school board.

An Effective School Board:

knows why it exists and what difference it hopes to make in the community;

functions as a team;

makes informed decisions;

strives for excellent communications with its constituents;

has a clear sense of the difference between its role and that of the Superintendent;

understands the distinction between policy development and implementation;

An Effective School Board:(continued)

is accountable for its performance;

holds the Superintendent accountable for effectively implementing the policies of the board;

monitors the effectiveness of policies and implementation plans;

ensures that local, provincial and federal politicians understand local issues and needs.

All too often, school board members are like firefighters on the ground, battling the flames when they should be in a helicopter above the fire, able to see how extensive the blaze is, which way the wind is blowing, and where the resources need to be deployed.

Anonymous

Ethical Leadership

Ethics: The decisions, choices and actions we make that reflect and enact our values.

Ethical Decision-Making: Understanding the impact this action or decision will have on others or my relationship with them.

Ethical leadership: Knowing your core values and having the courage to live them in service of the common good.

Ethical Leadership

A reflection of how we respect and nurture relationships for the common good.

“I” to “We”?

the successful work of the board far exceeds what can be accomplished by any single member of the board acting alone.

Reflection: All Means All

Think of an example of ethical decision-making in your board-one that reflects the values of a public school system.

How do your values contribute to the board’s higher moral purpose?

The Importance of Vision

"If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”

• Antoine de Saint-Exupery 

Start With Why - Simon Sinek

“Very few people or companies can clearly articulate WHY they do WHAT they do. By WHY, I mean what is your purpose, cause or belief? WHY does your company exist? WHY do you get out of bed every morning? And WHY should anyone care”.

The Stone Mason’s Story

How does your sense of purpose inspire people to send their children to your

schools?

When a WHY goes fuzzy, it becomes more difficult to maintain the growth,

loyalty and inspiration that helped drive the original success.”

Clarity of Why

You have to know WHY you do WHAT you do. If people don’t buy WHAT you do, they buy WHY you do it, so it follows that if you don’t know WHY you do WHAT you do, how will anyone else?”

The Discipline of How

“ The Discipline to never veer from your cause, to hold yourself accountable for HOW you do things is the hardest part. That’s why we write our values on the wall…as nouns.”

Consistency of What

Everything you say and do has to prove what you believe.

“An organization with a single common purpose that is aligned with its key stakeholder groups will have the greatest opportunity for success.”

www.ffpo.org/FourConditions.htm

Governance Defined

Governance is the process by which a school board makes its decisions

It is the exercise of authority, direction and control on behalf of the students it serves and its community.

A governance model/structure defines the roles, relationships and behavioral parameters for the board and its staff.

How Boards Perform Core Functions Will Vary

School Boards are constituency based School Districts can be very different

Size, geography and rate of change Demographics and language Local needs of children and families

Deciding how to go about performing Core Functions requires thought and dialogue about unique context

No one ideal model !

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Four Pillars of GovernanceLeadership:

Setting the long-term strategic direction and empowering management

Stewardship: Shepherding resources belonging to others

Responsibility: Evaluating organizational performance and holding

management accountableAccountability:

Reporting to stakeholders

Governance Responsibilities Central to Student Achievement Setting the Vision

Establishing Goals

Developing Policy

Allocating Resources

Assuring Accountability

9Authentic Governance throughEthical Leadership: Educationthat Connects

Core functions of a Board

Covering the Basics: The Board’s Fiduciary Role

Big Picture Thinking: The Board’s Strategic Role

Continuous Improvement: The Board’s Innovative Role

Promoting Community Engagement: The Board’s Societal Role

 

THE BOARD’S FIDUCIARY ROLE

Protect the interests, image and credibility of the board, to ensure its financial viability, and to act in accordance with all applicable laws, regulations and policies.

By constructing your role only around the fiduciary work of oversight, board members are put in a position similar to being a substitute teacher

Strategic Reflection What do we hold in trust and for whom?

How do we move from fiduciary oversight to fiduciary inquiry?

What are our major vulnerabilities? What are we doing as a board and as an

organization to address them?

THE BOARD’S STRATEGIC ROLE

Vision and purposeful planning to ensure that the “Goals” of the organization reflect the aspirations of learners to succeed and the needs of the broader community to have confidence in the institution.

Strategic Reflection

Do the agendas of our board meetings reflect our mission and our stated strategic priorities?

 

THE BOARD’S GENERATIVE ROLE

This board has: meaningful discussions outside of the

regulated format of the boardroom; a climate accepting of robust, divergent

discussions; clarity about values, beliefs, goals and

priorities; a climate characterized by continuous self-

evaluation.

Generative Reflections To what extent is the board agenda

dominated by routine items?

Does the board purposefully seek out best practices?

Does the board foster a climate of “collaborative competition”?

Is every individual’s contribution valued?

THE BOARD’S CO-CREATIVE ROLE

This board demonstrates commitment to collaboration, cooperation and ethics:

among board members within the community

Boards: Multiple Views Boards are more complex than

the legal and strategic views might suggest

They are Teams They are Political Contexts They are Learning Systems They are the Guardians of Moral Purpose

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Boards are Teams Teams have norms or taken-for-granted ways of

doing things that impact norms and roles Norms impact:

Communication Conflict Leadership Inclusion and Diversity Decision Making

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Effective Teams/Boards

Talk about team dynamics & norms Have processes for managing conflict Are sensitive to diversity and work

to be inclusive Have a Chair who can manage group

process and make sure everyone can participate

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Boards as Political Contexts

Different interests can lead to conflictand forming of coalitions

Elected Trustees who have constituents “My Schools” or “My Principals”

Trustees have more or less personal influence Stakeholders demand to be engaged Government has great influence over

activities – Trustees can feel powerless

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Constructive Politics

Trustees know which hat they are wearing (Campaigner for Re-election, Championof the Mission, Advocate for Change)

Policies to create shared understandings Conflict of Interest and Codes of Conduct Roles of Superintendent, Chair and the Board

clear Common vision to transcend different

interests

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Boards as Learning Systems

Boards must keep adapting to change Regulations and government

policies keep changing Expectations of the various

publics keep increasing Global trends impact local activities

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Practices to Enhance Learning

Annual Board self assessment Annual performance evaluation

of Superintendent Bringing in consultants as needed

to help with governance practices On-going education Commitment to self awareness Strategic planning retreats Listening and dialogue processes

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Boards as the Guardiansof Moral Purpose Moral purpose is most powerful when it is

embedded in every strategy and action ina way that reminds us every day that what we are doing is important for individuals and for the collective or common good

It has transformative potential It involves questions of values and ethics

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Boards that areEffective Guardians

Set time to talk about mission,values and vision

Understand that a shared vision can help unify action and create shared purpose

Know the differences between espoused values and values in action – do we“Walk the Talk”?

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Aligning all the Roles

Strong link between student success and effective governance

How do we keep the main thing the main thing?

The principle of “Alignment”

Reflection: Putting it all Together

1. What hinders Boards from being as

successful as possible?

2. What 2 actions could you take as a board

of trustees to enhance your board’s

governance in all 4 areas?

How Organizations Strangle ThemselvesWeak leadershipFuzzy focusCompeting divisionsDivisive internal politicsLack of trustRampant personal agendas

In a Nutshell….

The Board’s job is to PROTECT and DIRECT.

To do so the board must CONNECT, EXPECT and CORRECT.

The Imperfect Board MemberJim Brown

A single arrow is easily broken, but not ten in a bundle.

Japanese proverb

Reflection Think about a time or a process or a project

when you felt you made a real difference as part of a team. Describe that time.

Why did you feel so engaged? What made the team effective? What do you think you contributed to the

effort? What could you do as a board to build these

kind of opportunities?

Governance Principles

Delegation of Authority

The Board delegates authority to its Superintendent

and then holds the him/her accountable for

successfully performing the delegated duties.

It’s the Superintendent’s responsibility to implement, not the board’s.

Boards do not need to hear how busy the CEO is-they need to hear about results.

One Voice or Not at All Principle

The Board speaks with one voice or not at all

The Board will not allow a committee of the Board or an individual on the board to come between the Board and its Superintendent.

“Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when the limo breaks down.”

Oprah Winfrey

“ The ultimate potential of a board is only realized when everyone works together as one.

One board. One voice. One team.”

Patrick Lencioni

A Word on Diversity

If everyone thinks alike, we only need one person in the boardroom!

The synergy of bringing different perspectives, insights and opinions together can create solutions that are richer and owned by everyone.

The outcome is a team of board members who are members of the board, not members at the board.

If team members are never pushing one another outside of their emotional comfort zones during discussions, then it is extremely likely that they’re not making the best decisions for the organization. Patrick Lencioni. The Five Dysfunctions

of a Team

Boards should first value diversity of input, then unfalteringly value single-mindedness of output.

Catherine M. Raso

The Essential Partnership: Board and Superintendent

• Sole employee and part of the team• Clear vision and strategic direction• Shared leadership built on trust• Clear roles and responsibilities• Focus on results• Clear reporting and communication processes

Relationship: Chair and Superintendent

Frequent communications for matters such as:• Preparation of meeting agendas and

recommendations for board action; • Timely and effective reporting processes for effective

board decision-making; • Handling emergency situations that might arise;• Dealings with news media and role of the Chair as

spokesperson for the Board

Relationship: Board and its Constituents

Rights of board constituents:• know what children are learning and how well they are

learning. • know how their tax dollars are being spent • Know how education resources are allocated in their

community. Board’s responsibility:• broad perspective on issues that affect the entire

public within the collective board’s jurisdiction.

As an individual board member – know your constituents

Providing evidence-based facts and context on your constituents will assist you (the‘I) in bringing particular issues to the board.

Once an issue is brought to the table, it becomes a board matter (the ‘We’).

The board works together as a team to fully understand the matter, to find the best possible solutions and to evolve towards a collective ethical decision.

Boards of Trustees are supposed to be the ultimate guardians of institutional ethos and organizational values.

Governance as Leadership

The Individual Trustee

Effective Governance

Behaviour

clarity

Structure

ClarityRole of the Board

Role of the Superintendent

Clear and Relevant Policy

Clarity re: Governance and Decision-Making

StructureBoard Agendas reflect the business of the

Board

Committee Structure is purposeful and effective and used sparingly

Delegation is clear

Behaviour Discipline

Purposeful

Team Approach

Respect for Diverse opinion

Respect for Rules of Order as a tool to effective discource.

The only way a board can responsibly do its job without meddling is by monitoring very well.

Jim Brown

The best boards keep their noses in the business and their fingers out!

Jim Brown

Role of Committees

Helps the board do its job and always reinforces the wholeness of the board;

Does not interfere with delegation from board to Chief Superintendent;

Does not speak or act for the board except when formally given such authority for specific and time-limited purposes;

Used sparingly and strategically.

“Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least”.

Goethe

"Where there is no vision, there is no hope.”

George Washington Carver

"Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many

people walk on it, the road comes into existence.” Lin Yutang

“Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.”

Raymond Lindquist

The Role Play: Lessons and Givens

Givens . In every group or organization,

something works. . What we focus on becomes our

reality. If we look for problems, we will find them. Search for and amplify solutions that already exist.

. The act of asking questions influences the group.

. If we carry forward parts of the past, they should be what is best about the past.

. Envisioning the future is more clear and possible when grounded in the reality of the past.

Lessons: Building the Foundation for an Effective Board

Assumptions are the termites of relationships.

Henry Winkler

Ben’s Lesson

SUMMARY

To get the job done, to achieve your vision and goals

for our learners, we must;

Focus on the wildly important Create a compelling scoreboard Translate lofty goals into specific actions Hold each other accountable all of the time

S. Covey

To know and not to dois really

not to know.