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Illinois School Board Journal - ARCHIVES
November-December, 2006
ASK THE STAFF:
Axioms highlight effective behavior
Jerry Glaub, deputy executive director for communications, answers the question for this issue.
Question: Are there any critical lessons that most board members seem to have learned from their experiences on the board?
Answer: It's often said that "experience is the best teacher." Lessons learned from experience, therefore, are numerous and listening to the observations of veteran board members is an important source for basic lessons or principles. Although different people reach different conclusions, here are seven lessons that seem to emerge over and over:
1. Recognize that people are not robots. Don't become discouraged when the community does not respond to rational appeals from the school board. Good leaders know the public has a mind of its own and can be "led" to substantive change only through educational efforts, often long-term.
2. Learn to walk the fine line between what you believe to be right and what you believe the public expects of you. That is what it means to be a leader in a democracy. Although basic public values change very little, public perceptions and opinions can change rapidly. There frequently is no logical explanation for what the public seems to want. Recognizing that public sentiment is essential for success, a wise school board encourages its community to make rational choices by disseminating information and moves when the community is ready to move. Good leaders do not get too far ahead of their followers, but strive constantly to help them become informed and reach consensus.
3. Respect the important differences between "board work" and "staff work." The board's job is to govern the district; the staff's job is to carry out the work of the school district in a manner consistent with board policies. Failure to consistently maintain this distinction produces neglect of the board's leadership functions while it interferes with the work of staff.
4. Treat problems as opportunities to express the board's values and expectations in a policy statement. Governing by policy means looking beyond specific events to see the more global issues and values involved. If the school board is to effectively empower the organization by constructively delegating authority, members of the school board must resist the temptation to control on a case-by-case basis. Rather, the board must clarify the results it expects, periodically monitor results and look for the wider policy implications of individual events and issues that come to the board's attention.
5. Recognize that the school board and superintendent are "separate yet inter-dependent." The board and superintendent share common purposes, but their jobs are different and the pressures on them are different. There should be no kowtowing on either side. The board and superintendent should treat one another with respect and respect one another's intelligence. The contractual relationship is a two-way street, with each party agreeing to hold up its end of the bargain. The board cannot function effectively without the support and cooperation of the superintendent, and the superintendent cannot function without the delegated power, policy guidance and consistent support of the school board.
6. Distinguish the important from the routine or the trivial. School boards need to address numerous critical issues, but their time is too frequently consumed by repetitive day-to-day problems. Effective school boards see that procedures are in place for handling routine matters in a routine fashion, both at the board level and at the staff level.
7. Take your monitoring function seriously. It is the reverse side of the policy making coin. Other than a need to comply with a state or federal law, there is little point in adopting a policy unless the board plans to assess its impact or monitor for compliance. By the same token, a board cannot very well expect compliance with expectations that were never enacted into policy.