Doug Eadie is president and CEO of Doug Eadie & Company, a firm specializing in building strong board-superintendent partnerships.
Early in my 25-year career, I learned that at the very top of the list of factors that influence the educational and administrative performance of every school district is that most precious but always-fragile professional marriage between the school board and its chief executive officer, the superintendent.
Have no doubt: certain leadership outcomes that are critical to your system's ultimate success depend on these two partners working closely together as a "Strategic Leadership Team" — for example, a clear vision for the future, long-term educational goals, targets for significant innovation, operating priorities, the rational allocation of financial resources, the management of relationships with key stakeholders such as state and local government departments, to name but a few.
On the flip side, when this precious bond is allowed to loosen, or to become badly frayed, your school system is in for real trouble if steps aren't taken to shore up the partnership.
Tremendous costs
All too often over the years, I've seen what appear to be minor irritations rapidly turn into chasms that can't be bridged and that exact a terrible price. The signs of a troubled "marriage" might seem petty at first. For example, the board begins to question the superintendent at length on relatively minor administrative actions and maybe even tables what were once routine matters for consideration at the next meeting.
Experience has taught me that no matter how petty the relationship problems appear at first, if they aren't addressed early on, the deterioration can be rapid, inevitably causing lots of pain and suffering and often ending in divorce. A final parting of the ways inevitably means the superintendent moves on to other challenges; so far as I know, no school board in human history has ever fired itself for relationship problems with its superintendent.
Keep in mind that the cost of a ruptured board-superintendent partnership can be awesome: educational performance shortfalls that aren't remedied; strategic innovation opportunities that are missed; a tarnished public image and decline in public support; deteriorating administrative and faculty morale; and, of course, the cost of recruiting a new superintendent. So, what can you do to keep the board-superintendent partnership healthy, thereby reaping the benefits and avoiding the costs?
Superintendent's role
First and foremost, the superintendent must accept primary responsibility for building and maintaining a strong, positive working partnership with the school board. Board members in Illinois are part-time, unpaid volunteers whose lives are lived largely outside the board. It just wouldn't make sense to expect them to take the lead in managing the partnership.
But a superintendent can take practical steps to ensure success in carrying out this responsibility. To start, the superintendent must bring a positive attitude to the relationship building task, seeing his or her board as a precious asset and vital partner, rather than as a damage-control challenge.
Too many superintendents I have met over the years have started with a negative viewpoint that makes success well nigh impossible.
"Boards are apt to meddle and micromanage if they're not closely watched and controlled," they say to themselves, "and my major job is to make sure that they stay in their place and out of trouble." If a superintendent approaches his or her board with this attitude, divorce is highly likely somewhere down the pike.
Armed with a positive attitude, a superintendent can also make governance — the work of the school board — a high priority, becoming a real expert in this rapidly developing field and devoting significant time to thinking about ways to help the board strengthen its governing performance.
If a superintendent doesn't understand the work of governing in detail and doesn't help the board become more proficient at governing, board member frustration and irritation will inevitably erode the board-superintendent partnership.
For example, there is virtually universal agreement that high-performing school boards play a leading, creative role in strategic decision-making, rather than merely sitting back and reading staff or consultant-prepared plans. But the likelihood of a school board's developing a strong role in strategic planning on its own is nil; the superintendent must take the lead in designing the planning structure and process that will make a creative board role possible.
In addition to viewing boards in a positive light and helping them develop strong governing roles, "board-savvy" superintendents also never forget that boards are above all else people, and they, therefore, pay attention to the psychological dimension of relationship building.
For example, whenever possible, these superintendents find ways to strengthen board members' feelings of ownership — hence, strengthening their commitment — by involving them in generating directions, rather than merely reviewing finished documentation. This is why board-staff retreats have become so popular.
These savvy superintendents also look for every opportunity to provide board members with ego satisfaction, making sure that they receive credit in the media for system accomplishments and that they are given opportunities to appear in public forums.
And in return
Of course, good relationships involve reciprocal obligations, and a school board can make three key contributions to its relationship with its superintendent:
Playing a truly productive role in governing a school system depends on a board's taking responsibility for leading a large and complex public corporation, rather than merely representing the views of particular constituencies.
Partnership materials available
Author Doug Eadie has published other materials that school boards and superintendents may find helpful as they build their new team partnerships:
Governance Edge publications can be ordered through DougEadie.com. As a member of the Illinois Association of School Boards, you will receive a 20 percent discount on all Governance Edge products by entering the discount code (DougEadie) at check-out. For more information, contact Angela Ashe at 727/786-6908 or angela@DougEadie.com.