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Illinois School Board Journal
July/August 2007

John J. Cassel is IASB field services director for the DuPage, North Cook and Starved Rock divisions.

Imagine the audacity of King Arthur. In an age when the divine right of kings was assumed, King Arthur invited Sir Lancelot and his knight colleagues to join together at the Round Table — as equals!

It was a bold move that enhanced the vitality and durability of English Medieval society and established the roots of our American democracy. King Arthur had the remarkable wisdom to know an effective team can accomplish what no one person — no matter how capable — can achieve alone.

Listening to school boards, I have heard energizing stories about effective governance teams. I have also heard discouraging stories about board teams that depleted the vitality of entire school districts and communities because they couldn't agree on common goals or learn how to work together.

If the goal is quality education, a good way to think about board leadership might be to envision a circle. Using the metaphor of a circle, members sit around a table as equals. No one sits in a position of authority at the head of the table, nor is anyone relegated to the foot of the table

Thus, even though the actual board table might be any shape — square, U, V or I — King Arthur's Round Table becomes a powerful metaphor for thinking about school boards.

Organizational shapes

School organization has its roots in military, hierarchical structures that are based on top-down leadership. Schools have an important mission and a multitude of specific tasks to accomplish. Historically and practically, some form of triangular accountability is a useful way to think about a school district.

The superintendent sits atop the authority structure and, with some measure of top-down authority, accomplishes the mission of the schools through central office administrators, principals, assistant principals, deans and teachers. The further down the chain one serves, the greater the mandate to "do what's expected."

Most of us know how to live in triangles: we do it at work, in our political structures, and — to a greater or lesser extent — in our families and faith communities. A triangle is a simple, basic shape that can be described as stable, aligned, responsive, accountable and effective. When specific tasks must be accomplished, having a triangular power structure is efficient.

A circle is a simple, basic shape as well. However, closer observation reveals some fundamental differences.

While the triangle is action oriented, a circle is inclusive, creative, enduring, egalitarian and centered. As with King Arthur's Round Table, it allows all voices to be heard with equal weight. Its essence is teamwork.

The school board is a small circle that mirrors the larger circle of the community. Its best work emanates from listening to all voices, starting with those seated around the table and including all the multiple, diverse voices in the community at large.

Different shape, different work

The simple lesson from this consideration of shapes is that boards and districts are different. Different fundamental work calls for different organizational structures.

The round table and the triangle of authority become metaphors for talking about the division of "board work" and "staff work." These two types of work are complimentary and, of necessity, interconnected. Board work is about setting district direction (policies and governing). Staff work is about implementing that direction (management and administration).

A circle structure is good at bringing people together to set a direction. A circle can "hold" an institutional identity and invite people into an ever-widening community. A circle's goal is to celebrate and model qualities like respect, collective wisdom, good communications and inter-connectedness.

In contrast, the district needs the qualities of stability, balance, purposeful change and decisiveness to operate effectively day-to-day. With clear lines of accountability, the organization can be agile and responsive to changing circumstances.

Schools operate every day of the school year, and some functions continue year round. School boards meet just once or twice a month. What a mistake to think that key management actions should wait for the next board meeting!

The virtue of the superintendent sitting "atop the pyramid" comes in one person who is able to see all parts of the organization and facilitate decisions that balance the needs of all. That doesn't mean all decisions are made from the top with no further input. Many districts intentionally create circles within the triangle: "quality circles" (like grade level teams, professional learning communities and others) that gather the best ideas and provide a collaborative context.

We might assume King Arthur was thinking about the need to envision a new kind of leadership when he gathered a group of "equals" around his table to get their input. It was a modest start — the knights mostly told stories of heroic deeds.

However, like King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, the school board should be clear about the purpose of its gathering. If the task is winning the battle, King Arthur is still "on point" (at the top of the triangle). If the task is envisioning and building a vibrant society, the Round Table is the place to work, with the King as just one of many voices to be heard.

School boards are about building (envisioning, defining, modeling, inviting, supporting) effective, vital schools and communities — work best accomplished at a "round table." But the board work at the round table will be successful only if the board has a capable and empowered superintendent who then has the authority to go out and enable the rest of the district in its work.

To be successful, a school board must discover how to be effective as a team sitting at its own Round Table. Effective boards need to learn how to harness the power of the circle.

Leading among peers presents challenge

Because school board presidents preside over a group of equals, they have a particular challenge. If the analogy of the board sitting in a circle of leadership is correct, then how does the board president lead a group of equals?

John Carver talks about the "double servant role" of the board president. The board serves the community by holding the district in trust; and the board president serves the board by facilitating (vs. directing) the board's work. In this view, the entire board — both collectively and individually — is responsible for the board's work and behavior. The board serves as a "unitary body," and the work of the president should not diminish the "team." The board president's key, but specific, task is to assist the board to be what it intends for itself.

A board that has decided as a team what work it will do and how it will pursue the work, can ask one of its members to help it be true to its vision. This person — the elected board president — helps create an appropriate agenda, facilitates the board in running its meetings and takes a lead in communications. The board president also partners with the superintendent and helps protect the authority the board has vested in the superintendent.

To quote Carver: "This kind of chair (board president) never forgets that the conductor doesn't make the music."

Reference

John Carver, The Unique Double Servant Leadership Role of the Board Chairperson, the Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership, 1999