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The time machine can help us see what's real and enduring...

Board members, pause for a minute and remember when you first thought about running for the board of education. What were you hoping would happen? What did you want to accomplish? What kind of organization were you hoping to give your time to? Simply put: What end did you have in mind?

Advance the tape a little. How well did you convey your hopes - your vision - your ends - to the other board members? Did your hopes converge with theirs? Did the other board members share your vision? Did the board find ways to "speak with one voice" as it clarified its goals and objectives?

Now fast forward. You have been on the board for a few years. Newer members have joined you. How have their hopes been blended into the new board's vision?

The second of the seven habits described by Stephen Covey in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is: Begin with the end in mind. If you answered the questions above, you have taken the first step toward defining the "end" or outcome you want for your school board. The images that describe those outcomes are the basis of a personal mission statement that will keep you on track as you make decisions.

For Covey a personal mission statement is key to effective decision-making. Through a series of thoughtful exercises, Covey leads the reader to identify what is truly important in his or her life. A personal mission statement answers two essential questions: 1) What am I about? And 2) Upon what principles do I operate my life?

A person without such a mission, Covey writes, "fluctuates from one center to another, the resulting relativism is like roller coasting through life. One moment you're high, the next moment you're low ...There is no consistent sense of direction, no persistent wisdom, no steady power supply or sense of personal, intrinsic worth and identity.

"The ideal, of course, is to create one clear center from which you consistently derive a high degree of security, guidance, wisdom and power, empowering your proactivity and giving congruency and harmony to every part of your life."

Covey offers a complete process for writing your mission statement in The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.

Similarly, we believe it is important for boards of education, in a reflective and thoughtful way to develop a mission statement. Imagine the rich conversation and the benefit to all of the patrons of the district if your board of education would meet once solely to answer: 1) What is the board about? And 2) Upon what principles do we operate? A mission statement, along with a set of goals, allow the board to state exactly what it desires for the district - i.e., to define the ends toward which the board is collectively striving.

Searching for synergy and focus, the board of education may want to encourage faculty, staff, parents, community members, and students to help develop a district mission statement. In this way the whole district can "begin with the end in mind."

Mission statements, whether personal or organizational, do not need to be lengthy or complicated. The key to an effective organizational mission statement is that all parties understand and buy into the statement. For example:

The mission of Prairie Du Rocher Community Consolidated School District 134 is to support school programs which allow each student to develop his or her full potential.

The mission of Washington District 50 Schools is to provide the maximum educational experiences and opportunities for all children through interactive cooperation and involvement of students, community, and staff, to provide the skills that reflect the values, needs and standards of the community as well as world society, and to create a desire to continue to be life-long learners.

A personal mission statements--a board mission statement -- a district mission statement. One can quickly imagine the value and the power of these synergistic layers and connections. One can see the focus and continuity such a vision will allow. Education systems change slowly. Perhaps the most significant legacy a board member can leave is a clear vision and a process to move toward that vision. In these ways board members can make a significant contribution.

The mission statement provides what Covey calls a center that determines our responses to day-to-day decisions. Personal mission statements will allow you and your fellow board members to determine whether you decisions are contributing to the outcome you want. They will help you recognize quickly when you are tempted to respond to inappropriate pressures.

A school board mission statement provides a "center" for the school board that helps answer such questions as: How should we spend our time? Is this an appropriate issue for the school board or should it be delegated to the administration? It can provide a reference point for decisions about the way the board functions and reaches its decisions, not only for board members but for the community to which the board is accountable.

Finally, a mission statement for the district provides guidance not just for the school board, but for administrators and teachers who make hundreds of day-to-day decisions. There are many possible "centers" upon which an administrative decision may be based: economic realities, community pressure, peer pressure (from other administrators or organizations), or even passing fads. A clear mission statement that places student welfare and learning at the center provides at least a beginning point for all decisions.

In all cases, there is much less chance for the emotions or pressures of the moment to become the basis for decision-making.

Covey describes the opposite of principle-centered management: "...managed on the basis of crises, moods, quick fixes, and instance gratification ... Symptoms surface whenever stress and pressure mount: people become cynical, critical or silent or they start yelling and overreacting..." Sound familiar? Covey was describing families, but the description also applies to many boards, and to many organizations.

Covey lists several advantages to principle-centered personal decision-making; several of these apply as well to principle-centered school board decision-making. The principle-centered board can:

Proactively choose what you determine to be the best alternative, rather than reacting to other people or circumstances.

Make choices that are in keeping with your ultimate values.

Feel comfortable about your decisions because they are based on unchanging principles.

Searching for a board emphasis on vision and purpose, further distinction between leadership and management is necessary. As Covey puts it: "Management is a bottom line focus: How can I best accomplish certain things? Leadership deals with the top line: What are the things I want to accomplish? ... Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall."

In a school board context, we can equate leadership with governance, the proper task of school boards. Leadership includes the board's role in articulating a vision and a mission for the school district, and defining its desired outcomes through policy. Management, the task of administrators, is making the vision a reality.

Typically, local board members are successful managers -- of their own lives, of their farms, of their homes, of their work or business interests -- and it is often difficult to move from the tried and true management approach to the leadership function expected of the board. Jesse Jackson is quoted as saying: "We do best what we do most." It is difficult to step up to leadership issues when our comfort zone is in the management arena. Shifting the focus from the means (what we do most) to ends is tough work. We find it easier to debate the merits of a particular problem-solving approach -- knowing in our heart of hearts that we are not accountable for actually solving the problem -- than it is to determine the board's vision for the bigger picture.

Covey quotes the president of an oil company who attended a Seven Habits seminar. The man understood the difference between leadership and management, and decided to withdraw from managing his company to assume a position of leadership. "It was hard," said the CEO. "I went through withdrawal pains because I stopped dealing with a lot of the pressing, urgent matters that were right in front of me and which gave me a sense of immediate accomplishment. I didn't receive much satisfaction as I started wrestling with the direction issues, the culture building issues, the deep analysis of problems, the seizing of new opportunities... But I persisted. I was absolutely convinced that I needed to provide leadership. And I did. Today our whole business is different... We have doubled our revenues and quadrupled our profits..."

What is the balance between leading and managing? It is important for each board to clarify the difference between ends and means. The focus on the ends must be both individual and collective. Boards who choose to work at this level can begin at any point, and move out from there.

Let's go back to the future...Imagine yourself reflecting on your board service ten years after you leave the board. As you reflect, what is it you wish you would have said? What vision is it that you wish you had been able - or willing - to articulate? Take some good advice from Stephen Covey: as you step up to the challenge of board service - you will make the best contribution if you "begin with the end in mind."

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