PNAIS Board Chairs Workshop
Building and Maintaining Effective Relationships in the
School ContextJean Orvis
May 22, 2010
Themes Leadership in Our Times Nature of School Dynamics: Implications
for Relationships 2 Important Concepts: Alignment and
Same-Paged-ness Head/Board Chair Relationship 2 Helpful Tools: Decision Quality and
Party Lines
Leadership In Our Times
Exponential Change Uncertainty Anxiety Adversarial relationships in the
name of accountability Opportunity
Our Changing World
“We are entering an era of permanent white water, a river of endless rapids with no patches of lake-like calm. What is new is the speed and extent of change and the vulnerability of organizations to decline rapidly.”
Rob Evans, The Human Side of School Change, 1996.
The Board Chair’s Metaphorical White Water Angry Parent (s) Rogue Board Member Difficult personnel issue Rumor mill run amok Financial issues Unplanned leadership
change Faculty “revolt” Tragedy or other crisis
Leadership and Teamwork
i
Leadership and Teamwork in the 21st C.
Nature of School Communities: Dynamic Tensions
Alignment
“The inability of boards and non-profit executives to keep their organizations focused on a clearly articulated mission is a significant and overlooked governance problem.”
Mission-Driven Governance, Fisman, Khurana, and Martenson
Misalignment Pain (Insecurity) Irritation (Crankiness) Inflammation
(Factions) Imbalance (Confusion
and mistrust) Deterioration (Loss of
identity and/or market appeal)
Same-Paged-ness
Same-Paged-ness
“Teams on the way up unify behind a decision once made and work to make the decision succeed, even if they vigorously disagreed with the decision.”
Jim Collins, How the Mighty Fall
Risks To Alignment and Same-Paged-Ness
Leadership Change (Head) Major New Initiative (New building or campaign) New Strategic Plan (Big, audacious goals) Financial Stresses (Enrollment or fundraising
downturn, unexpected capital expense) Institutional Change (merger, new division) Crisis (tragedy, scandal) Flawed Decision-making
The Board Chair’s Role
Focus on the big issues and help set a course for the future
Work with the Board and Head to assure alignment and same-paged-ness with the broad school community
Make effectiveness and performance top priorities
Your Changing Role: Managing The Hats
Building Relationships
Establishing Trust
Integrity Respect for Boundaries Availability Communication Channels Candor Confidentiality
The Key Relationship: Head and Board Chair Life as Head of School Role of the Board Chair in the
Relationship Mixing and Matching Leadership and
Managerial Styles The Revolving Door Nature of the Board
Chair Position: Impact on the Head and the School.
Nature of the School Head’s Job
Time intensive (average 75-80 hrs/week)
Emotionally intense Tightly scheduled Fragmented Highly visible “Lonely”
Role of The Board Chair in Relationship
BFF! Partner and Teammate Boss Mutual respect, trust, support Reciprocal Communication Shared Purpose (alignment and
same-paged-ness)
Mixing and Matching Leadership Styles
1. Micromanage?2. Coach?3. Engage in
Socratic Inquiry? (i.e., ask the
generative questions)4. Abdicate?
(delegate and
disappear)
The best style is situational and depends on the developmental level (confidence and competence) of your teammate(s).
Some Tips for Working Together Know each other’s schedules. Exchange preferred times for phone
conversations. Be on each other’s speed dial. Request a “heads up” on all issues
with wildfire potential, even if those issues are outside the Board’s purview.
Laugh a lot!
Two Great Tools:
Decision QualityGovernance is group decision making. How a
decision is made can have profound impact on what decision is made, and whether or not the decision stays made.
Communication Clarity“The single biggest problem in communication is
the illusion that it has taken place.” George Bernard Shaw
Decision Quality
Communication Clarity
Achievement of teamwork, alignment, and same-paged-ness in complex organizations during challenging times requires clear and direct communication. Consider developing “Party Lines.”
“Party Lines”--Alignment
Who we are and who we are not. Why we are who we are. What we believe. What we do. How we do it. Why we do it. How we know we are successful.
“Party Lines”—Same-Paged-Ness
What we intend to do. Why we intend to do it. How we will achieve this goal. What will change. What will not change. When we will do it. How we will assess progress and
achievement.
Questions, Comments and Discussion…
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