NBOA President and CEO
Good governance can feel elusive at times, but nonetheless, it is paramount to an independent school’s ability to thrive in perpetuity. All on the leadership team must invest in good governance, not just during board orientation, but continuously throughout the volunteer experience for every trustee. The reasons may seem obvious, but they are worth reminding ourselves of.
Our trustees are volunteers, and even the most engaged trustee, who may also be the parent of a current student, doesn’t have the luxury of thinking about the school as a holistic academic and financial enterprise the way in which school staff does every single day. Further, independent schools are unique nonprofits, and it would be highly unlikely that most trustees fully understand the revenue drivers and expense levers that must be balanced to secure the school’s financial health. In fact, a strong background in a for-profit business may cloud the judgment of our most earnest and well-intended trustees.
And finally, for most of our boards, turnover is constant. From leadership to the rank and file, our boards are constantly renewing themselves. This is exciting and allows fresh perspectives to enter the boardroom, but it increases our responsibility to support board education. This investment often pays dividends when you least expect it but perhaps when you need it the most.
When I don’t have to say a word, our commitment of time and resources to board education and good governance just paid off again.
For me, this dividend presents itself when a board conversation is perhaps veering too deeply into operational matters, and another member of the board reminds us that the board’s role is to govern, that is, to focus on the strategy and the future, and to ensure that we have the staff and financial resources available for the administrative team to carry out this critical work. Bingo! When I don’t have to say a word, our commitment of time and resources to board education and good governance just paid off again.
I’m reminded of a highly successful business officer and leader who distills her role with the board, particularly with the finance, audit and investments committees, as “educator.” She is continuously connecting the dots from where the school has been to where it is now and to where school leaders want to go, informed by the strategic direction they have set forth.
To advance this work with the NBOA Board of Directors, I recently invited Jay Younger, President and CEO, McKinly Advisors to share his expertise and recent insights on current research his firm conducted on what he calls "Leading with Strategic Agility” within the nonprofit sector. In his comments to the NBOA Executive Committee, which just met last week, he observed that boards truly stepped up during the pandemic. Rather than attempting to follow a playbook that did not exist, they invented one, in partnership with organizational leadership, on a weekly if not daily basis throughout that tumultuous and unprecedented time.
This squares with what NAIS President Debra Wilson said to me in a recent conversation: “The pandemic necessitated most boards of trustees to get into operations, with financials likely being the most prominent area. Post-pandemic, I see boards today re-setting themselves and regaining the altitude appropriate for good governance and which is necessary for leading in the long-term.”
Our boards have the capacity to be nimble, and yes, agile. With the pandemic in the rearview mirror, however, without a crisis looming over our collective heads, what calling do independent school boards have today?
Your school’s success, the implementation of new or flexible policies, and ability to offer education under the most challenging circumstances could not have been achieved without your board’s focus on the school’s mission and its commitment to students and families. Thus our boards have the capacity to be nimble, and yes, agile. With the pandemic in the rearview mirror, however, without a crisis looming over our collective heads, what calling do independent school boards have today? Younger breaks it down according to his firm’s research.
Respect, Trust and Candor
Boards must place equal measures on demonstrating respect, building trust and engaging with candor. Boards that work with all three of these attributes present are those that can have the deep, challenging and robust debates needed to drive success.
Diverse Leadership
Leaders must recognize that recruiting, empowering and supporting diverse volunteers in every aspect of governance enables and accelerates change. Difference maximizes success.
Courage to Change
Boards must embrace change and have the courage to make big decisions that deviate from historical practice. Both the world and the interests represented in the school’s mission are changing profoundly and quickly. Change is essential to relevance.
Dynamic Learning
Robust insights must constantly inform strategy that drives action and new insights. And this cycle must happen rapidly to keep pace with change.
By design, independent school boards are bodies that steady the ship, focus on the long-term and are impervious to the whims or distractions of the moment. Their north star is the mission of the school and the delivery of world-class education for generations to come. However, that does not mean being complacent when it comes to the current context our schools operate within, be it the market within which you are recruiting and hiring or the financial realities of the independent school business model. I posit that it is our responsibility as business leaders to provide board members with the education, tools and data to fulfill their role and optimize their ability to truly govern. It can happen by default, but it ought to happen by design.
Follow NBOA President and CEO Jeff Shields on LinkedIn.
