The Puzzle: Blog

Over the years as President/Head of School/CEO I have been both blessed and challenged to engage with the complete constellation of contributors and claimants to an academic institution. This includes twelve different Board Chairs.  Each chair brings a different perspective to the position and, as a result, a different presumption about the relationship between Board Chair and Head of School.

Whether my assigned school was owned by a diocese or archdiocese with the Bishop or Archbishop limiting a board to his final approval as the Corporate Sole; Or whether the school was sponsored and owned by a religious congregation, with both a board of limited jurisdiction responsible to a top-tier board of corporate members, ultimately guided by a Provincial; Or whether the school was owned by the board whose members were elected by donors who contributed a set amount annually, it was always critical to help directors or trustees fully understand their roles.

To accomplish this, it was imperative to form a partnership with the Board Chair. In the most effective situations, the Board Chair agreed that the partnership was essential and functioned with that as top-of-mind. In the least effective situations, the Board Chair adopted the position of a boss/employee relationship. In my experience, it was 67% who embraced the full partnership with the balance falling into the latter category.

Whether you are a seasoned or new Board Chair or President/Head of School, here are a few thoughts from years of experience that might be useful:

• Set a sacrosanct appointment for one hour per week to speak by phone. Even if there are no burning school issues to discuss, it is an opportunity for the Board Chair and the President/Head of School to develop a personal relationship with discussions of family, travels, hobbies, or favorite sports teams.
• Agree that the Board Chair and the President/Head of School are equal partners in setting the agenda and leading meetings of the Executive Committee. As a practical matter, it worked well, as President, to take the lead in drafting the agenda and securing agreement from the Board Chair, who is volunteering his/her time.
• Insist on clear lines of communication in that the Board Chair will not reach out to the President’s direct reports, nor any of their reports without clearing such out-reach first with the President/Head of School. Similarly, the President/Head of School will not reach out to a non-executive committee board member without the prior knowledge of the Board Chair.
• Share, emphasize, support, and model these protocols for the entire board, faculty, staff, and school community to observe, value, and embrace them.
• Frequently ending those weekly calls with the Board Chair, the ultimate volunteer, with a question that acknowledges his/her service, such as, “Is there anything with which I can assist you in your leadership of our board?”

I recall a humorous example of these protocols working well.

First thing one Monday morning, while the Principal and Science Department Chair/AP Physics Teacher were dropping into my office, my cell phone lit up with a notification of a call from the Board Chair. In taking the call in the presence of my colleagues, I quickly learned that the teacher had been approached over the weekend in the Safeway check-out area by a new board member. When their conversation turned to a recent quiz grade for the board member’s son, the teacher pointed out the known protocols. The conversation ended very well as the teacher encouraged the parent/board member to advise her son to advocate for himself.

Placing my cell phone in speaker mode allowed the four of us in the conversation to smile approvingly that our protocols were working across the community. Interestingly, this story spread like wildfire and served very well throughout the community during my many years of satisfying tenure.

A Board Chair and President/Head of School full partnership is a proven key to success.

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