Consider the following scenario:
You are an experienced school principal in an independent school—so experienced that you have the feeling that you run the board. The board chair and the whole board, for that matter, respect you as an educational leader of some standing in the community. The school is successful. You know the board is risk-averse, and you can live with that as you generally have had no trouble pushing through initiatives which have been ‘pre-vetted’ by the board’s finance and risk committees.
You must think that this is bliss. Some disquiet, however, creeps in as you think about succession, what happens when you leave (which you know in your heart of hearts is sooner rather than later). You know from your considerable involvement in principal networks that successful schools are only successful…until they ‘suddenly’ aren’t. And even experienced principals can become vulnerable overnight with a change of chair.
Also consider this:
You are a Board Chair at this same school. You are experienced in business, well respected, you have a well-functioning board, there is an established rhythm to the year as far as board meetings go, you firmly believe you are a steward for the mission of the school and your prime function is to keep the school financially sustainable. You know that the main job of the board is to hire the principal and fire if necessary for the good of the school. You know, however, that your time is nearly up and you wish to retire. You haven’t needed to be that active anyway as the principal has it all covered. You haven’t told anyone as yet…
What a great picture of stability, success …… and looming change with a period of turmoil on the cards.
Within the paradigm that stability is an illusion and change is inevitable, we can and need to reconsider those scenarios in light of the work of Chait, Ryan, and Taylor (2015), who challenge us to look at the idea of governance as leadership.
They describe three modes of governance: fiduciary, strategic, and generative. All three modes need to be in play together, but generative governance is considered ‘first among equals.’ It is the most ‘risky’ of the three, but also the one that also the one that enables conscious leadership of the board, through both the board chair and principal, in service of the higher educative purpose of the school.
- Fiduciary Governance: This mode focuses on the board’s stewardship of tangible assets, ensuring legal and financial responsibilities are met. Our scenario school excels in this mode, which is essential for the school to keep existing. However, without the other two modes, the school is at significant risk. Boards can become internally rigid and ignore the external environmental threats and opportunities impinging on the organization. The board’s work can become so prescribed and structured, and merely technical. Showing up is all a board director needs to do.
- Strategic Governance: Here, the board works on setting priorities, reviewing and approving strategic plans, and ensuring resources align with the school’s mission. In our scenario, the board has allowed strategy and leadership of strategy to be owned by the principal. When the principal owns the strategy and the board merely ‘rubber stamps’ it, the school becomes overly dependent on the principal’s vision and leadership, and if and when things go wrong it might be said ‘the board was asleep at the wheel’…
- Generative Governance: This is where the board engages in deeper inquiry, exploring root causes, values, and assumptions to generate insights and innovative solutions. It is a type of leadership that invites risk and enables resources and political conditions for fostering more collaborative and forward-thinking relationships, particularly between Board Chairs and Principals.
It is where ‘governance as leadership’ lives most fruitfully and where ways of the principal and board chair being together, ways of acting, consciously leading, and thinking together, strategically and generatively, have an impact on school success.
Generative governance is the creative foundation from which strategy and values-based decision making emerge. It is where educative strategy is co-owned and co-created.
New questions can transform a board chair /principal relationship. One key generative question for the board chair in our scenario is: How can I as board chair foster a more collaborative relationship with the principal to enhance strategic and generative governance?
Generative governance demands a shift from a reactive to a proactive mindset, where board members must be willing to engage in open-ended discussions and embrace ambiguity.
How could you turn around the looming change hurtling towards the scenario school using a generative mindset? What do you think the generative challenge is in the scenario presented?
Now to your own situation… What is the main generative challenge in your own school?
Here is a guide to try (Trower, 2012):
The Generative Challenge is…………
- Related to this generative challenge, what are some of the emergent developments that prompt new questions we will need answers to?
- Based on your research, readings, and discussions, are you able to make sense of this challenge? What are you discovering and learning?
- Are there any barriers, obstacles, or ways of thinking that will impede our ability to make sense of this challenge?
- Does your sense-making about this generative challenge enable your board to frame more focused critical strategic issue statements that can be addressed in our future strategic planning? If so, what are they? Word the issue statements in the form of questions.
What (generative!) questions has this all raised for you? What else do you need to know? Share your thoughts, questions and insights! If you’d like to have a conversation about how the role of governance in your school or how you might start a journey for change, email us at team@consciouseducation.com.au
References
Chait, R., Ryan, W., & Taylor, B. (2005). Governance as Leadership. John Wiley and Sons.
Trower, C. A. (2012). The practitioner’s guide to governance as leadership: Building high-performing nonprofit boards. John Wiley & Sons.