The Power of Good Relationships:

Teamwork and Leadership Strategies

for Board-Superintendent Teams

Steering the Ship Together for Student

Success

Jamie Stacks, Superintendent

Who am I?

• Educator for 28 Years

• Former Board Member

• Alaska Administrator for 10 years

• Instructor at UCA

• Current Superintendent @ Wonderview

What is your Why?

What motivates you?

Why did you decide to become a board

member?

What are your goals/vision for your school

district?

What GIFTS do you bring?

•Listening and patience

•Building relationships

•Detail oriented

•Responsible

•Energetic

•Love challenges

•Story seeker

•Thinker

•Team player

•Open minded

•Think out of the box

•Positive Attitude

•Passion for the future…what is

possible…anything!

•Listening & Passion for learning

•Problem solver

Effective Leadership

Hanover Research(2014)

• A strong, effective relationship between superintendents and

school board members hinges upon clear definitions of each

body’s duties and responsibilities

• CLEAR ROLES

• STAY IN YOUR LANE

Board Members’ Roles/Responsibilities

• Selecting, working with and evaluating superintendent

• Serving as advocates for all children teachers, and other staff by adopting “kids-

first” goals, policies and budget

• Maintaining fiscal responsibility and fiscal autonomy, with the authority to

appropriate local funds necessary to support the board approved budget

• Delegating to the superintendent the day to day administration of the school

district, including student discipline and all personnel matters

Superintendent’s Role/Responsibilities

• Serving as chief executive officer to the board of education,

including recommending all policies and the annual budget.

• Supporting the board of education by providing good

information for decision making.

• Overseeing the educational program

• Taking responsibility for all personnel matters

Superintendent’s Role/Responsibilities

• Developing and administering the budget

• Managing business and financial matters, bids and contracts, facilities, transportation, etc.

• Developing and supporting district-wide teams of teachers and other staff working to improve teaching and learning and supporting administrators.

• Taking care of day to day management and administrative tasks including student discipline and personnel issues.

Board/Superintendent Team Responsibilities

• Having at its top priority the creation of teamwork and advocacy

for the high achievement and healthy development of all children

in the community.

• Providing educational leadership for the community, including the

development of the vision and long range plan for the district in

close collaboration with staff and parents.

• Creating strong linkages with social service, health and other

community organizations and agencies.

Board/Superintendent Team Responsibilities

• Setting district-wide policies and annual goals, tied directly to the

community’s vision and long-range plan for education

• Approve an annual budget

• Ensure the safety and adequacy of all school facilities

• Providing resources for the professional development of teachers,

principals and other staff.

• Evaluating its own leadership – How is your board doing?

• Board Member Professional Development

Tom Gentzel, Executive Director of NSBA

Superintendent/Board Working Relationship

EFFECTIVE SCHOOL BOARDS AND

SUPERINTENDENTS:

MAINTAIN CONSTANCY AND CLARITY OF PURPOSE

• Focus on Students

• Provides direction that is clear, strong, and un-ambivalent

• Clarity fosters trust

• TEAMWORK

T E A M…a small group of people (3-12) that shares common goals

as well as the rewards and responsibilities for achieving them.

They set aside their individual or personal needs for the greater

good of the group.

T E A M• Small size (3-12)

• People with complementary skills

• Common goals

• Mutually accountable

• Group over individual

• “Collaboration”

EFFECTIVE TEAMS

IT IS ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS…

Relationships

are built on……

BUILDING TRUST

Trust is the foundation of teamwork.

On a team, trust begins with vulnerability, which may

be difficult for most people.

Building trust takes time, but the process can be

greatly accelerated.

Like a good marriage, trust on a team is never

complete; it must be maintained over time.

Productive Conflict

Productive

PRODUCTIVE CONFLICT

Passionate, unfiltered debate around issues of importance to the team.

VULNERABILITY-BASED TRUST IS ESSENTIAL!

MASTERING CONFLICT

• Conflict norms must be discussed and made clear among the team.

• The fear of occasional personal conflict should not deter a team from having regular, productive debate.

• Establishing trust is essential.

Virtually every successful

innovation- technical or

social-has been the outcome

of conflict.

Douglass MacGregor

COMMITMENT

BUY-IN: Honest, emotional

support

CLARITY: Removal of

assumptions and ambiguity

from a situation.

EMBRACING ACCOUNTABILITY

Accountability: the willingness of team

members to remind one another when

they are not living up to the performance

standards of the group.

Strategies: “Lightning Rod”

Track team progress against goals

Annual Board Evaluations!

FOCUS ON RESULTS• Teams that trust one another, engage in conflict,

commit to decisions, and hold one another

accountable are likely to set aside individual

needs/agendas and focus on what is best for the

team.

• They place the collective results of team success

ahead of their own agendas or ego-driven status.

• The team is focused on group goals developed based

on the strategic plan

• Individuals are rewarded based on team goals and

student success

Conclusion: Cohesive Teams

• Trust one another

• Engage in unfiltered conflict around ideas

• Commit to decisions and plans of action

• Hold one another accountable for delivering against those plans.

• Focus on the achievements of collective results.

COMPONENTS OF A TRUSTING AND

SUCCESSFUL BOARD RELATIONSHIP

• The superintendent is the employee of the Board – This

relationship is a partnership.

• The superintendent is a member of the Governance Team

• Trust is essential to a successful relationship.

• The relationship is public and visible to staff, parents,

community members, and the larger public

THE NO SURPRISES RULE

• The successful superintendent internalizes the importance of keeping the board informed and with experience has an automatic ability to know when it is necessary to notify the board of incidents, issues, and matters that could affect the board and district.

• It is crucial that the superintendent and board have a mutual agreement regarding no surprises.

• Weekly updates ensure there is a systematic way of sharing information with the board.

• It is important to establish protocols and review them yearly.

ESSENTIALS FOR SUCCESS:

BOARD/SUPERINTENDENT

RELATIONSHIPS

• Get to know your Board and earn their trust and respect

• Develop positive relationships with school board

members

• Spend time with them

• Communicate, communicate, communicate: emails,

phone calls, face-to-face, weekly updates

BOARD MEMBERS and SUPERINTENDENT

HAVE DISCUSSIONS

• What they believe is the greatest strength of the district.

• What they see as next steps to improve student achievement, facilities, and fiscal issues.

• What they hope their legacy will be when they leave their position on the Board.

FUNCTIONAL OR DYSFUNCTIONAL

What kind of board do you have?

• Focused on clear set of

beliefs, a plan to carry them

out, and constant monitoring

• Established process to orient

new board members, provide

continuous training, and build

collaboration

• Disagreement among

members on goals and process

• No coherent orientation for

new board members, no

investment in training for

board members

How is your board?

Functional or Dysfunctional

FUNCTIONAL OR DYSFUNCTIONAL

What kind of board do you have?

• All about improving student

achievement for ALL students

• Differences are never personal in

public and are about important

issues related to student

achievement and well being.

• Unfocused agenda that wastes

time on unimportant,

peripheral issues

• Disagreements get personal in

public

FUNCTIONAL OR DYSFUNCTIONAL

What kind of board do you have?

• Members work together to

represent the whole district;

do not play interest group

game

• Board keeps regulations to a

minimum

• Members represent special

interest groups or only certain

areas of the district or

personal agenda.

• Board over manages with

regulations, petty matters

FUNCTIONAL OR DYSFUNCTIONAL

What kind of board do you have?

• Board does their work

through the superintendent.

• Board operates in the open,

involves community in

decision making.

• Board members go around

superintendent and work with

school staff.

• Board avoids transparency,

prefers to make big decisions

in closed settings

FUNCTIONAL OR DYSFUNCTIONAL

What kind of board do you have?

• Board communicates as one body and works with sharing information in an ethical manner.

• Board shares expectations with community before hiring a superintendent, sets goals, monitors and provides feedback frequently.

• Board shares their personal

opinions and plays favorites in

sharing information.

• Board hires the

superintendent under unclear

expectations, then changes its

mind frequently

Strategic Plan

A guide for your district

Creating a Strategic Plan

The Board establishes a vision that reflects the community’s desires and aspirations for its students.

Study Sessions are scheduled to allow adequate time to complete the

visioning process.

Strategic Planning is a process that involves the broader community in

setting long-term goals.

A Plan is necessary to guide the work of the district and serves as

a benchmarking system for the superintendent’s yearly evaluation.

Common Mission, Vision,

Values and Goals

The most important question in any organization has to be “What is the business of our business?” Answering this question is the first step in settingpriorities.

-Judith Bardwick

Critical Questions

• If we expect all students to learn, what is it we expect them to learn?

• How will we know if they are learning it?

• What will we do when they don’t?

• How will we engage students in their own learning?

• -(DuFour, 2002)

GoalsShort-term mini-targets

manageable

measurable

Provide intermittent reinforcement

Provide feedback on progress

Identify priorities

Establish a timeline for our process of change

Effective Goals

SMARTGoalsSpecific and strategic

Measurable

Attainable

Results-Oriented

Timebound

Review of Evaluations

Superintendent Evaluation

• Evaluation is an opportunity to clarify roles and to measure

progress toward goals.

• Quarterly evaluations are helpful and are supportive of a new superintendent.

• A superintendent should insist that his/her performance be measured annually.

• Arkansas has created an evaluation tool that mirrors teacherevaluations

Superintendent Evaluation Process

• The superintendent’s evaluation is a closed session topic. Any contract related changes that occur must be reported out from closed session.

• The evaluation should include a self-‐ evaluation by the superintendent with adequate data and metrics forevaluating progress of the district’s plan and the superintendent’s role in leading the plan.

• The evaluation tool can be modified by mutual agreement between the superintendent and the board.

• Should be aligned to the strategic plan.

Board Self-Evaluation

• Highly effective boards conduct self-evaluations.

• Board self-evaluation must be conducted in open session.

• Questions for self-evaluation:

• Have we been working well as members of a team? With each other? With the superintendent? With the staff? With members of the community?

Board Self‐Evaluation, Cont.• Have our behavior, attitude and manner reflected the qualities of support,

respect, integrity, trustworthiness, open and honestcommunication, professionalism, fairness and sustained effort necessary for effective teamwork?

• Have our efforts been focused on serving all children?• Are we Leading for Learning?

• Have we respected each other’s and the public’s right to have a diversity of perspectives, personalities and styles? Focus on community.

• Have we made it possible for a majority vote of the board to set the direction for the district?

Resources for Board Members

DISCUSSION AND QUESTIONS