The Joys of Leadership
This iteration of Every Royal’s Voice comes to you from the Board of Education at HBR. Because we were elected to help lead the district’s efforts at maintaining quality public education, we thought it would be good to highlight some characteristics of good leadership and inform the district of what board members actually do. To that end, this post outlines three important aspects of leadership – Listening, Learning, and Loving, including some of the roles and duties that we Board members perform. While the following is focused on Board leadership, the qualities and behaviors discussed below pertain equally to leadership in the classroom and sports and at home and work. In whatever sense you see yourself as a leader, we offer these thoughts.
Listening
Great leaders must develop a habit of active listening. Decisions are not made in a vacuum, and leaders serve many different interests. Shareholders, or those who have a stake in the results of decisions, must be listened to. Principally, leaders should hear the concerns and ideas of shareholders to determine priorities, wishes, and the vision of the members they serve. The best leaders also work with a team of peers and colleagues, so seeking their input helps to ensure that everyone is rowing in the same direction. Equally important is listening to your intuition. Good leaders often have an inner sense of what of must be done, and they are trusted to listen to that inner voice.
Board members must (and do) listen carefully to stakeholders. With that aim in mind, we provide time in monthly meetings for members of the public to voice their concerns, we invite people to email us, and we listen to constituents at school events, while we’re out and about in public, and during other social gatherings. We may not always be able to “solve” or otherwise address one’s concerns on the spot, but active listening allows us to understand and report back to each other when concerns are voiced. One important example concerns the mess that COVID-19 has imposed on us all. Many varying opinions and viewpoints were expressed regarding mask mandates, on-line versus in-person learning, and the intricacies of testing protocols and contact tracing, just to name a few. Board members listen to all points of view, and we try to implement practices that keep student and staff health and wellbeing at the forefront. Does everyone’s wish get granted? No. But by listening to the complex variety of points of view, we attempt to understand the matter from 360 degrees and make tough decisions that best serve all interested parties. If you wish to contact us and be heard, we invite you to attend monthly meetings, to speak with us at school and community events, and to email us by following this link: https://www.hbr429.org/page/contact-a-school-board-member. Listening to you is part of our sworn duties, and we would love to hear from you.
Learning
Another quality of great leaders involves learning. Life is a constant process of growth and change as more information becomes available. Good leaders read, they watch others, and they observe. What’s the difference between watching and observing? Watching, in the common sense, is a little more passive. We watch TV, movies, and YouTube videos. Observing implies more active acquisition of information and noting its significance. Good leaders do both. They keep a watchful eye out for trends, behaviors, and useful information, but they also note important details that require discussion, action, and change. Speaking of change, revision is important to learning. New information requires that we adapt and evolve our thinking, and sometimes that means going in new directions based on the information at hand. In order to do these interrelated tasks, leaders must also block out time for priorities, allowing time for contemplation, negotiation, and careful planning to reach our desired aims.
Board membership entails continuous learning. From basic Board policies and procedures to legislative changes to our limitation and duties, we see a constant flow of information and recommendations from the Illinois Legislature, our peer districts, and professionals who specialize in Board responsibilities. Just this past November, HBR Board members attended a 3-day conference with myriad opportunities for learning. We came away from that rich opportunity with new insights that inform our moving forward, and we’re never done acquiring information needed to continue the strong academic performance that our students and staff have historically displayed.
Loving
Perhaps most importantly, leaders must love the mission and those whom the mission serves. It’s difficult to do things that we don’t care about, so loving what we do helps to ensure that we remain committed to our responsibilities. Loving what we do, in this context, also means that we love others. Effective leaders care about the outcomes and effects of their decisions and how they improve the conditions of others. Leaders should strive to bring out the best in everybody for everybody. At the same time, leaders must also love themselves. Making decisions comes with failure and unexpected consequences, and occasionally it exposes a leader’s weaknesses. That’s ok. As a leader, you have to take the occasional loss and accept your limitations, but you have to stand strong and give yourself positive messages. Leaders are humans, and humans sometimes don’t get it all right all of the time. It’s the love of the mission that inspires us to keep trying and to do our best.
How best can Board specifically demonstrate their love for the mission? We do so by committing ourselves to faithfully executing our many responsibilities. Among those responsibilities, we are charged with governance through policy. We assist the Superintendent with creating, setting, and facilitating policies that serve all students by improving the quality of their education. We also serve in the trust of the entire community. Public schools are part of thriving communities; therefore, community members, whether they have children in the schools or not, benefit from healthy, educated kids and citizens. We are elected by constituents/voters, and we serve in their interests. One of the primary interests of our constituents is, of course, money. Board members are charged with maintaining fiscal responsibility to ensure that funds from taxes and governments serve all shareholders and their concerns. All of these demands pull at our attentions, our time, and our personal resources, but since we love what we do, we do our best to juggle responsibilities and serve the public. To get a little better sense of who we are and what we value, we invite you to visit our profiles at: https://www.hbr429.org/page/about-our-school-board-members.
Finally, our Board President, Tim Badal, reminded us recently that Board members are “in the balcony not on the dance floor”. This phrase, coined by Heifetz et al.* means that we don’t get involved in the daily matters of building or classroom decisions and activities. Rather, we keep a bird’s-eye view of the moving parts in all three school buildings, and we help, from afar, to ensure that the district works within policy-driven procedures. We are a diverse group of seven, some new this term and some having served for years. As we cooperate to continue HBR 429’s tradition of excellence, you can trust that we are Listening, Learning, and Loving when it comes to serving you and your family’s educational needs.
*Heifetz R A, Grashow A and Linsky M (2009). ‘The practice of adaptive leadership: Tools and tactics for changing your organization and the world’. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business Press.