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Vision
Structure
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Conduct & Ethics
7 Habits of Highly Effective People
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by Angela Peifer, John Allen and John Cassel, Illinois School Boards Association
One of the marks of an effective school board is the ability to plan ahead, anticipate the needs of the district and stay focused on the big picture–in short, to be proactive, as opposed to reactive. Being proactive at the board table means moving toward the future with purpose and a clear sense of direction.
How would you judge the effectiveness of your board in this area? Perhaps you find yourselves at the other end of the spectrum–fighting fires, dealing with one urgent issue after another, surviving this month’s crises only to have new ones pop up next month.
A second mark of a proactive board is the ability to plan for and deal with pressure situations that might occur. A proactive plan allows you to react consistently and effectively no matter what the circumstances.
In the January issue of the AASB Commentary, the habit of putting "first things first" at the board table was explored. Boards that spend time planning ahead, anticipating, and looking at the big picture are involved in "first thing" activities. The proactive school board puts first things first, then takes the next, critical step–it ACTS. Spending time working on shared vision and values for the district provides a context to act on those principles each time the board must make a decision. Anticipating problems and issues leads to the act of adopting policies and procedures that reflect the district’s vision and values. The natural outcome of planning ahead is acting to set logical, cohesive goals for the district’s continuous improvement.
Action and initiative are important elements of proactivity. But proactive leadership is more. Stephen R. Covey in his books The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and Principle-Centered Leadership describes proactivity as being mostly about "response ability"–the ability to choose a response to any situation.
Proactive leadership springs from an awareness that we are not a product of our systems, that we are not a product of our environments, that those things powerfully influence us, but we can choose our responses to them. Proactivity is the essence of real leadership. Every great leader has a high level of proactive energy and vision–a sense that "I am not a product of my culture, my conditioning, and the conditions of my life; rather I am a product of my value system, attitudes and behavior–and those things I control." (Principle Centered Leadership, page 257)
• accept responsibility for their actions and behavior;
• respond according their values and purposes;
• focus their time and energy on the things that they can control.
Contrast this with reactive behavior–blaming and faultfinding, responding according to emotions and feelings, focusing on circumstances or people over which they have no control.
This notion of proactivity provides an attractive strategy for effective board leadership. It expands the concept of acting proactively to any situation, even those typically thought of as "urgent and pressure-packed." Covey illustrates proactivity with the following model.
The key to this model is recognizing and using the space between stimulus and response to make responsible choices by calling upon self-awareness, imagination, conscience and independent will.
Think how this might look in the world of your board. Imagine your board in a highly charged situation where a group of parents and students have come to you demanding that you reverse one of your decisions. Following are the steps that will allow you to respond proactively.
• Use your imagination: What possibilities did you not consider because "it’s never been done that way before?" Use your imagination to try to create new possibilities and solutions. But even when that fails, your imagination remains a powerful tool. Use it to visualize how you will respond in much the same way professional athletes or artists visualize their performance before the event. See yourselves acting with self-control, maturity and civility rather than anger, defensiveness or spite. Create your own script, then act it.
• Tap into your collective conscience: Tap into your collective conscience: What are the shared values, principles and mission of your board? Do your decisions accurately reflect them? Would altering your decision take you farther from them, or might it bring you more closely into alignment with them? Listening to your collective conscience will help lead you to the right action, even when you may not want to go there.
• Exercise independent will: Exercising independent will means making the decisions and acting on the choices that reflect your self-awareness, imagination and collective conscience. It’s the power to do the right thing, even when that is a hard thing. It’s the ability to say no when you have to, or to admit a mistake when you recognize it. Your independent will frees you from the influence of pressure groups and allows you to be proactive in any situation.
Some define proactivity as the essence of real leadership, and leadership as the art of mobilizing others to want to struggle for shared inspirations. A school board practicing proactive leadership is driven by its commitment to the shared vision and values of the district’s stakeholders. It doesn’t allow itself to be compromised by outside influences and emotions.
The two marks of proactive leadership are the ability to anticipate and meet the future and the ability to respond intentionally and freely. What a powerful strategy for a school board to model for learners and teachers everywhere!
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