|
Vision
Structure
Accountability
Advocacy
Conduct & Ethics
7 Habits of Highly Effective People
|
by John Allen, John Cassel, Angela Pfeifer, Illinois School Board
To end our series, we return to the beginning. For the past year, a series of articles in the Commentary has examined how Stephen Covey’s "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" might apply to school boards.
Two boards, both composed of capable and dedicated people-why is one highly effective while the other just plods along? One part of the answer: Covey’s seven habits mark highly effective boards just as they mark highly effective people. The board which wants to make the best contribution to the district will do well to adopt Covey’s habits.
For Stephen Covey, the seventh habit, sharpening the saw, supports and "surrounds" the other six habits because it "makes all the others possible." We feel this habit’s primacy may be especially true for a board, because of the corporate character of its life. Boards are a collection of individuals and must pay particular attention to the way they do business as a group. To emphasize the importance of keeping the saw sharp, Covey tells the story of a wood cutter:
Suppose you were to come upon someone in the woods working feverishly to saw down a tree.
"What are you doing?" you ask.
"Can’t you see?" comes the impatient reply. "I’m sawing down this tree."
"You look exhausted!" you exclaim. "How long have you been at it?"
"Over five hours," he returns, "and I’m beat! This is hard work."
"Well, why don’t you take a break for a few minutes and sharpen the saw?" you inquire. "I’m sure it would go a lot faster."
"I don’t have time to sharpen the saw," the man says emphatically. "I’m too busy sawing!"
How often have we heard the same short sighted litany from school boards:
"We’re too busy to do self-evaluation. We meet late into the night twice a month and still we barely cover our agenda. And that doesn’t even count committee meetings."
"We’re too busy to read that book. Before each meeting we get a huge packet to read-that’s on top of our weekly update letters."
The highly effective board knows time is a precious commodity. The key is using board time wisely. A board which is always doing that activity which is most relevant and most important will rarely feel overwhelmed or off the mark. And, like highly effective persons, a fair portion of an effective board’s time will be spent keeping the board’s saw sharp - participating in professional development and taking care of its own processes. John Carver, (Boards That Make A Difference, 1990) makes the point that a defining characteristic of a board is that it has responsibility for its own organization and processes. "The board is responsible for its own development, its own job design, its own discipline, and its own performance...this responsibility must be clear to board and staff alike...As a board sets out to fulfill its trusteeship, its most immediate responsibility is to deal with the implications of being a group." (p.132-5)
Because the board is responsible for its own life, it must spend time being clear about its processes and the meaning of its decisions and intentions. A board which would be highly effective must spend quality time clarifying what it is about and how it will exercise its leadership.
Covey helps us to be clear about this process task with his "sharpening the saw" metaphor. In addition to being clear about its processes, a highly effective board will be concerned that it has the necessary skills and understandings to accomplish its task. It will help members get appropriate training and orientation, and it will seek out the expertise it lacks. The highly effective board will want to be organized in such a way that facilitates movement toward its vision. Internal communication issues, building and maintaining trust, and self-reflection are not luxuries waiting for the board’s free time. Rather, they are the heart of the task. Without clear attention to these matters, the board may work itself into exhaustion without accomplishing its ends. It will be like the woodcutter who sits exhausted behind a dull saw.
Habits are not tools, or even skills, the board can go out and buy. Habits are behaviors one aims at, aspires to, practices. They require discipline and hard work. With time they become habits: that is, ways of behaving that become second nature. A habit gives confidence and with confidence comes competence.
Good habits point to balance and proper timing, as in the case of an athlete who works to develop a sports skill. In the competitive world of athletics, victory comes to those who have made a habit of using the right skills at the right time. In the complicated world of education, success comes to those who know the character of board leadership and have attained the habits to exercise that leadership effectively.
Sometimes it is necessary to "go slow to go fast." At times the board will need to pause to be clear about its own function and relationships - so that it can move forward toward its goals with dispatch.
Reflective board members know the rewards of board service are somewhat elusive. If a school board is focused on the future, as it should be, individual board members may not be around to see the mature fruits of their labors. Significant district projects might easily take five to ten years to reach fruition. The wise board member learns to take satisfaction in the good that will be produced, albeit down the road, by effective board function. An effective board which does its job with care and competence, a board which is truly partnering with the other stakeholders necessary for quality education, cannot fail to make a positive impact.
As the board creates a "legacy of quality," it becomes synergistic and spirals upward. Covey’s habits all support one another. The better a board is able to master one habit, the more easily the others are approached. A sharp saw really does cut more wood. And, to press the metaphor, because a sharp saw is safer, there is less chance someone will get hurt. How does a board move toward proficiency in the seven habits? First is the intention to invest the time. Given the right intention, where should the board begin? Our advice: review the following list and start where the board has most energy. Because the habits are related and synergistic, it matters little where the board or individual board members start. Once started, the board will be pulled toward those areas where it has strength (on which the board can build), or its weakness (which the board can work to eliminate). Following are some skills/attitudes/habits the board will want to keep "sharp" (organized around seven habits).
Stephen Covey recommends that efforts to sharpen the saw be comprehensive and address all areas of life. Like individuals, boards need to attend to four areas:
1) mental (development of talents);
2) physical (being clear about structures and finances);
3) emotional (communication and trust);
4) spritual (vision, meaning and integrity).
1. Be proactive.
Learning to focus on the future and being free to respond with intentionality.
Clarity of board purpose.
Board & superintendent roles and responsibilities
Group skills which enhance group decision making
Leadership skills
Decision-making skills
Clarity regarding board organization (committee structure, etc.)
2. Begin with the end in mind.
Living out of a shared vision and staying focused on that vision.
Clarity of mission
Vision and beliefs
Goal setting
Board culture
Board self-evaluation
Curriculum
School finance
3. Putting first things first.
Knowing the board’s job and doing it.
Effective meetings
Agenda development
Using data to drive decisions
Delegation
The helpful board packet
The board’s relationship with other district stakeholders
4. Think win/win.
Partnership skills and intentions allow the board to seek win/win solutions.
Partnership skills
Thinking "outside the box"
Conflict management
Mediation and reconciliation
5. Seek first to understand.
Listening skills are key to effective partnering.
Communication skills
The ability to listen
The ability to allow another to feel heard
The ability to allow others to hear and understand you
6. Synergize.
Synergistic solutions will be greater than the sum of their parts.
The ability to trust
Openness to the new
Highest level attainment of all the above
Finally, here is one more story to help you remember the importance of "keeping the saw sharp."
A crusty old woodsman came into town and saw an ad in the hardware store window for a chain saw guaranteed to cut "a cord of wood a day." He took one home. But in a few weeks he was back to talk to the clerk. "You said the saw was guaranteed to cut a cord a day. But try as I might, I can only cut half a cord." "Let me try it," offered the clerk. He pulled the cord and the saw sprung to life with a buzz...The woodsman jumped back. "What’s that noise?" he yelled.
Members of boards of education are pulled in many different directions due to their families, their "real jobs," their board work, other community commitments and interests. It’s easy to see how many board members can quickly become frustrated, exhausted, discouraged and ultimately, less effective than they would like.
Effectiveness requires making time for personal "saw sharpening." Waiting for a free moment is as short sighted as the woodcutter who would not stop to sharpen his saw. Stephen Covey suggests that effective individuals take time daily to renew themselves in each of the four dimensions of human nature: the physical, the mental, the spiritual and the social/emotional.
Take action daily to care for your physical wellness. Eat well; exercise regularly; get the rest you need. If your physical saw is dull you will likely feel fatigued and stressed and may ultimately find yourself ill and incapacitated. Conversely, if you are physically sharp, you will feel energized, confident and ready to face each day’s challenges.
Without regular sharpening, the mind also grows dull, life becomes mundane, and skills become obsolete. Regularly challenge your mind. Read, write, study, think, strive to learn something new every day.
Living life according to principles and values requires regularly getting in touch with what gives meaning and purpose to life. As Covey puts it, "...when we take time to draw on the leadership center of our lives, what life is ultimately all about, it spreads like an umbrella over everything else."
Taking time to recognize and think about daily social interactions provides opportunities to sharpen the social saw. And social effectiveness generally results in emotional well-being. Consciously strive to meet new people in different situations and to build and strengthen existing relationships. It takes time to stop and sharpen the saw. But an effective woodcutter knows that the more trees there are to cut, the more important it is to work with sharp tools. With all of the responsibilities facing board members, doesn’t it make sense that personal, as well as board sharpening time is time well spent?
The authors are IASB field services directors.
|
|
|
