Ensuring the Board’s and the
Head’s Growth
STAYING AHEAD OF THE LEARNING
CURVE
LITTLEFORD & ASSOCIATES, LLC
Board and Head Leadership Styles and Tenure
Affect School Health
 Long term heads lead to healthier schools
 Leadership styles of heads affect head tenure
 Head tenure affects faculty morale and growth,
school stability, financial health
 Board structure, turnover and behavior impact head
tenure
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The Head’s Staying Power and the Board’s Role
 70% to 75% of all heads are “fired” within five years
 Today’s head is a target facing more pressures
 Heads need a reservoir of political capital
 Boards need to help build that reservoir
 Board chairs need political capital as well
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Managing Transitions
 New heads must “lay low in the weeds”
 Transitions are crucial and take up to three years
 The third year the head may expect to cross the
Rubicon
 By year five, the school is beginning to reflect the
head’s leadership and vision
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The Head’s Impact
 Begins after six to eight years
 Fund raising potential gains momentum
 The head understands the culture and political
realities
 Stronger trustees are attracted to a “winning” school
 Faculty respond to leadership and vision
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Beware of these Patterns
 Elementary day schools fire their heads the most
 Day schools fire their heads more than boarding schools
 Parent-dominated boards fire more than “mixed” boards
 Professionals fire more than business people
 Frequent head turnover creates power vacuums that
trustees, parents and teachers move in to fill
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Leadership Styles
 Drivers are decision makers who may succeed and
last long term if they survive the first three years
 Expressives and Amiables last longer, but then may
be replaced as unresolved issues surface
 Analyticals tend to be the survivors, the real long
term heads
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Changing/Enhancing Head Skill Sets I
 Most heads arise through the ranks and are
faculty/curriculum leaders
 A few are external “expressive” types who become
“presidents” and focus on fund raising and strategic
issues
 A very few are “student centered” heads
Changing/Enhancing Head Skill Sets II
 Faculty leader types can become effective marketing
managers and fund raisers but not all will want to
move in this direction
 President/expressive types may not know the
students or parents well but can sell the “product”
 Student-centered heads may not gravitate to fund
raising or financial skills and may be politically
naïve, but they are beloved
 Can each of these styles grow or change to meet
changing school needs? First they must be willing
What Do Long Term Analyticals Learn to Do?
 Focus on, be fervent about and adhere to the mission
 Speak to their vision
 Invest time in trying to know each of the key
constituencies (including the families of faculty and
board members)
 Hire strong staff and mentor them to become leaders
 Hire faculty for character and support for the
mission, not just for skills
 Be clear to the faculty about the head’s role and
his/her management style
What Do Long Term Analyticals Learn to Do?
 Micromanage when necessary and delegate
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appropriately
Consult, but ultimately make decisions and do not
always compromise in order to avoid conflict
Do not make decisions too quickly as issues
sometimes resolve themselves
Do not bow to the latest group of disgruntled
constituents
Be predictable and steady but “hold some of their
cards close”
What Happens When Heads Learn these
Behaviors and Skills ?
 Heads amass enormous political capital
 Schools stabilize and remain healthy
 Marketing for enrollment and retention and
fundraising become much easier
 Legacies are built
How Do Heads Grow and Develop?
 Coaching
 Seminars/conferences
 Networking
 Sabbaticals
 Professional development including executive-in-
residence programs
 Membership on other boards
With a mindset of “continuous improvement”
and the backing of a strong Board
Board Growth and Development
 Board development: reinforcing COT roles and rules
 Chair coaching
 Ongoing conferences/seminars/training for new
AND experienced trustees to reinforce the principles
of good practice and apply them to new, more
sophisticated challenges
How Boards and Heads Can Mature Alongside
One Another
 Preserve institutional memory through a strong COT
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that creates and maintains a healthy board: a mix of
parents, alumni, past parents and community
leaders
Frequent trustee turnover creates power vacuums
that faculty and parents fill
School mission and stability depend on long serving
trustees who hold the mission in “trust”
Long serving trustees select long serving chairs
Long serving chairs build lasting partnerships with
long serving heads
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Chair Coaching
 80% of weak boards are due to poor head-chair
partnerships
 20% of weak boards are due to overly close
partnerships
 The Chair may need outside counsel and workshops
to achieve a balanced, healthy and strong
partnership
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Link of Head and Chair
 The value of long term Chairs: They grow in their
partnership with the Head and their ability to lead
 Chairs should serve at least three to five years
 Heads usually cannot survive their fourth board
chair
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Growth through On-going Training
What we learn and must remember:
 Board members are “trustees” not directors
 Smaller boards are better
 Fewer subcommittees are better
 NO education or personnel committees
 Boards tend to become most intrusive during times
of head transition and weakness
 Over-extended boards make poor decisions
 Confidentiality must be maintained at all times
 No conflicts of interest will be allowed
Conclusion
Schools and heads need stability as well as growth and
change