Although the heart of SSL’s mission lies in working with heads of schools and other senior leaders, over the last three years we have found ourselves doing more and more work with boards of trustees. We have led formal strategic planning and helped boards to engage more regularly in strategic thinking. Yet the biggest area of work recently has been to engage with boards in thinking about good governance. Put differently: How can we help trustees understand what their jobs are – or should be – and how they can get there?
Our work with boards on governance can span from one two-hour session to a multi-meeting engagement. We start by reminding ourselves that trustees are well-intentioned volunteers, and that many have little or no experience in not-for-profit boards. These are people of goodwill. Yet they are also people who don’t want their time wasted. Using case studies and ideas from leading practitioners in the field, we get boards talking. When have you felt your work as a trustee mattered? How can you as a trustee best help your school thrive?
Some people think that talking about governance is akin to watching paint dry. We disagree. Good governance can help a school soar; bad governance can destroy a school. If we can help trustees understand their responsibilities and their opportunities, then great things can happen. Large or small, new or established, every school deserves this.