by Neil Ranu, LAPCS Governance Director
Self-awareness is our capacity to stand apart from ourselves and examine our thinking, our motives, our history, our scripts, our actions, and our habits and tendencies.
– Stephen Covey
We all know that a board is responsible for the ongoing accountability of the school it governs. But what about the board? Who holds it accountable?
The answer: itself.
This is not circular logic. Think about your own life. We must always answer to ourselves.
No great change has been made in anyone’s life without a healthy dose of self-reflection. The same with boards. In order to become better, boards must become aware of how they are making decisions.
This pursuit of awareness is not a meditative exercise for boards. It is an active process based in asking questions.
The questions do not have to be complex or numerous. The important thing is that they make you think about your experience in an honest and clear way.
There are different sets of questions for each aspect of board service. You will want to reflect on your own work as an individual board member, the work of the board at meetings, and on the work of the board over the course of the year.
Here are some self-assessments that will help you begin asking the right questions:
You’ll see that these forms are simply starting points. In addition to reflecting on your structures and practices, your board should be considering how effectively it upholds its values and mission.