- Mentoring questions...
- Qualities of great candidates...
- Great questions for interviews and candidate information sessions...
[Candidates!, a gleaning of Great Governing posts related to board transitions, candidates and new member development is at casbcandidates.blogspot.com.]
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Mentoring questions for a conversation with a veteran
CANDIDATE SEASON
- If you had a "do over" in your candidate season(s) what would be different?
- If you could wave a magic wand over all aspects of board campaigning, what would happen?
- What's crucial for candidates to understand about the condition of Colorado financing and expectations?
- What candidate values prove to be essential in mature board leadership?
- What are your best hopes for candidates, this year?
- What are your worst fears for this election season?
- Your "one thing," your most important mentoring insight for candidates?
- Encouragements for the first month's "baby steps":
- Keys to effective work as a new member:
- Habits to acquire in the first year:
- What are your best hopes for new members in the first year?
- What are your worst fears for new members in that first year?
OVERALL
- How does your governing team sharpen and improve its work?
- What are the wildly important goals of your governing team?
- What core values are embedded in all the work of your board?
- How does your board focus and get things done effectively?
- What's the hardest thing about being a board member?
- When a passionate citizen/parent/leader comes to you and wants you to do something for them, what do you do?
- How have you become the best you can be as a member of your governing team?
- When you're long retired from the frontline of board leadership, what will you remember most about the effort?
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“Great candidate” qualities abound in a classic article from the American School Board Journal:
- Motivated to improve quality for all children
- Strong advocate for quality education
- Prior school community service
- Know the proper role for the board
- Team player
- Sense of humor
- Representative of the diversity of the community
- Excellent interpersonal skills
- Positive
- Not motivated by a single issue
- Respects others
- Understands that the authority of the board is through board work, not individual
- Can support board decisions even when personal perspectives are different (2004)
CASB member wisdom from an an eCafe conversation:
- "Encouraging interest for board candidacy is tricky. Sometimes it's hard enough to get people to engage at public meetings, let alone a four year commitment. Then, there is always the difficulty in getting new board members that are not agenda driven. Sometimes, you'll get candidates who specifically want one thing to happen and are not open to all of the other aspects of district management. What I would like to see is more young adults running for board positions. These are people who do not yet have kids in the system and thus operate under an interesting viewpoint without individual bias.”
- “Tricky, yes, but doable. Especially with continuous modeling of great governing, encouragement of accountability leaders, connections with community leaders, engaging candidate "nights"
- “One first step board members can take is to let people know, in meetings and in the community, that there will be an election in November. Make yourself available to talk about board work and the commitment involved. I'm having coffee tomorrow with a prospective board candidate who reached out to me to learn more about board work. Encourage prospective candidates to attend board meetings and other district events. Write an Op-Ed or LTE that promotes the district, the work of the board and the importance of serving.
- “Your hope/desire for more young adults running for board positions prompts thoughts about other "minority" or under represented folks. There's something about developing leadership for an entire community percolating, here”
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Interview questions
Here's a smorgasbord of questions, all geared to help focus candidates, applicants, and new members on the serious business of governing well. Most are tweakable for team-building conversations, as well.
- Why are you interested in becoming part of this governance team?
- What relationships/connections do you have with the school district?
- What has your experience been like as an area volunteer?
- What experience, assets or skills do you have which would benefit the governing team?
- What personal strengths would you bring the governing team?
- How would others describe your personal leadership style?
- What experience do you have with team leadership of any kind?
- How many board meetings have you attended in the last year and what were your observations?
- What type of commitment will you bring to this governing team?
- Which board policies are strong?
- Which need some review and work?
- What are the most important responsibilities of the board?
- How does a governance team best maximize its time?
- What does it take for a governance team to be highly effective?
- What team behaviors are crucial for highly effective work?
- What commitments for effectivenes would you bring to the governing team?
- What insights do you have about real or perceived conflicts of interest which are a normal part of the governance challenge in small communities?
- What is your vision for the future of the district’s learning efforts?
- What are the primary issues facing the future of the district?
- What top priorities should consume most of the board’s time this year?
- In your first year on the team, whatwould you do to learn about great governing for the sake of the kids?
- What are your “best hopes” for this governing team?
The Connecticut Association of School Boards has a great list here. Just a few of the many:
- What motivates you to want to become a board member?
- How would you handle the requests, if approached, by an individual? Special interest groups?
- What are the basic requirements for successful school boardsmanship?
- What is your vision for education in this community?
- What do you see as the primary work of the board?
- What do you think is expected of you as a board member?
- Why are school boards necessary?
