NAIS - Boardroom: Why Trustees Join Independent School Boards

This article appeared as “Driving Forces” in the Spring 2022 issue of Independent School.

When NAIS conducted research to explore head turnover in 2020, we found that misalignment or misunderstanding about the roles and responsibilities of the head versus those of the board can negatively impact the critical head-board partnership. This misalignment can be exacerbated when trustees join a board and have differing goals for their work and expect different outcomes from their service. This can impede the board’s ability to work as a unit and speak with one voice once a decision is made.

How can schools better understand prospective trustees’ motivations as they seek to recruit them to their boards? What additional steps can the governance committee—whose main duty is to oversee the recruitment of new trustees with the skills and perspectives that align with the school’s strategies, goals, and needs—include in its process when reaching out to prospective board members and assessing their alignment with what the board needs? To find out, NAIS conducted research with trustees.

Motivating Factors

In fall 2021, NAIS used the Jobs-to-Be-Done (JTBD) framework to discover the goals and expectations trustees have when deciding to join a school board. With this methodology, people “hire” and “fire” a product or service to perform a “job” for them. A JTBD is defined as the progress people are trying to make given their specific circumstance; in this case, trustees “hire” a school board to achieve certain goals depending on their particular context. Because JTBD interviews are based on actual behavior and include the true hiring and firing criteria and the trade-offs trustees are willing to make, the process can identify what is truly important to trustees and what influences how they behave versus how they say they will behave.

For this research, we conducted 16 interviews with trustees who had recently joined an independent school board. They represented a variety of schools by type, grade levels, gender, size, and regions. We also included trustees from different demographic backgrounds. Our research uncovered three trustee Jobs.

Job 1: When I have specific expectations and ideas about the programs and strategic direction of the school that are in conflict with the current reality, help me find a vehicle for influencing the direction and decisions of the school so I can ensure that the school gets back on the right course.

Job 2: When I have a specific skillset (knowledge, experience, etc.), help me connect with a school that is ready for growth and is socially connected so I can contribute to change while learning and expanding my network, reputation, business, knowledge, and passion.

Job 3: When I have a personal connection to the school and feel that it has contributed to my success (or the success of those I care about), help me influence the direction of the school so I can preserve the best parts of the school while helping it evolve to serve more people in the future.

Trustee Perspectives

In the interviews, trustees shared their stories and the reasons they ultimately joined their boards. We can better understand the three trustee Jobs by comparing their stories and uncovering the differing motivations.

Job 1
Lilian is the chief financial officer of an insurance company and has two children who attend a K–8 independent school. She has been an active school volunteer since they joined the school five years ago. Last year, the beloved middle school math teacher retired, and the school hired a new teacher who launched a new program. The new program has not been working well for Lilian’s 12-year-old daughter, and other parents have also expressed concerns. Some of them have even mentioned leaving the school if things don’t change.

Noting her long-standing involvement in the school and position in the corporate world, the board invited Lilian to join. She was excited, thinking it would be an effective way to fix the math program to better support her daughter and other children.

Trustees in Job 1 expect to have more influence on how the school is run and its direction as well as the ability to course-correct—preserving the things that they feel are the best about the school while representing the voices of those who feel they are not being heard. Trustees in this Job may benefit from extra guidance on the boundaries of their role.

Job 2
Jeff has more than 30 years of experience working in marketing, helping organizations better explain their brand and value proposition. One of his friends—a current trustee on an independent school board—contacted him about joining the board. The friend shared that the school had embarked on a new strategic planning process to expand its market share and improve its competitive advantage. She also mentioned how highly functioning the board was, thanks to all the talented people in the group.

Jeff had been on corporate boards in the past but had never been a trustee in a nonprofit organization. For him, belonging to a board was somewhat prestigious. By joining this school board, he could contribute his expertise in marketing to help the school, and he could also connect with other professionals and learn more about nonprofit governance, an area of interest.

Trustees in Job 2 have a unique perspective, set of skills, or knowledge from which the school can benefit. The board presents a two-way opportunity where they can contribute their unique experience to the work of the school while also personally benefiting by improving their professional network and reputation.

Job 3
Amritha has a second grader enrolled in the K–12 school she graduated from 17 years ago. She treasured her time at the school and has credited much of her own success to the education and support she received. As an alumna, Amritha has occasionally participated in the annual fund and attended social events.

When she was invited to join the board, Amritha was surprised and honored. She was very pleased with the school leadership and her son’s current teacher. By joining the board, she could contribute her perspective as an alumna and as a woman of color and give back to the school that gave her so much, making sure that the school will be around to educate future generations.

For trustees in Job 3, board service represents an opportunity to give back to a school that’s had a big impact on their lives so that more students and families can benefit from the experience the school offers. As trustees, they want to preserve the elements they value while also helping the school improve and embrace new ways forward.

Insights in Action

Understanding what trustees want from their roles is critical for recruitment and retention—as well as the overall success of the board and its relationship with the head and the school. With this research, the governance committee can better find common ground and alignment and speak with one voice. By assessing the real motivations for individuals who want to join the board, this research can help boards decide whether to extend an invitation to a candidate, and it can also help identify opportunities to see working styles for task forces or special projects. Boards will likely have trustees in all three Jobs, but as they are recruiting, they may find they are specifically seeking a candidate in a particular Job.

One of the first steps in applying the insights from these Jobs in a real-world way is for the governance committee to train everyone who approaches potential new trustees in active listening. In addition to assessing the skills and knowledge candidates may bring, trustees can also ask questions to help understand the circumstances driving these people to join the board. (See chart below.)

It is important to remember that the JTBD methodology doesn’t identify “personas” or “types” of trustees. The JTBD describes what a group is trying to achieve or accomplish in a given situation. This means that you may have trustees across the different Jobs and trustees who may have changed their Job due to a different context that is causing them to pursue a different objective. (For example, a trustee in Job 3 may shift into Job 1 if a big change is made against their advice that they feel threatens the future of the school.) However, by understanding the Jobs, boards can better channel individual trustees’ goals and passions around the main strategies and needs of their schools, creating the alignment needed for an effective and highly functioning board.

Read the full report, "What Are Trustees Seeking When They Join Independent School Boards?"

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