Dr. Jim Goenner speaks to Charter School Authorizers and School Leaders at the 2016 National Charter Schools Conference in Nashville, TN!

1. Authorizing and
the Five Practices of
Exemplary Leadership
JAMES N. GOENNER,
PH.D.

2. Goals for Today
KIDS!
Expand Vision for Authorizing
Become Better Leaders
Learn & Grow Together
Have Fun!
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3 Inspire Hearts & Minds

3. WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG
THIS SLIDE DECK IS ACCESSIBLE AT
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4. The Most Consistently Admired
Characteristics of Leaders:
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Honest
Forward-Looking
Competent
Inspiring

5. How Leaders Earn Credibility
• “They practice what they preach.”
• “They walk the talk.”
• “Their actions are consistent with their words.”
• “They put their money where their mouth is.”
• “They follow through on their promises.”
• “They do what they say they will do.”
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The Leadership Challenge

6. RELATIONSHIPS
“People don’t care how
much you know until they
know how much you care.”

10. “Know
Thyself”
The First Person You Lead Is Yourself
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Who Said…

11. “The future is
not what it used
to be.”
— Yogi Berra,
Baseball Hall of Famer

12. Common Authorizing Functions
Gatekeeper Monitor Evaluator
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13. Alpha Authorizing Functions
Change Agent Market Maker
Force for Quality Catalyst for Excellence

14. Change Agent
AKA: The Innovator
 Challenge the “givens”
 Foster an environment that
attracts talent, capital and
entrepreneurship
 Influence policy and
practice
 Provide leadership and
ideas for improving education
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15.  Change the incentives by
withdrawing the exclusive
franchise
 Charter new schools so
people have choices
 Foster an environment that
attracts can-do people
Market Maker
AKA: The Doer
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16. Force for Quality
AKA: The Enforcer
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 Thoroughly screen
applications and applicants
 Issue performance-based
charter contracts
 Measure and evaluate
performance
 Preserve discretionary
judgment
 Protect school autonomy
 Appropriately intervene
when people fail to perform

17. Catalyst for Excellence
AKA: The Facilitator
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 Recognize and reward
performance
 Encourage the replication
and expansion of success
 Create new performance-
based paths for authorizing,
overseeing, and renewing
charter contracts
 Make authorizing a
respected profession
 Relentlessly pursue
excellence
 Protect, preserve and
advance the idea behind
chartering

18. AS AN AUTHORIZER:
HOW WOULD YOU RATE
YOUR OWN PERFORMANCE?

20. CHARTER SCHOOLS
A strategy to transform public
education by injecting choice,
change and competition
into the system.

24. The Seven Habits
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Be Proactive
Begin with the End in Mind
Put First Things First
Think Win-Win
Seek First to Understand,
Then to be Understood
Synergize
Sharpen the Saw

25. WHAT TRULY MATTERS
Ensuring all students
are prepared for success in
college, work and life.

27. Purpose of a Charter School
Authorizer
“To ensure, on behalf of the public,
that students are learning, money and
resources are well stewarded, and the
organization passionately pursues
greatness, while modeling the highest
legal and ethical principles.”
“ Dr. James Goenner
National Charter Schools Institute

28. You can order at: CharterInstitute.org/services

29. Superior Performance
Distinctive Impact
Lasting Endurance
What Is Greatness?
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30. “Good is the
enemy of great.”
“ -Jim Collins

31. KIDS
Authorizers
Boards
Schools

32. Aligning for Greatness
Develop a Relationship of Mutual
Trust & Respect
Set Clear Performance Expectations –
No Surprises!
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Establish a Shared Vision & Commitment
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36. People Need Systems to Turn the Flywheel
• Principles and practices for predictably
achieving goals
• Processes that are specific, orderly, and
repeatable
• Leverage time, money and abilities
• Deliberate, intentional and practicable
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39. Performance
Agreement
= • Academic
• Fiscal
• Operational
• Values
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40. AS AN AUTHORIZER:
HOW ARE YOU CREATING
THIS ENVIRONMENT?

41. Greatness . . . is largely
a matter of conscious
choice and discipline.”
“ -Jim Collins

43. Be honest with your schools.
Give real feedback or change will never happen.

44. Structural Overview
Charter
School
State &
Federal
Law
Authorizer
& Charter
Contract
Board
Policies &
Procedures
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45. Authorizer
=
To Ensure
A Simple Way to Frame Roles
School
=
To Execute
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46. Leadership
Pyramid

47. What Level of Leader Do You Want?
Level 5 Leader
• Ambitious first and
foremost for the cause,
the organization, the
work — not
themselves.
• Displays a paradoxical
blend of personal
humility and
professional will.
Level 3 Leader
• Organizes people and
resources toward the
effective and efficient
pursuit of predetermined
objectives.
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48. Winners Want to be Associated with
an Authorizer that…
• Knows its purpose and why it exists
• Understands it is the highest authority in
the organization
• Knows it represents the public
• Is disciplined in its role and behaviors and
those of its individual members
• Is trustworthy and predictable
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49. • Uses its authority to empower, not strangle
• Ensures the organization is effective
and efficient
• Has high expectations and measures
performance
• Is unafraid to judge, but does so fairly
• Continuously earns credibility
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Winners Want to be Associated with
an Authorizer that…

50. “Doing everything keeps
us so busy we don’t have
time to think about what is
really important to us.”
“

51. The Power of Clarifying Values
TEAMWORK
• We recognize that no one of us is as good as all of us.
• We will put the team’s goals before our own.
• We will collaborate.
• We can be relied upon to fulfill commitments.
• We are accountable for ourselves and to each other.
• We will celebrate our successes and have fun.
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52. The Five
Temptations
of a CEO

53. “We believe Authorizers that
govern for greatness ask
wise questions and measure
things that really matter.”
“ -Dr. James Goenner
National Charter Schools Institute

56. HOW WELL IS OUR SCHOOL…
Wise Questions
Preparing Students for College, Work and Life
Leveraging Resources
Fulfilling Its Commitments?
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57. Setting Goals.
Defining Targets.

59. Common Challenges
Dysfunctional Group Dynamics
Disengaged Board Members
Uncertainty About Roles and
Responsibilities
Source: Problem Boards or Board Problems?
The Nonprofit Quarterly
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60. Where Do You
Spend Your
Time?
First Things First

61. “If you do not change, you
can become extinct.”
Who Moved My Cheese?

62. How clear is your organization about its ...
Vision
Mission
What is the organization really trying to accomplish?
Is it compelling? Will it make a significant difference?
How will the organization proceed with making this
vision a reality?
Values
What are the core things the organization will use to
guide and evaluate all of its actions and behaviors?
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63. How do you find
your voice
&
encourage others
to find theirs?

64. Five Practices of Exemplary Leaders
Model the Way
Inspire a Shared Vision
Challenge the Process
Enable Others to Act
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Encourage the Heart5
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66. You can order at: CharterInstitute.org/services

68. “Set the standards
higher for yourself than
others would set them
for you.”
“ -John Maxwell

69. Lessons
• Front-Load: Complexity Is Deceiving
• Start With the End in Mind
• One Size Does Not Fit All
• Opportunity to Align Goals, Standards, Assessment and
Evaluation
• Results Matter
• Challenge of Rapid Growth
“When I go slow, I go fast.”
— Chinese Proverb
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70. Lessons (continued)
• Can’t Regulate Excellence
• Navigating the Invisible Line: Oversight vs. Support
• How to Differentiate Performance
• Capture the Baselines and Benchmark
• What Gets Measured Gets Done
• Closing a School Is the Ultimate Test
• Never Get to California If We Waited for the Freeway
• America Is the Real Experiment!
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71. “It is not enough
that we do our
best; sometimes
we have to do
what’s required.”
— Winston Churchill

72. “Public schools are
the backbone of this
country, . . .
and as long as I am
superintendent,
charter schools will
not be welcome in
Detroit.”
— Connie Calloway, Ph.D.,
Detroit Superintendent
as reported by the Detroit Federation
of Teachers, June 11, 2007

73. “I look at charter schools, for
example, as prostitutes in
the sense that when our
police department tries to
curb prostitution, they arrest
the Johns now as opposed
to the prostitutes because
the prostitutes are always
going to be there. And
charter schools are
obviously going to be there.”
— Dr. Jimmy Womack,
Detroit School Board President
Detroit News Online Video, July 18, 2007

75. Changing the Paradigm
• In theory, law, policy and practice
• “Era of Assignment” to “Era of Choice”
• Removed the district’s exclusive franchise
• Schools without boundaries
• Fund students, not schools
• Empowering parents
• Choice and competition
• Dual accountability
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76. “Study after study shows
that state standards vary
wildly and the states with
the lowest standards are
lying to children – by
telling them they are
ready for college or work
– when they are in fact
unable to compete.”
— Arne Duncan,
U.S. Secretary of Education

77. Some Assumptions for Breakthrough
Performance:
1. Students value and take ownership of their
education.
2. Outcomes measured against clear, consistent
standards.
3. Outcomes linked to teacher and organizational
effectiveness.
4. Productivity and results are measured and
rewarded.
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78. THANKYOU!
VIEW THIS SLIDE DECK ONLINE AT
WWW.CHARTERINSTITUTE.ORG

79. Is the academic program a success?
Key Renewal Questions:
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80. Is the school financially viable?2 Key Renewal Questions:

81. Is the school equitable & organizationally sound?3 Key Renewal Questions: