Trustee Trusteeship

AMDSB's Character Attribute for June was Integrity. When I was writing the following presentation I began to question myself and my performance as a Trustee.

Integrity ‘doing what is right and honourable.’

When you look up integrity in Wikipedia you will find ‘Integrity is a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes. In ethics, integrity is regarded as the honesty and truthfulness or accuracy of one's actions. Integrity can be regarded as the opposite of hypocrisy,^[1] in that it regards internal consistency as a virtue, and suggests that parties holding apparently conflicting values should account for the discrepancy or alter their beliefs.

The word "integrity" stems from the Latin adjective integer (whole, complete).^[2] In this context, integrity is the inner sense of "wholeness" deriving from qualities such as honesty and consistency of character. As such, one may judge that others "have integrity" to the extent that they act according to the values, beliefs and principles they claim to hold.’

What do you stand for?  What do you say? How do you act? What is your rationale?

‘Wisdom is knowing the right path to take, Integrity is taking it’. Can you have integrity without wisdom? Is wisdom knowledge?

As trustees we have and will make decisions that are controversy. At times we may struggle with making a decision and question our decision but we take the knowledge we have and the information given us and we make the best decision we can. Is that all that is asked of us? If we are consistent and confident in the decision making, yes. We may be questioned and even attacked over the decision. We are responsible to the whole board not just to the constituents and communities that elected us. Do we see the whole picture? Yes, but what affects all affects one.

A building’s integrity is its structural strength. If this structure is weakened it could collapse. Is a person’s integrity their inner strength and wholeness of character? What happens when a person’s integrity is weakened?

Tanveer Naseer ‘If we expect to be a strong leaders and confident team players, we need the rare ability to listen to things that are tough to hear, and say things we don’t think will be popular.’ This could also be as simple as knowing what to say and when to say it or what not to say.

"Blessed is the servant who loves his brother as much when he is sick and useless as when he is well and be of service to him. And blessed is he who loves his brother as well when he is afar off as when he is by his side, and who would say nothing behind his back he might not, in love, say before his face." - St. Francis of Assisi 

I am not going to say where I think I failed or give reasons why. Improvement is all I can ask of myself. Here are my first steps:

Do I need more focus & direction? Determining Leadership Focus & Direction 

Where should advocacy lay? Trustee Advocacy 

Asking questions benefits all.  Question Everything
Learn from all. Lessons in Principalship 
Who do you please? How To Overcome People Pleasing

What is needed to be a leader? 10 Things I Learned About Leading


I hope I did not turn you off with all these links to wonderful & informative sites. My Path of Learning continues as does it for all. School Trustees Don't Know Who Does What.