I love it when connections begin to arise between conversations that seem to have little in common. We had a meeting with our Faculty Council and the senior administrators recently, and we talked at length about the important roles that faculty leaders play in our school. We were talking about working together both to resolve quickly the day-to-day issues that routinely arise over the course of the year and to consider and plan for the school’s strategic goals and initiatives on an annual basis.

At one point in the conversation, we jokingly talked about the need for an “Ethos Officer” who would help us on the issues — little ones and big ones — that pertain to the spirit, tone and climate of the school. We weren’t talking about the military idea of a Morale Officer (though there was one funny MASH episode where Hawkeye had to serve in that capacity…), but rather someone who could help keep faculty and administration focused on the respectful and purposeful pursuit of the mission.

Today I was at a conference for heads of school, and we were talking about leadership succession in schools. But we didn’t focus on the obvious — the transitions between heads of school or board chairs —but on the more subtle and more powerful notion of faculty leadership. What do we really know about our faculty culture? How do we communicate the best elements of that culture to new faculty? How do we handle the impact on school culture of the retirement of important faculty leaders? The discussion led me back to the idea of the Ethos Officer. Who are the people at school who make spirit and culture an important part of their work? And how can we share that work appropriately?