Searching for the right words - Fine Point Communications

This academic year, a few on-campus issues consistently unsettled independent schools: finding and retaining veteran teachers, for example, and a tumultuous college selection process.

The issue of the year for most school leaders, though, was an off-campus matter: the Mideast violence that began last Oct. 7 and has continued unabated ever since.

Independent school students, parents, faculty, staff and alumni turned immediately last fall to campus leaders, looking for their support, allyship and the exact right words to meet the moment.

As we wrote in October, heads have faced similar tests before, but the answers were elusive this time: Several schools sent one official statement only to follow up days later with another. Some even put out a third to clarify their position.

The various messages both fed and were driven by anger, division and disaffection on campus. Rhetorical fires burned very hot, driving a few boards to reach for their most extreme option: dismissing the head to calm the community.

Impossible expectations

The situation convinced us at Fine Point Communications that expectations around official statements are out of control, particularly given our polarized campus communities. Schools are weighing in too often, on too many issues — a dynamic that began a decade ago with the best of intentions but, after years of speaking out, has become almost habitual. (“We addressed that issue, so now we must address this one.”)

It’s high time for school leaders — heads, administrators and boards — to step back from this pattern, take a hard, fresh look at what any message can accomplish in a time of pain and uncertainty, and then reset communication policies to a healthier baseline.

This winter and spring, we began meeting with clients who wanted advice on what to take away from the months of upheaval and what to consider before sending out future statements.

We brought an abbreviated version of our presentation to Baltimore this month for the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools’ annual conference; this issue of Refill will reprise some of that information. We offer it as a starting point for more school communicators and their colleagues to talk this summer about what to do “the next time.”

What an official message can do

To be clear, a school must address its constituents sometimes. An official statement has extraordinary power to get everyone’s attention and to convey important information.

Depending on the circumstances, an effective school message can achieve the following:

Inform
Clarify
Soothe and reassure
Validate (especially for parents and alums)
Inspire and motivate

And the audience generally begins reading it from a place of trust. That’s because community members tend to think of their head of school as a wise and thoughtful person.

But leaders can run themselves into trouble by assuming they have an ability to unify the school. That goal is generally out of reach, especially in fractious and cynical times.

The goal of an official message should be giving people what they should know, rather than conveying what they should think.

Do you need to speak up?

We counsel school leaders who are considering a statement to think first through several questions:

Would actions, not words, mean more to your community in this moment?
Does this matter directly involve the school or intersect with its mission or core values?
Will you take a position or commit to an action?
In a fraught moment, how is your perspective valuable or helpful?
What will people take away from your message? Who will this help?
Does your statement need to go to everybody, or to only a specific audience (especially students and/or faculty/staff)?

Centering the message — and your response — on mission and values is a helpful way to connect the off-campus event with on-campus priorities. This also gives constituents needed context, a truer understanding of the school’s “why.” After all, parents and alums who believe deeply in your school may not recollect exactly what it stands for.

A focus on mission and values also makes the decisions of other schools — what they say or don’t say — irrelevant to yours. They have their particular calling; you have yours. If administrators feel compelled to speak out only because peer schools have, that’s a signal to tap the brakes.

School statements are crisis communications

The clearest takeaway of this year is this: Schools need to recognize that institutional statements are crisis communications, not a moment to “advance the conversation.”

If leaders are unsure whether or how to address their community, they may need more thinking about the situation and more talking to trusted advisers.

In the meantime, it is prudent to say nothing publicly than to voice something you’re not sure about, something you would then have to stand by.

In other words, don’t just say something; have something to say.

At many schools, policy around crisis communications requires looping the board chair into the conversation, to ensure there are no surprises with governance. That’s a step we recommend with school statements, too.

We also advise schools to feature tabletop exercises in their crisis planning. Given the past year, we now suggest the scenario of an off-campus incident with the potential to affect on-campus learning. Depending on the depth of the exercise, a tabletop may give communicators a chance to practice message development ahead of a live situation.

As mentioned, these tips are only a slice of our presentation to schools, which features a lot of give-and-take with senior officials. We hope that your school will take the conversation from here to find your unique path forward.

If, however, you would benefit from having Fine Point facilitate that discussion, or from consulting with us on a particular message, please get in touch. We’d be glad to help.