In October of 2012, in my first year as Head of School at Malvern Prep, one of our teachers—let’s call him Jim—asked to meet with me.

Jim wanted permission to pursue a Masters degree in Classics. At the time, the school paid 100% of approved graduate degree work.

The previous month, we had published our vision for deep student centered learning. Jim’s desire for a Master’s in Classics wasn’t likely to make him a more effective teacher of Latin, much less a designer of student-centered learning experiences. But I was looking for a win-win, so I proposed something unorthodox.

“What if instead of doing a graduate degree, you design and test a deeply student-centered approach to Latin learning?” I said. “Instead of Malvern giving someone else money in exchange for a credential, we can pay you to create this program.” He could present his work at conferences, lead a professional development program. “If you’re looking to get better at what you do and create a reputation for leading the way, you won’t get a better opportunity.”

Alas, Jim was not looking for those things. He was looking for a graduate degree—to increase his pay and, he imagined, to make himself more marketable to other schools. Perhaps not surprisingly, he left at the end of that school year.

If it had been only a question of money, it would have been bad enough. But money is not your organization’s first, second, third, or even fourth most important resource for bringing your vision to life.

Jim was proposing to devote significant attention to something that was not going to improve his teaching… for two years… at the expense of relationships grounded in innovating learning. And on top of all that, it would have cost tens of thousands of dollars.

By contrast, I was asking him to devote his attention to our vision, invest his time in it, develop relationships to support it, and… get paid!

The problem was, Jim didn’t trust me. I was new to Malvern Prep and we hadn’t interacted much, so my sales pitch probably felt untrustworthy.

In any organization, our most important resources are:

1. Trust.

2. Attention.

3. Time.

4. Relationships.

5. Money.

How aligned are your most important resources to your Mission > Vision > Culture?

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