If you want to work with us, you may want to understand why we do what we do, what we believe, and what we are committed to.

Vision & Mission

Photograph of a pair of black glasses on a gray background

Our Vision & Mission

VISION

We envision schools, energized by classrooms in which learning experiences are wholly collaborative and alive with rich discussions driven by the students themselves. Teachers serve as facilitators of learning experiences that are rigorous and differentiated.

MISSION

We support school leaders in deepening their instructional-leadership routines, along with utilizing the necessary tools and skills for achieving this vision. We do so through mutual goal-setting in a collaborative, coaching-focused environment. Working together, we identify and prioritize needs, then we craft cycles of coaching in which incremental progress is celebrated. We reflect on wins, solidify new learning goals, and continue to move forward. We draw our guidance from solid bodies of literature on coaching, instructional leadership, teaching practices, curriculum use, collaborative decision-making, school data analysis, assessment theory, and the like.

Our Organizational Values

TRANSPARENT COMMUNICATION

To promote trust and a healthy culture, we pledge to communicate openly with all stakeholders and to share objectives transparently. We also pledge to think carefully about all constituencies and to seek feedback from stakeholders before publishing reports or letters.

HUMAN-CENTERED & DESIGN-FOCUSED THINKING

Design-focused thinking is a mindset and a method that involves clearly defining a problem and prototyping, iteratively, while responding to feedback. Human-centered design incorporates the needs, beliefs, and feelings of those affected by designs into the design process (and as co-designers).

LEADERSHIP WITH EMPATHY

We share Sinek's vision, and aim to live it through active-listening, inquiry practices, and doing right by those we—as leaders—support. Leaders should hire for attitude, nurture healthy workplace culture, and train for skills. Strong leaders empower and liberate team members to do what they do best.

EQUITY & INCLUSIVITY

Last, but most important, we are committed to improving equity and inclusivity in our work. This is an ongoing journey of exploration, reflection, and growth—not an easy one—because the cultural soup in which we are all immersed crowds out marginalized voices (by definition) that makes it hard to realize.

"Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge."

—Simon Sinek

“We live in a rapidly changing world, where we need to spend as much time rethinking as we do thinking."

—Adam Grant

Mini-chalkboard with the word "Leadership" written on it

A graphical organizer (in the form of a cycle or loop) that shows the stages of double-loop organizational learning

The Cycle of Organizational Learning: How Organizations Can Learn. This is our overarching framework for offering support. These phases represent the various opportunities for working on systemic change within learning organizations (i.e., organizations focused on continuous improvement through reflective and responsive adaptation). Within each phase, we can help with reviewing data, developing or recommending strategies, and supporting greater alignment. The wider context, not shown here, includes the regulatory environment, financial considerations, human capital, etc.

Heavily adapted from Remillard & Heck (2014) and Argyris & Schon (1978).

How We Do It

Instructional leaders need a variety of skills and tools. These are rarely taught in educational leadership programs or—if they are—they get lost in the mix with all of the other responsibilities you face (budgeting, human resources, climate management, facilities management, community outreach, etc.).

We believe in the power of coaching. After all, even superstar athletes have coaches. Coaches, themselves, commonly have coaches. "I absolutely believe that people, unless coached, never reach their maximum potential," said business leader Bob Nardelli.

We coach instructional leaders, to help them build routines, along with skills and tools, that expand your influence on teaching and learning in schools. This coaching can involve a variety of areas: