Developing a Talent Mindset

Abstract

Introduction

In her new book, A Chance to Make History, Teach For America founder and CEO Wendy Kopp asks what it will take to improve our nation’s school systems and ensure that all students receive the excellent education they deserve. Kopp notes that there is nothing elusive about the answer. Building up successful schools will require the same strategies employed by any successful entity: recruiting and empowering extraordinary and diverse leaders at every level.

As with any organization, recruiting the right people for the right team positions can be a complicated, challenging and competitive endeavor. A 1997 article from McKinsey & Co. coining the notion of “the war for talent” ventured that talent would be the most important corporate resource over the next two decades, and that it would be the resource in shortest supply. This reality requires schools and organizations to shift from an approach of developing a strong but independent human resources department to developing an organization obsessed with its talent at every level, and adopting a “talent mindset.”

In partnership with schools, school districts and universities, Teach For America recruits, trains, develops and provides ongoing support for our teachers throughout their commitment, and asks our teachers to go above and beyond traditional expectations to help their students achieve significant academic progress. At the same time, we foster the talent and leadership of our alumni to address the systemic causes of the achievement gap, both inside the classroom and beyond.

Teach For America is dedicated to providing talent and leadership for our nation’s high-need classrooms and strengthening system-wide efforts to close our nation’s achievement gap. To that end, we also work tirelessly to recruit, develop and retain exceptional individuals to advance this mission by joining our staff. Teach For America’s 30-member Mid-Atlantic team—supporting nearly 400 teachers and 800 alumni across Philadelphia, Camden and Wilmington—also values talent and leadership at every level of our organization, and we are constantly seeking innovations to strengthen our effectiveness and impact.

At Teach For America, we strive to operate with the “talent mindset” McKinsey describes, beginning with recruiting talent, then developing that talent at every level, and finally retaining our talent and providing opportunities to learn and grow with our organization.