1. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
Trust is a Must
Max McGee, Jamie Rosenberg, and Esther
Wojcicki

2. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX

3. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
•The case for a
culture of trust from
Max
•“Show me the trust!”
for our teachers from
Jamie
•Trusting teachers
trusting students
from Esther
Our Timeless Trio Playlist

4. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
Nearly 50% of teachers leave
the job because they are
dissatisfied!

5. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
The source of “dissatisfaction” is not just about
salary.
Working conditions
• Work load
• Work/life balance
Leadership issues
• Autonomy
• Respect
• Appreciation

6. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
States with
poor working
conditions
have numerous
unfilled jobs.

7. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
Key observations from visiting 200 schools in 50
states indicate how much TRUST and AGENCY
matter
“We find PEAK (purpose, essentials, agency, knowledge)
cultures in our innovative businesses and non-profits
where employees have the agency to discover and
invent. But we don’t find PEAK in most schools.”
“They [transformational leaders] scale conditions that
empower their teachers and students to create compelling
learning experiences. These leaders trust their teachers,
treating them as partners .. They give permission to innovate
and repeat this message emphatically … They trust teachers
to take small steps leading to big change. (169,189)”

8. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
Research supports INVESTING in
TRUST
“A change in trust in management of just one-third of a standard deviation
[~10%] has
the same life satisfaction effect as a 31% change in income,” or as Covey,
Link, and Merrill summarize in The Speed of Trust: “A 10% increase in trust
has the same effect as a 30% increase in pay. ”
With the financial challenges facing school districts in every state across the
country, investing in trust makes sound financial sense and is likely to increase
teacher retention rate and be a competitive advantage for recruitment.
Helliwell, John F. and Huang, Haifant (2008) “Well-being
and trust in the workplace” NATIONAL BUREAU OF
ECONOMIC RESEARCH 1050 Massachusetts
Avenue Cambridge, MA. NBER WORKING PAPER
14589 http://www.nber.org/papers/w14589

9. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
High Trust
• Improved outcomes
• Innovation
• Collaboration
• Execution
• Loyalty
Low Trust
• Bureaucracy
• Politics
• Disengagement
• Turnover
• Churn
“Low Trust Taxes v. High Trust
Dividends”

10. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
Teachers are not the only ones hurt by a lack of empowerment. We are fooling
ourselves if we think students aren’t aware and affected when teachers feel
disempowered and disrespected. A discouraged teacher is less likely to be
innovative and students will rarely perform to expectations for teachers in whom
they perceive a low-status. Students need teachers who are highly competent role
models.
Students are impacted when
teachers are not trusted or
given agency and
autonomy.

11. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
We conclude:
Administrators (and districts) that have earned a
reputation for being both trusting and trustworthy
create better working conditions, thus resulting in less
teacher turnover and more success in attracting
excellent teachers.

12. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
Now to explore small changes with big
impacts

13. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
Teacher
Tools
Curriculum
Education
Philosophy
The teacher is the single
point of distribution where
all school building
education meets the
student

14. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
Follow the
money and you
can find who in
the district is
trusted

15. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
Disconnect
• Party with greatest responsibility for education
distribution is excluded from the money flow and least
trusted to make purchasing decisions
• This inherent friction is the cultural foundation upon
which the teacher – administrator relationship is built
• Creating a culture of trust and agency is hard, doing so
on top of such a disconnected foundation is incredibly
challenging

16. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
Business 101
• If Education were a business and the student is the
consumer and there was only one single distribution
channel to reach the consumer….Business 101 says
that distribution channel is the single most important
piece of the puzzle
• If that distribution channel breaks, the business goes
bankrupt

17. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
Money Matters
• Money is empowering
• Money requires trust - getting responsibility of money
requires a relationship built on trust and accountability
• Money is necessary – teachers need to get
supplemental resources quickly and nimbly to meet the
daily needs of students

18. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
Money is There
• Every district has funds earmarked for discretionary
classroom related purchases
• Most of it is locked within the school principal’s P&L
shielded by endless red tape and antiquated
bureaucracy

19. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
Unlock the
Money
• Every district has the means to
create a foundation of culture built
on trust by giving teachers budgets
for their classroom
• Technology exists that would not
require any sacrifice of
accountability
• This is practical, it’s viable, and
does not require any professional
development and business culture

20. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX

21. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
TRICK
TRUST
RESPECT
INDEPENDENCE
COLLABORATION
KINDNESS
MAY 7, 2019

22. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
Moonshots: Student Agency
Students
should be the
drivers of
their own
education.
The role of
the teacher is
guiding,
curating, and
supporting

23. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
Moonshots:
Real World Work
Students must
produce learning
projects with real
world applications
and an authentic
audience.
www.thecampanile.org
https://verdemagazine.com/

24. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
Moonshots: Passion Building
Students must
learn to embrace
failure, rigor,
dedication, and
passion in work
and learning.
Educators must
model this.

25. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
Moonshots: Mastery Based and
Leveraging Technology
To support flexibility with learning
and classroom time, blending
learning is the key. It is the best of
both face-to-face and online
learning.
Students must work to meet
expectations and learning
standards, as opposed to earning
grades. Learning for improvement
and growth, not peer competition

26. March 4-7, 2019 Austin, TX
This is NOT the end … contact us
anytime!
Glenn “Max” McGee
maxmcgee@hyasearch.com 224.234.6129
www.glennmaxmcgee.com
Jamie Rosenberg 786.309.5811
jrosenberg@classwallet.com
Esther Wojcicki 650.329.3701
esther@globalmoonshots.org
www.thewojway.com