A Special Way to Give Something Back

Achievement opens the door to many opportunities others don't have. Among them is the probability that our experiences will add depth to our perspective. When we practice our vocation seriously, continuously investing in our intellectual capital, we enrich our mind as well as our pocketbook. Growing knowledge and success provide increased self-confidence in our abilities—confidence that we have something to offer, something to say. And something to give. 

There comes a natural, transitional time when many achievers begin to divert part of their attention away from themselves and their business and toward others. That attention takes many forms. We can give money, and we do. But we can give in another important way—we can give of ourselves. Sharing what is in your mind may be the greatest gift of all. 

Giving to Education

Every employer knows the basic skills of workers entering the workplace is declining. Spelling, writing a decent letter, punctuality, and reliability are basics becoming more scarce. The problem, and remedy, is partly in our educational system. 

During the 1980s we worked to improve teacher pay, stiffen graduation requirements and update physical facilities. It isn't working. 

The growth of private schools also continued in the '80s. Many of the best elementary and secondary schools in America are now private. They have grown and excelled in spite of often paying teachers less than public schools, in spite of spending less to educate each student than public schools and in spite of having class sizes similar to public schools. What gives? 

Here's a magazine column I wrote in May, 1990: 

I'd like your opinion. Your vote, actually. The issue is important, especially in May. 

May is cap and gown month, graduation time. The time when graduates finally get an opportunity to "walk their talk." We go to the commencement and, more often than not, listen to a speaker that motivates the graduate about as much as a car with a rusty rocker panel. We eat the cake, drink the coffee, read the cards, count the money, and give our best wishes. 

When the smiling is over and tears have gone, we return to our parental world, assured that Terry and Teresa Terrific received a great elementary and secondary education and are ready for college or career. Really? 

I'm not so sure. More and more, we're graduating students to a workplace they're not prepared for. At The Byrne Companies we take the basic skills like writing and spelling seriously. We're one of the few businesses that gives a spelling test to all employment applicants. 

Frequently, the results provide us doubt about our educators. One applicant stands out in my mind. He had recently graduated from Iowa State. He flunked our spelling test miserably. I remember asking, "Ron, how could you graduate from a great school like Iowa State and not be able to spell?" He bravely looked me square in the eye and said, "Mr. Byrne, it's a shame, isn't it." 

To get a high school diploma in Japan, the student needs six years of English. In America, only one high school graduate in 500 has had three years of Japanese. 

In 1989, the budget of the training program at IBM was greater than the entire budget of Harvard. Motorola says that between 20 and 40 percent of its applicants fail math and English tests written at the seventh to ninth grade level. And we're supposed to compete in a world economy? 

It seems when we discuss the quality of education we talk money. More likely we're talking teacher pay. Remember the vote I asked for? Well, it's related to money, too. Imagine that you're asked to vote yes or no on the following question: Are teachers underpaid? 

My answer: Yes they are, and no they aren't. 

As in other occupations, we can point to teachers that are terrific and to others who are terrible. Unlike most other occupations, however, teachers aren't effectively measured. The marginal ones make the same money as the excellent ones. That's the real problem with American education. And that's why some teachers make too much, and others make too little. 

Our good teachers are seriously underpaid. Yes, it's time we did something about it. But first, we need some help from the teachers. We need their participation in finding ways to determine who the great teachers are so we can financially reward them. 

It's not the taxpayer who's holding back teacher pay. It's the system—a system that insists at contract time that all teachers are created equal. They're not. 

When teachers gain the courage to be measured, our classrooms will come alive with excitement and creativity. Our graduates will be better prepared to make their contribution. And our taxpayers will respond with the additional money that the great teachers so thoroughly deserve. 

And I'll be at the front of the line. 

For years, America has been trying to buy better education. It hasn't worked. And it won't. 

There are three missing links. The first, as the magazine column suggests, is teacher measurement. We need to bring our educators into the free enterprise, supply-and-demand fold. We must find a way to reward teachers on the basis of achievement. The only way it can be done is to develop and install measurement criteria. 

The second missing link isn't in our schools, it's in our homes. We've made parents out of too many teachers. Classroom time is used to provide discipline that is the responsibility of parents. More working mothers and more broken marriages translate to less parental involvement. These trends burden our schools and teachers. Parents aren't playing a strong role in public education. American education will stay on the ropes until they do. 

Why are private schools increasingly providing better educations with less money? A large reason is parental involvement. Simply put, parents who send their offspring to private schools are more engrossed in their children's education.

The third missing link in education is the business community. The private sector of our economy employs more graduates than any other group of employers. Yet finding, even occasionally, a high school teacher who really understands and enthusiastically supports our free enterprise system is difficult. More often, they are victims of what they hear on the evening news or read in their newspaper—a superficial account of corporate mischief. That is not the free enterprise system I know, the one that exists in the real world. 

Giving of ourselves to students is a very special and uniquely important contribution. Today's students, especially at the high school level, lack role models. They go to school and spend most of their time with teachers who know as much about entrepreneurship and achievement as I know about molecular biology. While molecular biology will never be important to me, odds are good the world of business, entrepreneurship, and achievement will be extremely important to many students. 

Students need firsthand, front row opportunities to discuss risk-taking, the fear of failure, business ethics, and the realities of the marketplace. They aren't getting that opportunity, and I'm fearful they won't until the business community gets involved in the classroom. Our school administrators have been remiss in not asking for business involvement. The business community has been even more remiss in not advocating it. 

Does your community have a school-business partnership? How about Junior Achievement? If so, get involved. Or tell your school administrators you are ready to volunteer time to one or more interested students. 

Our American educational system isn't merely behind. It's lost. We need involvement from the business community to help get it back on track. 

The next time an educator tells you we can solve our educational problem with what's inside our pocketbooks, pleasantly but firmly disagree. And do something more. Offer to go to his or her school and give some of what's inside your head. Offer your perspective and life experience. 

Give of your mind—a very special kind of educational giving. 

Giving As a Mentor

Mentoring is typically a one-on-one relationship between a mentor and a protege. It can also be a group activity between a mentor and two or more mentees. 

A mentor relationship is based on the desire of one party to seek counsel from another, coupled with the willingness of the other party to freely and unselfishly give it. That sounds like a one-way proposition, but it isn't. Both parties win. 

The mentor-mentee or mentor-protege relationship occurs between someone identified as "senior" and one or more others considered “junior." An effective mentor relationship builds trust between the parties, facilitates effective communication, and encourages both formal and informal interaction. The relationship often involves a specific interest area but can also be general in nature. 

Mentoring is more than an opportunity. When you make a mentoring commitment it's a responsibility. As in other areas of your professional life, expectations are reality. So don't make promises you won't keep. 

Effective, helpful mentors are available as agreed and aren't on a pedestal. On the contrary, they approach mentoring with a disposition not only to teach but also to learn. They consider their knowledge less than perfect and are dedicated to continued learning. 

Mentees and proteges also make a commitment—to be serious about personal growth, about maintaining inquisitiveness, and about being appreciative of the mentor's contribution. The road runs both ways. 

Is the greatest gift we can give in our pocketbook? Or is it in our mind? Support our future by looking for ways to share your intellectual capital with students.