Rutherford Learning Group: Mission, Vision, and Core Values
Mission
To significantly enhance the quality of education for children and youth through the personal and professional development of educators.
What we mean by Mission: Our mission speaks to our long-term purpose, the reason we exist, and what constitutes our true North. Mission is foundational. It pertains to all our endeavors. It is long-lasting and doesn’t change from day to day or client to client. Mission serves to provide our primary compass bearing, even in uncertain times. Our mission provides real time, dynamic organizational direction. It is our best and most clear expression of our reason for existence.
Key words and phrases…
Significantly: We mean significant in two ways. First, we intend that our client gains are in areas of significance- important aspects of school function such as student learning, teacher development, and school culture improvement. Secondly, we mean to make a statistically significant (measureable and substantial) impact on client outcomes.
Quality of education: We intend to join with clients to enhance the value and long-term utility of each student’s education, not simply to improve test scores.
Personal and professional: RLG’s logo text reads “Development and Inspiration for Educators.” It is important to us that clients grow in areas of the head and the heart.
Educators: This is our niche. Teaching, learning, and education leadership is our territory. We only work with education clients- no others.
Vision
A legacy of substantial and enduring client development
What we mean by vision: Vision is a mental image of a desired future state. Vision is specific; it is tangible. A functioning vision provides energy, focus, and a sense of urgency. A vision enables us to prioritize our resources towards mission fulfillment. It helps us decide what should be done first, second, what should not be done, or left to do later.
Key words and phrases…
Legacy: We intend for each client’s gains to outlive our relationship with that client, and provide benefits to children and youth well beyond RLG’s existence.
Substantial: Meaningful and measureable improvement, not trivial or inconsequential.
Enduring: We seek to make a difference for clients in areas that have a long shelf life- personal and organizational capacity, culture shaping, and skill mastery.
Core Values
Core Values: Excellence, Design, Inspiration, Service, Sustainability
What we mean by core value: Core values represent our constitution. They define our rules of engagement, and drive how we behave toward our work, our clients, our resources, and the education community at large.
Key words and phrases…
Excellence: We believe our clients deserve or best, most professional, closest to perfect performance in every endeavor.
Design: We believe in the old carpenter’s adage, “measure twice, cut once.” Whether it’s planning a professional learning session, customizing a keynote address, or creating media resources, we pledge to think it through, do our homework, and bring the best in adult learning theory to bear on each client opportunity.
Inspiration: We believe it’s not enough to have great content. We aim to infuse each client experience and media resource with meaning, inspiration, motivation, and significance.
Service: We embrace servant leadership and service to our clients. We pledge to put the needs and interests of our clients first, to practice humility in all endeavors, and to make decisions based on what’s best for students, teachers, and school leaders.
Sustainability: We believe the long-term goal of a consulting practice ought to be working ourselves out of a job. Our aim is not to have clients become dependent on us, but rather to build their internal capacity to continue the work without our perpetual involvement.