« back

“Tom, you’ve created an incredible program,” I said, “but how did you go from your law practice to creating an institute for education reform?”

“My first concept was just to follow the model of the nonprofit organization you founded, Leadership Network²,” he said. “You’ve used Peter Drucker’s expression to ‘go to the islands of health and strength,’ to convene them, let them talk to each other, and learn from each other. I knew twenty or thirty talented school principals, so I was able to convene them. The problem was that there are 6,500 schools that I wanted to change in the state of Texas. I didn’t have the personal knowledge to go that far, so one thing led to another. We learned how to measure success, how to replicate it, and how to create a best-practices scenario. The essence of what we’re about today is measuring success, figuring out how they’re doing it, and then convincing others to do it, too.”

“From 1994 until today,” I said, “Just for the Kids has had some amazing results.”

“You could say that,” Tom said. “We’re now in sixteen states and just got a grant that will help us to go to all fifty. We’ve trained seven thousand principals and teachers in Texas, and we’re beginning to see the payback in terms of quality and classroom results. So I couldn’t be happier.”

“You’re in your early sixties now,” I said. “What does the future hold? Imagine that we’re meeting here twelve years from now, and let’s assume you’ve finished well, and life has worked out just as you’d hoped. What would all this look like to you then?”

“I’d like to know that I’ve helped a million kids achieve their God-given potential,” he said. “I think that’s what public education is all about, helping children maximize their God-given talents. Everybody has a bundle of gifts, and what the schools can do is to help each child maximize his or her talents. They can’t do it alone: there are so many influences, and many of them are not very good influences. But schools can help kids choose the right ones, and act on them. I’d like to know I’ve helped a whole lot of kids.”

“I like the sound of that,” I said. “But what will you need to do in those intervening years for that to happen?”

“Well, I will need to take Just for the Kids to all fifty states,” he said, “and teach best practices to a hundred thousand principals and teachers. They’re the ones who will change the life of the kids.”

“How many kids are you talking about?” I asked.

“About sixty-five million,” he said. “You remember the old line about the bank robber, Willie Sutton? Somebody asked him why he robbed banks, and he said, ‘Because that’s where the money is.’ Well, we go into the public schools because that’s where the most kids are, and we want to impact those kids with habits and knowledge that will change their lives. The ones who have the hardest time maximizing their human potential are the kids in public schools. I want those kids to have an education as good as the one I had.”

“What effect do you think that would have on the broader culture?” I asked. “Outside of the faith component, a good education does more than anything to help people maximize their human potential. Christ can do it better than the public schools, but the public schools can do so much more than they’re doing now, and that’s my passion.”

“Earlier you said you were looking for whatever it is that you were called to do. Is this it?” I asked.

“My desire was to know I’d performed a public service, which I think I was called to do. Time will tell how much value these things will have, but I believe this is what I’m supposed to be doing. To the best of my judgment, I’m doing God’s will.”

“How do you know God’s will?” I said.

“I don’t know for sure,” he said, “but I pray a lot, and I try to do what I believe is right. The hard thing is to pray for God’s will to be done in your life, that you’ll know it when it comes, and that you’ll be strong enough to go out and follow it.”

“You’ve had some health problems that have caused you to think about the long term and finishing well,” I said. “Do you think most people finish well?”

“As a lawyer, I’ve had occasion to counsel a lot of people, in all stages of their life,” he said. “And based on my experience, I don’t think very many of them finish well unless they’ve found some new mountains to climb. I think that’s what determines if a person is truly successful in life. It’s awfully important to feel like you’re making a difference, and I think it’s probably pretty good medicine, as well.”

What Tom found was something my friend and bestselling author Jim Collins calls a BHAG, “Big Hairy Audacious Goal.” It was a goal that demanded commitment of time and resources, and that would remain challenging for years to come. And it was a challenge that required him to look outside the box for answers and whose impact would be felt for years after his lifetime.

“I think an important part of finishing well,” he told me, “is curiosity, wanting to learn more. Curiosity is very important, because it involves thinking outside yourself.”

Reprinted with permission from Finishing Well, by Bob Buford (Integrity 2004).

Must Read:
Tom Luce and Chris Tucker, Now or Never: How We Can Save Our Public Schools, Dallas, TX: Taylor Publishing, 1995 and Tom’s new book Why Don’t We Do What Works?

1. For more on Just for the Kids, see www.just4kids.org
2. For more information on Leadership Network, see www.leadnet.org

« back