One Word: TRUST.
by Caleb Meeks, Director of Innovation and Africa/Asia Program Manager
July 30, 2024
I’ve been creating a series of Instagram videos showcasing Flint’s six core values, and it’s made me think deeply about why these values work so well. Flint’s methods are not just efficient—they deliver significant impact. I’ve seen it in action time and time again: Flint consistently achieves remarkable results. But why?
Flint’s core values are:
Listen and Learn
Commit to Excellence
Put People First
Amplify Local Leaders
Address the Whole
Reach a Clear Goal
The key question is: how do these values lead to the efficiency and lasting impact we see? I believe the answer lies in one word—trust.
Listen and Learn
Listening and learning build trust with the people we work with every day. They want to work with Flint teachers and coaches because they’ve seen our team actively and radically listen as true friends and partners.
Commit to Excellence
Committing to excellence means prioritizing quality and integrity over speed or quantity at every level. I trust my co-workers because Flint’s work culture always asks how things can be done better while staying generous and respectful.
Put People First
Putting people first counteracts the temptation to focus on outcomes rather than people. A genuine focus on relationships gets noticed. Some amazing local leaders we work with are very selective about their partners. But they trust us because they too prioritize people over projects.
Amplify Local Leaders
Amplifying local leaders is, in my opinion, the core of our secret sauce! Hiring caring experts who live in the communities where we work allows our programs to benefit from the trust and rapport they have built up in the community over decades. We build on their established networks of other trusted partners and can trust that our programs will be expertly adapted to navigate local culture.
Address the Whole
Since our teams keep the whole system and whole person in mind, I know I can trust our plans much more than a quick fix. Addressing the whole doesn’t mean we try to meet every need. It means we look for strategic gaps in needs to unlock new potential.
Reach a Clear Goal
Reaching a clear goal fosters trust in several key areas:
It provides our donors with a clear understanding of our objectives, ensuring transparency in our mission.
It helps our teams stay aligned and confident that we are moving in the right direction together.
It builds trust with our partners climbing out of poverty, as they witness our commitment to delivering on our promises.
These systems of trust compound and self-reinforce like a positive feedback loop. They produce real economic efficiencies which, in turn, means we can do even more good.
That’s the value of trust.
