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Freedom and Responsibility

There are companies where people walk by the rubbish on the floor in the office, leaving it for someone else to pick it up, and there are companies where people in the office lean down to pick up the rubbish they see, as they would at home. We try hard to be the latter, a company where everyone feels a sense of responsibility to do the right thing to help the company. Picking up the rubbish is the metaphor for taking care of problems, small and large, and never thinking “that’s not my job.” We don’t have rules about picking up the real or metaphoric rubbish. We try to create a sense of ownership so that this behaviour comes naturally.

Our goal is to inspire people more than manage them. We trust our teams to do what they think is best for S4A— giving them lots of freedom, power, and information in support of their decisions. In turn, this generates a sense of responsibility and self-discipline that drives us to do great work that benefits the company.

• Our core philosophy is people over process. With this approach, we are a more flexible, stimulating, creative, collaborative and successful together 

• The values of S4A will determine who gets rewarded or let go. Below are the specific behaviors and skills we care about most and look for in our team.

Judgment

• You are good at using data to inform your intuition

• You make decisions based on the long term, not near term

Communication

• You are clear and well spoken when addressing parents and children 

• You listen well and seek to understand before reacting

• You maintain calm poise in stressful situations to draw out the clearest thinking

• You provide honest, helpful, timely feedback to team members

Curiosity

• You learn rapidly and eagerly

• You contribute effectively outside of your specialty

• You seek alternate perspectives

Courage

• You say what you think, when it’s in the best interest of S4A, even if it is uncomfortable

• You make tough decisions without agonsing

• You take smart risks and are open to possible failure

• You question actions inconsistent with our values

Passion

• You inspire others

• You care intensely about our parents and children we work with

• You are quietly confident and openly humble

Selflessness

• You seek what is best for S4A, rather than what is best for yourself 

• You make time to help team members

• You share information openly and proactively

Innovation

• You create new ideas that prove useful

• You challenge assumptions, and suggest better approaches

• You thrive on change

Integrity

• You only say things about fellow team members that you say to their face

• You admit mistakes freely and openly

• You treat people with respect regardless of their status or disagreement with you

Impact

• You accomplish important work tasks

• You make your team better

• You focus on results over process