According to an article in Monday’s Wall Street Journal, a new report from MSCI found that the “best-paid CEOs tend to run some of the worst-performing companies and vice versa.”

This, of course, raises the question of the effectiveness of the movement over the past 30 years to compensate CEOs with equity pay such as stock options and restricted stock.  It has been thought that such CEO compensation properly aligns their incentives with those of their companies’ shareholders. 

Having worked with multiple education organizations to help them develop and implement their strategy, I know first-hand how important it is to them to hire, develop, and retain great teachers.  It is generally acknowledged as the most important thing schools need to do to improve their students’ education.

An article and briefing in The Economist this week examines the issue in detail, hoping to dispel the myth that great teachers are born and cannot be made.  The article argues that “the myth of the natural-born teacher” causes schools to focus more on hiring and firing teachers rather than development.  And, surprise, research finds that “a blend of subject knowledge and teaching craft” is really the most important aspect of teaching.

Even if you have a strategy, but don’t yet have strategic measures, you should invest in developing them now because it is never too late to find out how you are doing on executing your strategy – unless it is already five years down the road.

Identifying and developing your strategic measures can have several benefits.