“What are Your Nonnegotiable Values?”
“What are your nonnegotiable values?” For two weeks in June 2025 I sat next to Wambula Saka, our GSA Operations Manager, as he posed this very question of the forty finalists for teaching positions at Good Soil Academy. The photograph above reflects the candidates who successfully answered that question.
Both Good Soil Partners and Good Soil Academy share four nonnegotiable values. We seek to:
Always honor God;
Live generous lives;
Add value to others; and
Always do the right thing.
At Good Soil Academy our primary task is to impart these goals into the lives of our students at the soul level. Our hope and prayer is that these values will become part of who they are as a person; that they will become nonnegotiable. This task is on the forefront of our minds as we prepare for the 2026-2027 school year. As I speak to our students at Orientation on the subject of Good Soil Academy’s values, my goal will be to impart to them how valuable it is to have values.
When we enter our world with nonnegotiable values that point outside of ourselves God gives us the following benefits:
Direction;
A purpose
We change things;
We make better decisions;
Our lives are transformed; and,
We are used to transform the lives of others.;
We experience joy and fulfillment.
Conversely, it is my thesis and that of many other thinkers and thought leaders that when we lack values, when our values are negotiable, or when our values are self-oriented we become weak leaders, we lack direction, we struggle for purpose, we are ineffective at change, our decisions are erratic, our lives are entrenched, we rarely are a positive influence in the lives of others, and we rarely experience a sense of joy or fulfillment.
So, permit me to ask you Wambula’s favorite interview question; “what are your nonnegotiable values?” If after reflection, you realize that you really have never formed core values, or that your core values are letting you down, then I respectfully suggest that the four core values above are a great place to start.
Below is a picture of the class of 2029. Soon I’ll be sending you a picture of the class of 2030. It is our prayer for every student that she will live a transformative life through her nonnegotiable values.
For His Kingdom,
Dean