Success Against the Odds - Five lessons in how to achieve the impossible; the story of Teach First

Ten years ago, when 28-year-old, McKinsey-trained American management consultant Brett Wigdortz told his employers that he was leaving to "found an organisation designed to address educational disadvantage in Britain", they laughed. He was, after all, an under-qualified immigrant with no public policy experience, and no experience in teaching; he had never led anything before, never managed anyone. And he thought he was going to crack the hardest nut of all the class-ridden injustices of the British education system. This is the story of how a tiny independent charity has succeeded against all odds. Having met nothing but resistance in its early years, Teach First is today Britain's largest employer of graduates. It receives over 7000 applications for 1000 teaching positions annually in the most challenging schools in the country. In this searingly honest account of how he got Teach First to where it is today, Brett shows how by combining the best of his McKinsey training with a personal passion, he has turned a simple idea into a runaway success. He offers tips and advice based on everything he has learned along the way How to write a business plan, How to hire the right team through to How to balance the books and How to become a CEO with zero qualifications. This is a story about turning no into yes. It's a story to encourage anyone else out there with a vision for change to go out and make it happen.

Brett Wigdortz has led Teach First as its CEO since its launch in July 2002. Before coming to London, he worked for McKinsey in Indonesia, Singapore, and Manila - focusing on retail banking, organisational effectiveness, and Asian microfinance. He has also worked as a journalist in Asia and as a researcher at the East-West Center in Honolulu. He was recently named the 2007 UK Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year and the 2010 CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education) European Leadership Award. Brett is married with two small children.