Avoiding Talent Inflation

Catherine Addor
Dec 26, 2025
3 min read

There is a quiet pattern in schools that is so familiar it often goes unnamed.

It begins with competence. Reliability. The ability to see what needs to be done and step in without being asked. It begins with trust. The kind that leaders rely on, colleagues lean into, and students benefit from every single day.

Then, slowly, the asks start to multiply.

Not because the teacher asked for more, but because they can do more. They handle complexity with grace. They don’t complain. When something needs fixing, they are the name that comes up in the room.

A committee here.
A new course prep there.
A struggling student was placed intentionally.
A pilot initiative.
A leadership role that was “just for this year.”
Coverage. Mentoring. Emotional labor. Institutional memory.

None of these things are wrong on their own. What becomes dangerous is when they accumulate quietly, without conversation, compensation, or consent.

Over time, the job doesn’t just grow, it inflates, stretching beyond what any one person can reasonably sustain.

This is talent inflation: When demonstrated excellence raises expectations faster than capacity, support, or structural acknowledgment.

It is one of the most common (and least discussed) reasons our most effective educators eventually leave.

What Talent Inflation Looks Like

You are repeatedly asked because “you’ll do it well.”

Extra responsibilities become assumed, not acknowledged.

Your job description quietly doubles while your title does not.

Saying no feels like letting people down or risking how you’re perceived.

Eventually, the work becomes unsustainable… and the system is shocked when you leave.

This isn’t about lack of commitment.

It’s about the lack of boundaries in systems that reward overextension.

The Hidden Cost

When talented educators leave, schools don’t lose “one person.”

They lose institutional knowledge, relational trust, instructional leadership, and culture.

The cycle repeats with the next highly capable teacher stepping into the same invisible trap.

Before the work grows again, ask yourself…

In which areas has my role expanded without a formal conversation?
Which tasks rely on my competence rather than my position?
What work would be disrupted if I stopped tomorrow?
Am I being developed or quietly depleted?
What am I teaching others about my availability through my yeses?

Actionable Steps to Interrupt Talent Inflation

This is about sustainability, not selfishness.

Name the invisible work. Keep a running list of what you do that is not in your job description. Visibility matters.
Shift from automatic yes to reflective pause. Try: “Let me think about how this fits with my current responsibilities.”
Ask the equity question. Who else could do this with support? Capacity-building is leadership, too.
Request role clarity, not relief. Boundaries are strongest when they are structural rather than emotional.
Advocate for recognition or redistribution. Extra work should come with time, compensation, or scope adjustment or it shouldn’t be extra.

Remember: retention is a system's responsibility. You are not required to burn out to prove your value.

Too often, educators leave not because they have stopped caring, but because caring has become unsustainable.

Talent inflation leads people to believe that endurance is professionalism and that exhaustion is the price of excellence. It teaches systems to rely on goodwill rather than design, and individuals to conflate being indispensable with being valued.

Here is the truth schools need to reckon with:

Sustainability is not a personal failing. It is a leadership responsibility.