Ambition is something to be admired and usually when someone is described as ambitious it is meant as a compliment. We generally encourage our young people in particular to be ambitious, but is it right to be ambitious at the expense of others and possibly at the expense of a nation?
Persons sometimes, pursue and attain leadership or managerial positions and then struggle to deliver the mandate required of that position. What should a person do in such a situation? One school of thought is that you should fake it until you make it. If this involves equipping yourself with the knowledge and skills required to deliver the mandate, this may be an acceptable response. However, if it means engaging in pretence while failing to deliver your mandate, then this should not be considered an acceptable response.
When one assumes a leadership or managerial role, some criticism is expected and can serve to assist well-meaning persons in delivering improved performance. For this to occur, leaders and managers must be well-meaning and willing to listen, because it is usually not easy to hear that you are failing in the delivery of your duties or responsibility. In Anguilla, this message is often not delivered in the kindest manner.
We often criticise the persons charged with the leadership and management of our Health and Education sectors, as we hold them responsible for the level of service offered by their institutions. Recently, the spate of violence associated with students of the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive School (ALHCS) has resulted in persons pointing fingers at the leadership and management of the ALHCS. Some persons are questioning whether the Management Teams of the ALHCS and the Education Department are fit for purpose. Do the persons who occupy leadership and management positions in the ALHCS and the Education Department possess the required skills and temperament to manage the challenges the school is facing with some of its students. Though the number of students who engage in acts of violence may be small, the negative impact on the school population generally appears significant.
But, the growing violence associated with the school should not be treated solely as a school-related problem to be addressed by the Education authorities. It is bigger than the Education Sector. The Education Sector cannot, however, ignore the role that it also must play in addressing the increased level of violence among secondary school-age children. This leads us back to the question – Are the persons who occupy leadership and management positions in the ALHCS and the Education Department capable of successfully discharging their role in addressing and curbing violence among students of the ALHCS?
Well-meaning leaders and managers regularly engage in self-reflection. Will the leadership and management of the ALHCS and the Department of Education engage in self-reflection? If, after honest self-reflection, they conclude that they are lacking in the skills and temperament necessary to respond appropriately to the growing violence among students, what is expected of them? Are they willing to and capable of developing the skills and temperament required to provide the appropriate response? If not, should they be resigning their office and allowing opportunities for the appointment of persons better suited to addressing the existing problems?
Self-reflection, resulting in a response best suited to the needs of an institution or a nation rather than an individual, is an ideal. It is, however, an ideal that is unlikely to be easily achieved. Ego and self-preservation are often significant motivating factors that prevent the ideal from being realised. One can only hope, however, that self-reflection on the part of education officials involved in the leadership and management of the ALHCS and the Education Department, will at least result in a concerted effort to take on board criticism and to adjust their responses and attitudes, where necessary, to more successfully play their role in addressing the increasing levels of violence exhibited by secondary school-age children.
