VOLUME VI – CHAPTER XVIII
STAFF FIRST AND STUDENT SECOND
There may be causes where the individual’s ego tries to get ahead of the Institution, but your skill lies in getting these high performers to get in line with the Institutions objective and goals.
The most essential thing is for you to build a culture of “I like my work here, appreciate the purpose and values of my institution”
Another area demanding your attention will be how you handle the seniors. Their experience is of course valuable but complacency should not set in. When the author was asked by CBSE to inspect he was surprised to find many staff who had been in the School for 20 years and more. They were all happy about their work. The author found that rewarding long time employees gives them a sense of belonging and they had even rejected lucrative offers from other Schools. The Principal gave them due respect, consulted them on all important matters and while organising committees put them along with juniors, so that they may give the Juniors the benefit of their experience and at the same time benefit from the knowledge of the Juniors regard the new trends. It was mentoring and reverse mentoring at the same time. Through her actions behaviour and approach the Principal made everyone feel that the School is theirs and roles and responsibilities were assigned according to their strengths, taste and talents. The Principal created among them a constant awareness that they are contributing to the School’s advancement
Along with this the Principal took great pains to develop especially among the juniors a good amount of employee confidence in the Institution. Vacancies are filled up by giving the staff opportunities to rise from within. Entry from outside is avoided. The Principal told the author “If we take care of our staff, they will take care of our students”
This type of thinking is new. Normally it is said “the customer is King” but Mr.Vineet Nayar CEO, HCL Technologies has elaborated this thought in his book “Employees first Customer second” published by Harvard University Press. He says that the present organisational set up is based on the army. The hierarchy is there but are we motivating our ‘troops’ – staff ? The real test and real value arise in the interface between the staff and their ‘customers’ – students and parents. That is where ‘They cross swords’ there is no question of ‘governance’ We are here to aim her to create value to our ‘customers’
Employee first should become a philosophy. When your transfer ownership to the staff and you make yourself accountable to the staff, then real and high performance automatically blossoms.
Management is not missile mathematics, it is just common sense in action.
Nayar quotes the example of John Chambers who in an interview to New York Times said that he was used to a command and control system but had changed his style to a more collaborative, consultative one. Like John Chambers you must be able to read the tea leaves. You have to alter your management style to suit and exploit the opportunities and the new talent that you are getting. He puts a question “when we preach democracy to Nations, why can’t we have it in our institution”?
Nayar further says ‘President Obama fascinated the American public on what he could potentially do by saying we will do it. He increased the belief in self. “Whenever you assign any work to a staff, say we shall get this done”
Nayar in a humorous but serious vein says “I have trust in my incompetence. I am clear in my mind that I am surrounded with smarter people than me. The smart thing for me to do is let the smart people do the smart things rather than I try do it”
Can you trust your incompetency ?
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VOLUME VI – CHAPTER XIX
THE SCHOOL MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE – YOUR PRIDE AND NEIGHBOUR’S ENVY
The composition of the Management Committee is another aspect deserving your attention. The members have to be chosen in such a way that they will be persons who will bring wisdom, expertise and discipline to the School. Their presence should add prestige to the School. In a private School it is your duty to politely suggest to the Chairman about this. In a K.V. the Principal has the responsibility of suggesting new names to the local Management Committee once in 3 years. At that time he should bear this in mind and suggest members who can add value to the School – Eminent educationist, industrialist, social worker, news paper correspondent etc,
In the running of the School, you “may need to solve problems not by removing the cause but by designing the way forward even if the cause remains in place” to use the wise words of Edward de Bono. During those testing periods you will find the value of the advice and good offers of these committee members.
At K.V. Coimbatore the author included Shri.E.Venkatesalu, Shri.N.Chinnasami Nadiu, two eminent Head masters and Smt. Chandrakanti Govindarajulu an eminent Industrialist and Correspondent of a group of Educational Institutions. When the School required 15 acres of land he got the help in getting that piece of land because of their influence with the local textile giants.
VOLUME VI – CHAPTER XX
VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL GROWTH
Your job, in these rapidly changing educational environment is to make your staff understand why they are afraid of something new and make them think what they would do otherwise if they were not afraid. Make them feel that they have a say in what is happening so that it is they who decide the change.
Mr.Curtis Bateman of the Spencer Johnson Foundation is emphatic about this when he says “the more effectively an Institution adapts itself to change, the better its chances of survival. It is like rafting down the rapids in a river”
Do you wish to remain one of those who has not read Bateman’s book “Who moved my Cheese?”. Better late than never.
‘Growth’ does not refer to yours only. Your growth depends on how you grow others. Your intellectual growth should help increase your sensitivity to your associates. Your emotional growth should increase your stability so that you can help the staff grow.
As a Principal can you help in the lateral growth of your staff, make them take it as a “learning stone” and enable them to explore the world outside their cocoon. While vertical growth is focused upon for reasons like social prestige and pear pressure, lateral growth can be thought of for personal satisfaction and knowledge acquisition
While one can acquire degrees like M.Sc., M.Phil., Ph.D., in the same field. Principal Dr.Usha Nandakumar of Sraswathi Venkatraman Matric Higher Secondary School has acquired eight degrees in different areas, just for the pleasure of enriching herself. This horizontal growth has motivated her to learn something new and also use it for the benefit of her School.
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Prayer must emerge from the effect to the causes. The individual Self has to yearn for the Supreme Self. It must emerge from a pure heart. Prayer drinking cup must be clean, both on the out side and the inside. Prayer should not arise out of the tongue, as music rises out of the gramophone record. When the song does not arise from your depth, when you are not involved in it, how can it draw God unto you? You must achieve confidence, then the self-confidence will lead to self-sacrifice and self-realisation. – Sathya Sai Baba
