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Showing posts from February 11, 2007

LEADERSHIP

We have reached a real low point in leadership, lower than at any other time in recent history. A leader, is an individual who upholds what is best for all people, even if it may not be in his or her own interest to do so. A leadership role must be approached as a temporary role, preserving something greater than the self—principles of enduring and lasting value. This embodies an attitude that focuses on the task at hand and not on what the leader may gain from the position. This idea seems at odds with what we see happening around us. In all too many arenas, we see leaders holding nothing in trust for those they purport to serve, instead merely advancing their own ideals and hopes. It is often difficult to tell whether our leaders are serving themselves or us. And it is all too common to find leaders simply helping themselves to privilege, prosperity and power. Where are our leaders leading?Throughout time, leaders who have exhibited the proper kind of custodianship—that is, leaders w

PRESSURE

A young boy was fascinated to see the stirrings of life in a cocoon. The moth inside was struggling to free itself, but the process was slow and tedious. Thinking he would help the moth, he slit the cocoon with his pocketknife, and the insect emerged freely. But it had none of the expected colour, it couldn’t fly, and it soon died. The boy later learned that a moth’s struggle to free itself is a necessary part of its development, and that the process stimulates body fluids that give luster to its wings. Most of us must confess that we find it difficult to endure times of suffering and trial patiently. However, bitter disappointments, painful suffering, and shattering sorrow can be a means of strengthening our character.

DISCRIMINATION

The question, often is asked or wondered: Does the colour of one’s skin or religion, or background affect one’s ability to do a job well or give an indication of one’s level of intelligence or motivation? No, of course it doesn’t. So why are ethnic minority people statistically more likely to be unemployed than their counterparts in general category? Do the above factors really influence one’s employability prospects and, if that really is the case, how can one redress the balance?It’s a long time that it is made in some countries illegal to treat a person less favourably than others on ethnic grounds. Yet there are still significant discrepancies for ethnic groups in the society and in the workplace. According to some research, ethnic minority workers receive less pay than their other counterparts, and are more likely to be unemployed.In essence, people should not be discriminated in the fields of employment, education, training, housing and the provision of goods, facilities and serv

SCORING HIGH MARKS

Successful management practices are regularly emulated and imbibed by Educational Institutions which are now functioning like corporate houses and like them are employing standardized methods, standardized application with expectation of uniform products. Education however should not be only product oriented and neither should there be any insistence on a uniform output because we do not produce bottled drinks in our institutions !Have our educational institutions become like production houses and the students like products, where all that matter is just the scores and not the overall development ? it is an accepted truth today that students differ as individuals and especially as individual learners. Their styles of learning are different; their backgrounds are different, namely, culture, religion, language. They are different in their intelligence. Despite this, a closer look of education reform reveals that almost all changes mainly focus on mechanism of improvement of test scores o