Dr Darryl's Blog

I've been intrigued over the last couple of months how leaders have been so vulnerable to those around them in terms of their leadership or executive team. Vulnerable?

These execs sift, distill, fabricate and filter the information that is passed through to the leader at the top. Hence, the leader at the top could well be compromised or indeed, be accused of making poor decisions.

How do you get around this? The leader can't do everything and isn't the leader supposed to be able to rely on the execs around him or her?

It's a difficult one, but it is suggested here that it's the leader's job to ensure that they are in touch with all levels of the operation. Yes, I know that they don't have time, that they have a million other things to do, that they are not necessarily operational and need to be strategic.

I'm reminded of the MD of a large manufacturing operation who made it his business to weekly come out of his office and walk the factory floor. He'd not only get to know his employees who were absolutely delighted that the big boss saw their work and took an interest in them, but more particularly, he was gaining information about how the company was travelling from the shop floor.

How do you keep in touch with what's going on through your organisation?

(see "Articles" for an expanded article on this topic)

I was privileged to hear Prof Martin Seligman from the University of Pennsylvania speak here as part of his visit to South Australia as the current "Thinker in Residence" sponsored by both the State Government and St Peter's College.

In his address (as it happened, on St Valentine's Day!), he highlighted the two greatest strengths of great teachers.

Now, I do a good deal of career guidance with adolescents (as well as adults) and without doubt, students tell me that their favourite subjects are those where they had a great teacher or they got on really well with the teacher. Occasionally of course, they also say that they like a subject because they are good at it or that it comes "easy" to them.

However, I was very much intrigued to hear what Seligman had to say. What were those two greatest strengths of the great teachers?

Humour and Zest.

Being light-hearted and having a joke with the class and not being so intense or serious is an obvious strength. Further, having energy and enthusiasm and passion for both the subject as well as the students is also a significant strength.

You are probably nodding in agreement as you reflect on your own schooling and the teachers that you considered the best.

What's interesting though, is that Universities and educational institutions don't select on personality factors like humour and zest. They select on grade point average.

How then are we ever going to get the best teachers to train our youth?  Yes, a few teachers who gain the necessary grade point average also happen coincidentally to have pleasant personalities gifted with humour and zest.

But what chance do we really have of having a vibrant educational system when the selection process for teachers is fundamentally flawed?  None really.....