WHO NEXT?
Who next is an oft used phrase?
As a schoolteacher, house master, boarding superintendent , Headmaster and School Principal, I have frequently used this phrase while thinking to myself and at meetings. You see, as a Leader, if you want to ensure stability in any sphere, one must always think about ‘who next’. It’s a sort of succession planning.
Let me explain.
You see a dance, or a concert being presented by your pupils in school. There are some brilliant dancers and actors but unfortunately, they are all in the class that is passing out of school that year. Immediately you say to yourself ‘what happens next year or who next’. There is this worry that there will be no one to take over the baton.
You would have a fantastic Head boy or Head Girl – bubbly, intelligent and one who exhibited such great qualities of Leadership. ‘Who next’ would always crop up in some meeting or the other as the year was drawing to a close.
Every time I trained a debate team in Pune or Dubai there was always that ‘star speaker’. Confident, eloquent, a deep thinker, humourous, natural and a born orator, so to say. They had that innate ability to connect with any audience, with ease. I was confident that he or she would blow the opposition away and usually , they lived up to my expectations. However, a year or two later they were ready to pass out from school, and the question on my mind would always be, ‘who next’. Would we ever win as consistently again?
When brilliant, passionate, motivated teachers and leaders have left schools where I have been Headmaster or Principal it has always pained me, as they were loved by pupils and parents, did so much more than just teach, were the complete package and individuals who made a difference. Now what do we do, or ‘who next’, always cropped up. The initial thought often was, ‘will the results go down’? ‘Will parents be upset’?
However, my apprehensions and fears were always short lived, as someone or the other always stepped up and proved that they were as good, if not better at shouldering the task . There were the occasional, initial hiccups but soon everything was ‘hunky dory’.
I remember being interviewed for the Post of Principal in Dubai by a senior official. After clearing the interview, the person smiled and said, ‘you have big boots to fill’. Obviously the ‘who next’ scenario was playing out in her mind before the interview as well, and I don’t blame her.
The ‘who next syndrome’ is inevitable as that twinge of uncertainty will always prevail. However, the fears are more often than not, unfounded.
Now please don’t get me wrong – the ‘NEXT’ has, on a few occasions, NOT BEEN AS GOOD, and there has been a temporary setback as well.
However, if you take the law of averages into consideration, ‘who next’ is just a figment of one’s imagination and nothing much to worry about, as no one is indispensable.
SOMEONE ALWAYS STEPS UP - OFTEN LIKE A PHOENIX FROM THE SHADOWS AND TAKES THE REINS.
To put the record straight here is a disclaimer.
THIS IS A POST ABOUT EDUCATION AND LIFE.
However, if YOU make any connection between this post and POLITICS OR POLITICIANS – then you truly have an extremely fertile imagination.
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