St. Lucia Simply Beautiful

BASIL SPRINGER COLUMN TO APPEAR IN THE BARBADOS ADVOCATE’S BUSINESS MONDAY ON 23 APRIL 2007

LEADERSHIP AS A RESOURCE

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you… Romans 12: 3.

Leadership is a key resource which must be effectively utilized if the Caribbean countries are to develop and grow. This applies to many of our daily endeavours including the leadership of the film “Hit for Six” Inc., the leadership of the Ministry of Economic Development, or the leadership of the West Indies cricket team.

Last Wednesday Blue Waters Productions Inc., led by Alison Saunders-Franklyn, presented the World Première of the film “Hit for Six”, www.hitforsix.com . It was a classy affair, a red-carpet event at Olympus Theatres in Barbados.

Many of the cast, crew, and management and support personnel were present. The cricket Legends of Barbados were also well represented. A large contingent of regional and international media attended. The film, rated PG, was shown in two cinemas at the Olympus Theatre complex simultaneously to accommodate the 600 patrons present.

“Hit for Six!” is a full length feature film punctuated with intrigue, excitement and love. It is a captivating fictional story telling of the aspirations of a young West Indian cricketer who seeks to overcome challenges related to professional development, personal relationships and lifestyle.

“We have a film!” This was possible through Alison’s vision and subsequent leadership of the team. She came up with the idea, wrote the script and coordinated the pre-production, production and post production phases to perfection. She was also the Director of the film itself, a first time effort for which she prepared herself well. Her mentor, creative consultant Moussa Sene Absa, an award winning film Director from Senegal, is well pleased. This experience can now be used as a launching pad in the global distribution phase of the project, for which the countdown has begun.

An example of spontaneous leadership was when the Minister of Economic Development, our deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Mia Mottley came to the podium. Speaking at the event immediately after the viewing of the film, she announced that the Barbadian produced film “Hit for Six” is to play a pivotal role in the Invest Barbados strategy, which is under her Economic Development portfolio, particularly in the context of marketing this film overseas.

Brian Lara has announced his retirement from international cricket. Congratulations Brian on your stellar contribution to the enjoyment of many a West Indian fan and many a cricket lover over the last two decades. We wish you much success in your post international cricket playing endeavours. Remember, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you”.

I have stated in this column that Lara’s retirement will pave the way for the rebuilding of West Indies cricket, but it is certainly not sufficient for a turnaround to be accomplished. We need to enter in a strategic visioning process to resolve many issues which have a bearing on the future of West Indies cricket. After that, we can develop a plan, a road map, which will guide us towards the vision that we have created. We must then diligently implement the plan. This process takes time. We have a series in England in a few weeks and must make some decisions now without the benefit of the plan. We must choose a leader to replace Brian Lara and we must choose a team.

Leadership attributes are the inner or personal qualities that constitute effective leadership. These attributes include a large array of characteristics such as humility, values, character, motives, habits, traits, competencies, style, behaviors, and skills.

Leaders demonstrate personal character, set directions, mobilise individual commitment, and engender organizational capability. Leaders must be accountable.

In my view there are two candidates for West Indies captain. Ramnaresh Sarwan (27 years old – debut in 1999) and Darren Ganga (28 years old – debut in 1998). The WICB need to seriously evaluate these candidates against leadership attributes, similar to the above, before making a selection.

A selection of batting statistics for these two individuals is as follows:

Sarwan in tests (118 innings; 4268 runs; 261 highest score; average 38.80). Ganga in tests (72 innings; 1938 runs; 135 highest score; average 27.30). Sarwan in ODI’s (115 innings; 4096 runs; 115 highest score; average 45.01). Ganga in ODI’s (34 innings; 843 runs; 71 highest score; average 25.55). As a batsman, there is no doubt about Sarwan’s superior performance playing for the West Indies in both forms of the game.

I have heard the question being asked, “But can Ganga make the team as a batsman?” As a batsman he would be competing with Devon Smith or Runako Morton and, statistically, there is not much to choose between the three of them.

I would choose Ganga ahead of Smith and Morton, so he is on the team. I would choose Ganga ahead of Sarwan because of superior leadership capabilities which have been manifested in the leadership of the Trinidad team.

Some issues to be addressed at the team level would be attitude, discipline, fitness, commitment and performance based compensation.

(Dr. Basil Springer GCM is Change-Engine Consultant, Caribbean Business Enterprise Trust Inc. – www.cbetmodel.org)

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