2 April 2023
Yesterday, I wrote about recognition and how one local company had recognized the loyalty and faithfulness of one of its staff members for her 20 years of service.
Today I think about recognition along with motivation and wonder about leadership of the Solomon Islands some 30 years on.
The present leadership will have gone, just as many of the leaders I knew 20 to 25 years ago, have also passed on.
Are we cultivating and educating the next generation of leaders and ensuring they will have the right skills and personal traits that will see the country advance, remain stable, economically, retain its Christian values, be viable and, importantly, motivate, encourage, innovate and recognize the people so they remain united and proud of their country?
Tomorrow's leaders will need to value emotional intelligence and continually hone their skills to be effective, regardless of physical location. This is particularly important in a country of a vast size and where most decision making from today’s leaders emanates from Honiara.
I think the best future leaders will need to straddle the importance of finding people who are the best at what they do, while at the same time being cognizant and concerned about the well-being of all the people. The most successful leaders will possess this emotional intelligence and empathy and ensure their fellow countrymen are employed, content and proud of their nationality and country. They'll also need “emotional energy,” the ability to evaluate people fairly quickly, connect with them, empower them and get them of their way so they can succeed.
What I have touched upon are likely to be very big challenges for our future leaders. I will not be around to witness what occurs, but my hope is the present leadership is already taking the right steps to recognize, identify and prepare the leaders who will succeed them in a few short years.
Yours sincerely
Frank Short
