A leadership journey

AFTER questioning herself on how she can contribute to leadership development in the Caribbean, Maxine Attong decided that one of the ways to make an impact is to have short seminars that will share a theory and make it applicable to an audience.

Attong who is a gestalt organisational development consultant and executive coach with international experience, will hold her third annual leadership seminar, themed The Paradox of Leadership, next month.

Attong said she chose the theme because leadership could be a very broad and deep topic, and she thinks in the Caribbean in particular there isn’t any long-standing tradition of organisational leadership.

From her research on leadership she said there is a little bit about gender, so very much in the structures of indenture-ship, slavery and politics.

“If you look at the work of (Hillary) Beckles and CLR James, of course it is about cricket right! That is the context of it. So if you do any research there is little about academic research done on Caribbean leadership.”

She said in the last 20 years she’s seen some of it blossoming but the region really doesn’t have a rich tradition. “So this year we looked at the The Paradox of Leadership and we will share the latest theory and research on this topic.”

She then described a paradox as a seemingly absurd situation, but on further examination, proves to be true.

The seminar targets executives, senior managers, leaders, supervisors and entrepreneurs, though over the years there have been an increasing participation from school leadership. It takes place on April 4, at The Atrium, Guardian Group Head Office in Westmoorings, from 8 am-12 pm with breakfast at 7 am.

Attong said the presenters will share the tensions and the dilemmas that leaders face as they perform their jobs, through discussions presentations and relevant activities.

“Leaders will be given the opportunity to clarify, question and challenge any part of the presentations. Our hope is that the leaders in the audience can take the tips that we present and apply this back at their organisations.”

Host of the event is Kerrigan Roach, a seasoned human resource professional who has been in the business for 30 years, lives in Barbados and owns his own HR solution-based company in Barbados that has a regional reach.

There is also gestalt practitioner Judith Gayle, a US citizen who works internationally, doing work in the space of leadership and organisational transformation, as well as Attong herself.

She explained: “Gestalt is all about awareness so whenever we work with organisations it is about raising awareness before you take a step.”

All three will be part of a panel discussion moderated by facilitator and coach Suren Maharaj, to answer any questions from the audience towards the end of the programme

Attong said: “We want to end with the panel discussion to allow the audience the opportunity to ask any question or bring any issue that they want about leadership. It could be about the paradoxical nature or anything else that they face.”

She said one of the best features of the conference for the last two years was the audience participation where participants are free to question and challenge them. Attong said: “We want to have a conversation on leadership, we want people to examine their leadership styles and what they have done in terms of their experience within the frames that we present.

Over 30 people have registered thus far but Attong is expecting approximately 90 participants.

Attong said: “We want people from all backgrounds and industries to come because leadership is not in one area, it is across the board. The issues may be different but what is left is the same thing.

“Whatever the need is, we are there for it. What we are going to do is quarterly meetings, there is going to be an online registration that is going to be free for people who attended the seminar, for further talks and keep the conversation going, or for our assistance, and the first such forum will be in June.

“This year too, on the feedback forms we ask them what issue they want to carry forward.”

Attong’s short-term goal is to have a successful conference, measured by the attendees getting what they want and leaving with a feeling that they got some really good information, got some points of references and can go and check something else that is really important to them.

“I hope everybody who attends the conference begin looking at their leadership journey and really understand and be able to identify what paradox is occurring and being able to apply some of the remedies we give at the conference.”

Regarding her long-term goal, she said she wants to have her leadership seminar as a regional item. “This year we are actually going to Barbados on June 13, and to St Lucia in October. So my long-term goal is for us in the Caribbean to start this conversation about leadership and to connect with people who are concerned about it as well so we could raise awareness about what we are doing, how and why we are doing it because for a very long time we have been looking towards governments and political agendas to save us, and nobody is going to save us. If we lead our organisations well, we can change environments, economies and countries. And if I could make my small contribution towards that I will.”