The Difficulty of Management without some Heart

by James M. Dong-as Principal II, Allaguia national High School Leadership, in all its facets, requires the assumption of a steel-willed character. This ensures a confident stance among those being led buoyed by the assurance that they are indeed being managed well and the organization is being steered into the right direction. This holds true for leaders and managers whatever field one may belong to. Education, of course, is not at all excused. An iron-clad faade that is projected by administrators, supervisors, and heads of departments will always hit its mark of putting subordinates at the area where they are supposed to wield their expertise, and thus contribute to the attainment of the schools targeted goals. All schools aim at that goal of producing students who shall leave the corridors of the school with some steps ahead as to the acquisition of knowledge. No school will ascribe to the idea of sending out graduates who may be evaluated to have learned nothing at all. This scenario will then bring attention to the core group of people who are directly involved in the educational upbringing of students: THE TEACHERS, who day in, day out will remain under the observation of two kinds of eyes those of the students, and those of the administrator, or the principal, or head of the school. Teachers, as much as possible, would not appreciate being put under scrutiny, whether obtrusively or unobtrusively. That is understandable. Teachers, no matter what level of professional upgrading they may later amass as they go up the academic ladder, are still human with emotions, first and foremost. It then follows that as teachers who may not have lost the ability to feel but may have neglected the ability to express such feelings, they do deserve some level of understanding that should be thrown their way, especially in times of personal turmoil and difficulties. And this is where THE HEART should come in. A principal may be strict most of the times, specifically as to the meeting of deadlines and the attainment of expected standards but he cant be strict all the time. There are instances when a teacher needs more than administrative reminders but human touch to convey that he or she is being understood. No matter what troubles may momentarily befall a teacher, he or she can always be expected to bounce back thats how resilient teachers are. It just takes a while to wait for such revival of commitment and energy. Before long, everything gets back to normal. Competence revitalized, so-to-speak. It is then necessary to stand at the helm of the organization and project the capacity to sympathize and empathize; for when a leader or a boss is perceived to be heartless, then the subordinates will simply disintegrate from his management and end up losing sight of their mandate in the first place. And when that happens, such insensitivity may be transferred to the learners a horrifying possibility.