Wednesday, 6 June 2012
Mowbray College - Jewell of the West
Sad, so very very sad.
That is how I felt today as I walked around the Melton campus of Mowbray College on its last day.
I wasn't a student of the school but just having a son in grade 3 there made me realize what a great loss this college is to the community. The school had a wonderful culture and that was evident in the emotion shared today.
The story to date has been around a huge debt, mismanagement of a board, rotating principals and no help from the government. Sadly the real story is the grief I saw today.
Little children in the junior school wondering why they couldn't go to school with their friends tomorrow.
Teenagers, both boys and girls crying openly at the loss of community that they have shared for the majority of their lives. Senior students stressed about the impact of this on their future lives.
I saw teachers struggling to be strong in front of their students but finally giving into emotion and openly weeping and hugging one another.
How the teachers stayed focused this long is beyond me and again shows the character of the staff as well as the culture of its school. I can say how wonderful it was to see the teachers being strong and putting their students first right to the end.
Last but not least were the parents and former students. There is nothing that raises emotion in an adult then seeing their child in distress. Even this grumpy hard nosed knucklehead had a tear in the eye today.
My own son has been so brave through all of this. He tried all day to make people smile and as we jumped in the car to go home, he broke down and cried. "Why Dad? Why does the school have to close down? I won't see my friends again and I'll miss them so much".
I didn't give him an answer, just told him it was ok to mourn the loss he was going through and to not hold back. He needs to be able to experience the good and bad of this and grow from it. My job as his parent is to help him move forward in the right time and support him.
I watched with my fellow parents as his whole class had a group hug with their wonderful teacher and you could just see the bond between them all. The sad part is that they all now split up and go to different schools.
So as I watched the news tonight and saw that there were multiple buyers lining up to take over the school assets, there is already a positive hope on the horizon, and maybe, perhaps maybe a community may return.
Let's hope the Jewell shines even brighter next time.
Sunday, 15 May 2011
The Plague of the Western World for the modern man..er..person
Last year, one of my colleagues and I decided we needed to lose some serious poundage off our stomachs and backsides. We decided to have a competition and have our staff members at work donate money per kilogram lost to the Beyond Blue foundation which helps people with depression.
In the end we must have raised nearly $1000 for Beyond Blue and we lost a combined weight of nearly 30kgs in 3 months. It was a great 3 months and the support of everyone was fantastic.
Out of all of the charities we chose, we went for one that helps depression as it is becoming the plague of the western world. Both of us have family members and friends who have suffered and still suffer from this horrible ailment.
What causes depression, well some experts will go into biochemical imbalances in the brain which lead to negative and depressive thoughts. Others will say it is a learned way of thinking based on reality maps created growing up, or even dietary.
I don't have an answer other then I have met people who meet at least one of the reasons above and many who have all of them. Which one is the Chicken and which one is the egg?
I do want to talk about one of them though and that is the learned view of what life should be and what it actually is. I have travelled to many countries that have large populations of poor and poverty stricken people. How many of these have depression? That would be an interesting study but going by what I have seen, many of these people are actually happy as they have lower expectations of what daily life is.
In the western world, I believe we are our own worst enemies. We set up an ideal of what the perfect life should be, and we then chase it, even if we don't need it. We then compare ourselves against it and come up short everytime. The danger then comes if we grow up with a mindset that we have to be perfect. If we come from homes or groups of people who gain self worth from achievement we then set ourselves up for disappointment.
People then start to compare their worst traits with other people's best and bit by bit, they start to erode their esteem and self worth.
I come from a very idealistic religion which tells you from a young age how you must be a worthy young man or young woman and we spend so much time on the rules or guidelines amongst ourselves that we forget the whole foundation of the religion is charity and humility. The rules and guidelines are there to keep us safe and help us but without charity, we have nothing. The women in our religion are the real gems and they culturally are the ones that keep it vibrant yet they are also the ones who suffer more from depression then the men.
Why is that?
My experience is that women tend to blame themselves more then men, where as men are happy to blame everything else but themselves. So when a family is not perfect or a member of the family struggles, it is usually the Mum or wife who takes the burden on themselves and they will compare themselves with other women who seem to have it all under control and judge themselves harshly.
That brings me to my next point, society today must be a very difficuly place for women. On one hand they are told to go out and become career driven women who can do everything and on the other, when they get married and have children and feel like they need to be with their children, they are looked down upon. The images in the media of the new age woman shows a super model having a baby and coming back looking like a super model again. The average woman while juggling nappies, cooking, cleaning and inconsiderate husbands must feel like a failure compared to their "social" role models. Then there are the ones without partners who are supposed to be happy in their independence yet aren't.
What about men? Well, today's society is all about being strong and athletic and successful in the work place. Work places are becoming more and more outcome driven to get what you deserve. All recipes for failure as not every one can win. Even they way we reward people in the corporate world leads to this. We rank people and even if you have done a great job, if you aren't in a certain percentile when compared against your peers, then you don't get rewarded.
Life is often about expectation. The older I get, the more I see Charity and Humilty as keys to happiness, but they start with yourself. When we compare ourselves to others or to what we "should" have or be in life, it can only end in sadness if we don't have a healthy sense of self worth.
I guess when Moses came off the mount the 2nd time with the tablets and one of them said thou shalt not covet, I wonder if that was meant for our time and our generation.
Don't covet what you don't have, work for that which will help you love who you are and what you can become.
Set an expectation that allows you to grow reasonably and remember, other people show their veneer.
This is by no means the answer to depression, there are a multitude of reasons why people get depressed and then depression. But perhaps if we started to be kinder to ourselves it might help a little.
In the end we must have raised nearly $1000 for Beyond Blue and we lost a combined weight of nearly 30kgs in 3 months. It was a great 3 months and the support of everyone was fantastic.
Out of all of the charities we chose, we went for one that helps depression as it is becoming the plague of the western world. Both of us have family members and friends who have suffered and still suffer from this horrible ailment.
What causes depression, well some experts will go into biochemical imbalances in the brain which lead to negative and depressive thoughts. Others will say it is a learned way of thinking based on reality maps created growing up, or even dietary.
I don't have an answer other then I have met people who meet at least one of the reasons above and many who have all of them. Which one is the Chicken and which one is the egg?
I do want to talk about one of them though and that is the learned view of what life should be and what it actually is. I have travelled to many countries that have large populations of poor and poverty stricken people. How many of these have depression? That would be an interesting study but going by what I have seen, many of these people are actually happy as they have lower expectations of what daily life is.
In the western world, I believe we are our own worst enemies. We set up an ideal of what the perfect life should be, and we then chase it, even if we don't need it. We then compare ourselves against it and come up short everytime. The danger then comes if we grow up with a mindset that we have to be perfect. If we come from homes or groups of people who gain self worth from achievement we then set ourselves up for disappointment.
People then start to compare their worst traits with other people's best and bit by bit, they start to erode their esteem and self worth.
I come from a very idealistic religion which tells you from a young age how you must be a worthy young man or young woman and we spend so much time on the rules or guidelines amongst ourselves that we forget the whole foundation of the religion is charity and humility. The rules and guidelines are there to keep us safe and help us but without charity, we have nothing. The women in our religion are the real gems and they culturally are the ones that keep it vibrant yet they are also the ones who suffer more from depression then the men.
Why is that?
My experience is that women tend to blame themselves more then men, where as men are happy to blame everything else but themselves. So when a family is not perfect or a member of the family struggles, it is usually the Mum or wife who takes the burden on themselves and they will compare themselves with other women who seem to have it all under control and judge themselves harshly.
That brings me to my next point, society today must be a very difficuly place for women. On one hand they are told to go out and become career driven women who can do everything and on the other, when they get married and have children and feel like they need to be with their children, they are looked down upon. The images in the media of the new age woman shows a super model having a baby and coming back looking like a super model again. The average woman while juggling nappies, cooking, cleaning and inconsiderate husbands must feel like a failure compared to their "social" role models. Then there are the ones without partners who are supposed to be happy in their independence yet aren't.
What about men? Well, today's society is all about being strong and athletic and successful in the work place. Work places are becoming more and more outcome driven to get what you deserve. All recipes for failure as not every one can win. Even they way we reward people in the corporate world leads to this. We rank people and even if you have done a great job, if you aren't in a certain percentile when compared against your peers, then you don't get rewarded.
Life is often about expectation. The older I get, the more I see Charity and Humilty as keys to happiness, but they start with yourself. When we compare ourselves to others or to what we "should" have or be in life, it can only end in sadness if we don't have a healthy sense of self worth.
I guess when Moses came off the mount the 2nd time with the tablets and one of them said thou shalt not covet, I wonder if that was meant for our time and our generation.
Don't covet what you don't have, work for that which will help you love who you are and what you can become.
Set an expectation that allows you to grow reasonably and remember, other people show their veneer.
This is by no means the answer to depression, there are a multitude of reasons why people get depressed and then depression. But perhaps if we started to be kinder to ourselves it might help a little.
Saturday, 9 April 2011
A Hatred rekindled!
As I think back to my very earliest memories there is one that comes to mind which really shows the power of an impression on a young mind.
Up until the age of 7 I lived in a suburb some 15 to 20 kms north of the Melbourne CBD. When occasion would arise, my Dad would take my brother Michael and I on the train to watch our Football team Collingwood, play against some of our traditional rivals. There is one that I was taught to hate. Carlton! They were the enemy and all that Carlton represented was diametrically opposed to Collingwood.
Carlton were evil, they cheated and were dirtly rotten scoundrels. In fact when my brother and I wanted to insult each other we would suggest the other was a Carlton supporter. No other insult could cut like that one to the heart of a young magpie like myself.
Now as an adult with a little more perspective on life I still have buried in my subconscious that all things Carlton are bad. I meet nice people who I find out to be Carlton supporters and for a moment there is a conflict within me that something doesn't add up. "How could such a nice person support Carlton? Don't they know that they are bad?" It is a real conversation that fleetingly takes place in my mind.
As I think about this my mind starts to ponder how powerful and easy it is to create a culture starting with children and the danger that we as a society can find ourselves in if we don't teach children correct principles.
Let's look at a global example, racism! We see so much hatred and dislike between particular races often based on ignorance and generally created through being taught and not through experiencing large scale common nationalistic behaviours.
The danger arises when little ones are taught an opinion as fact about another race and create a view or reality map in their young forming minds before they get a chance to experience and judge for themselves.
Now, many of these views may be close or even accurate but to label a whole race is to over stereo type and judge based often on ignorance.
Let's look at an example, Asian drivers are all bad! The first question I would ask is have you ever driven in Asia? I have been on roads in both Asia and the sub continent and let me tell you, I would be way too scared to drive on any of those roads. In fact some of the most skillful drivers I have seen have been in Asia and India. 3 lanes on a road becomes 5 wide full of cars and bikes and you would see far less accidents then you do in Australia. Whole families riding on the one motor bike sure beats the traditional family people mover.
Yet, you bring one of these people to Melbourne and they often struggle to adapt to our driving as they aren't use to the style in which we drive. Are they bad drivers? No, just use to driving under different conditions.
Societies are like that, is one better then the other? Morals and values aside, I would say they are just different and have different challenges. Seeking to understand one another before delivering a judgement, now that is a culture that would be great for our children to learn.
Now as I sat at the MCG last night with Collingwood putting Carlton to the sword I made a comment that my son didn't like, and he turned to me and says "you're a Carlton supporter" with a look of disgust. Even now as an Adult that hurts!
I think it is fair to say that of all the things in life that we can brainwash our children with, hating Carlton is one that we can allow to happen!.
Up until the age of 7 I lived in a suburb some 15 to 20 kms north of the Melbourne CBD. When occasion would arise, my Dad would take my brother Michael and I on the train to watch our Football team Collingwood, play against some of our traditional rivals. There is one that I was taught to hate. Carlton! They were the enemy and all that Carlton represented was diametrically opposed to Collingwood.
Carlton were evil, they cheated and were dirtly rotten scoundrels. In fact when my brother and I wanted to insult each other we would suggest the other was a Carlton supporter. No other insult could cut like that one to the heart of a young magpie like myself.
Now as an adult with a little more perspective on life I still have buried in my subconscious that all things Carlton are bad. I meet nice people who I find out to be Carlton supporters and for a moment there is a conflict within me that something doesn't add up. "How could such a nice person support Carlton? Don't they know that they are bad?" It is a real conversation that fleetingly takes place in my mind.
As I think about this my mind starts to ponder how powerful and easy it is to create a culture starting with children and the danger that we as a society can find ourselves in if we don't teach children correct principles.
Let's look at a global example, racism! We see so much hatred and dislike between particular races often based on ignorance and generally created through being taught and not through experiencing large scale common nationalistic behaviours.
The danger arises when little ones are taught an opinion as fact about another race and create a view or reality map in their young forming minds before they get a chance to experience and judge for themselves.
Now, many of these views may be close or even accurate but to label a whole race is to over stereo type and judge based often on ignorance.
Let's look at an example, Asian drivers are all bad! The first question I would ask is have you ever driven in Asia? I have been on roads in both Asia and the sub continent and let me tell you, I would be way too scared to drive on any of those roads. In fact some of the most skillful drivers I have seen have been in Asia and India. 3 lanes on a road becomes 5 wide full of cars and bikes and you would see far less accidents then you do in Australia. Whole families riding on the one motor bike sure beats the traditional family people mover.
Yet, you bring one of these people to Melbourne and they often struggle to adapt to our driving as they aren't use to the style in which we drive. Are they bad drivers? No, just use to driving under different conditions.
Societies are like that, is one better then the other? Morals and values aside, I would say they are just different and have different challenges. Seeking to understand one another before delivering a judgement, now that is a culture that would be great for our children to learn.
Now as I sat at the MCG last night with Collingwood putting Carlton to the sword I made a comment that my son didn't like, and he turned to me and says "you're a Carlton supporter" with a look of disgust. Even now as an Adult that hurts!
I think it is fair to say that of all the things in life that we can brainwash our children with, hating Carlton is one that we can allow to happen!.
Saturday, 2 April 2011
Tendulkar is a star....but he is no champion!!
Well India finally win a world cup. Good on them, they have under achieved for so long and the country has had to wait so many years for this over paid group of rich boys to finally bring home a decent trophy.
That fact that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the captain when this has happened is no surprise either. He is a quality leader who has been able to bring together a team with as much cultural diversity as a world 11 side has. Not to mention the political pressures of the BCCI and the individual states in India.
India's rise to the top started though when they removed Tendulkar as captain and brought in Ganguly. Sachin for all his great skill as a batsmen was probably the worst captain in world cricket. He is revered world wide, not because he leads but because he does. Ganguly came in and used his silver spoon background and really toughened the Indian side up with his personal strength. Must say though I couldn't stand Ganguly as a person, but he lead India very well for a long period.
When Mahenda Singh Dhoni took over the team, he really brought a youngish team and made them follow him. He is a gentleman and a great player. but he also commands respect of his team. I was happy to see that he hit the winning runs for India and it would have been a disaster if India had not won this tournament.
This World Cup was an Indian victory in the making, it was their to lose. They had home games, pitches created for their strengths and a huge emotional desire to win it for Sachin.
Sadly Sachin failed again in a big match which most people will forget about but Champions rise in big matches. I can't recall Sachin ever rising when the pressure was on and winning a big match for India. He will go down in history as the 2nd greatest batsmen of all time behind Sir Donald Bradman but in my mind, he is an accumulator of records not trophies.
Give me Richards, Ponting or Gilchrist with their multiple world cups and massive domination of world cricket over Sachin's record, which it must be said was strengthened against playing Zimbabwe, Bangledesh and a lot of homes games.
India has risen as the world power in cricket and this win will be great for a nation which holds its cricketers as demi-gods and heroes. In some ways, cricket fans need to be grateful for India keeping cricket alive.
In Australia, cricket seems to have lost its mojo. In a time when there are so many options for kids, cricket seems to becoming less popular and the days of Australian domination is at an end. Michael Clarke is no champion and won't lead Australia out of it's downwards spiral.
The Last thing I have to say on this world cup is that you expect sporting events to provide better competition as they evolve and change. Sadly this world cup showed that the standard of world Cricket is on the decline. The great Australian side of the last 20 years is gone and with it the last if the trully dominant champion eras. Cricket today is very average compared to the days when Australia dominated 3 world cups and when an average player like Yuvraj Singh can win player of the tournament, please can someone send us a Champion.
That's my rant for today.
That fact that Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the captain when this has happened is no surprise either. He is a quality leader who has been able to bring together a team with as much cultural diversity as a world 11 side has. Not to mention the political pressures of the BCCI and the individual states in India.
India's rise to the top started though when they removed Tendulkar as captain and brought in Ganguly. Sachin for all his great skill as a batsmen was probably the worst captain in world cricket. He is revered world wide, not because he leads but because he does. Ganguly came in and used his silver spoon background and really toughened the Indian side up with his personal strength. Must say though I couldn't stand Ganguly as a person, but he lead India very well for a long period.
When Mahenda Singh Dhoni took over the team, he really brought a youngish team and made them follow him. He is a gentleman and a great player. but he also commands respect of his team. I was happy to see that he hit the winning runs for India and it would have been a disaster if India had not won this tournament.
This World Cup was an Indian victory in the making, it was their to lose. They had home games, pitches created for their strengths and a huge emotional desire to win it for Sachin.
Sadly Sachin failed again in a big match which most people will forget about but Champions rise in big matches. I can't recall Sachin ever rising when the pressure was on and winning a big match for India. He will go down in history as the 2nd greatest batsmen of all time behind Sir Donald Bradman but in my mind, he is an accumulator of records not trophies.
Give me Richards, Ponting or Gilchrist with their multiple world cups and massive domination of world cricket over Sachin's record, which it must be said was strengthened against playing Zimbabwe, Bangledesh and a lot of homes games.
India has risen as the world power in cricket and this win will be great for a nation which holds its cricketers as demi-gods and heroes. In some ways, cricket fans need to be grateful for India keeping cricket alive.
In Australia, cricket seems to have lost its mojo. In a time when there are so many options for kids, cricket seems to becoming less popular and the days of Australian domination is at an end. Michael Clarke is no champion and won't lead Australia out of it's downwards spiral.
The Last thing I have to say on this world cup is that you expect sporting events to provide better competition as they evolve and change. Sadly this world cup showed that the standard of world Cricket is on the decline. The great Australian side of the last 20 years is gone and with it the last if the trully dominant champion eras. Cricket today is very average compared to the days when Australia dominated 3 world cups and when an average player like Yuvraj Singh can win player of the tournament, please can someone send us a Champion.
That's my rant for today.
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Mad, Bad or just tragically Sad.
Today I spent a great deal of time thinking about the trial of Arthur Freeman, the man who dropped his daughter Darcey off a bridge in Melbourne. The Jury found him guilty of Murder on Sunday and he now awaits sentencing which will most likely be life in prison.
Even now, I find it hard to read the events of the crime without getting emotional. The betrayal of trust of a loving child and ensuing terror that must have been felt.
The defence lawyer when opening at the trial asked the Jury to determine whether Arthur was 'Bad or Mad' and argued that he was mentally impaired at the time of the crime.
Obviously the Jury decided that they didn't agree. I don't envy the emotional and taxing experience all of them must have been through over the last few weeks.
I have found the whole case very taxing as well even though I didn't attend court or have to make a decision that the broader community was sweating on.
I found it taxing as I went to school with Arthur. I knew him pretty well at High school and University.
We knew him as Ardy, not Arthur Phillip Freeman the convicted murderer.
What I can't reconcile through all of this is that Ardy was pretty harmless at school and definitely was not a bad person. He wasn't even mad although one could argue that the sheer amount of bullying and rejection he received constantly could repeat itself on him later in life as he became an adult.
Life is littered with tragic stories of those who have been abused and bullied from a young age not coping as adults.
I enjoyed reading Patrick Carlyon's 8 page article in the Herald Sun today http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/trying-to-explain-the-inexplicable-how-could-a-dad-kill-his-daughter/story-fn7x8me2-1226029860679
It really brought out some interesting points and I was impressed at how he was able to get his information from such a broad range of people. Especially around what school was like. We literally had groups of thugs at our school, they would get the pack mentality, a bit like wild dogs and would make you feel very lonely and afraid if you were on the receiving end of it. They could do some terrible things.
As I said before, Arthur was not a bad or mad person growing up but obviously something happened along the way that led him to either one of those or both which drove him to do what he did.
Something inside tells me Arthur isn't a bad person but was very sick. It wasn't in his nature to hurt maliciously when I knew him. Maybe that changed but I guess I will never know, I haven't seen nor heard from him since 1997 when I finished University myself.
As I have seen photos of him in the news and on TV, all I can think of is that this isn't what was supposed to happen to my friend from school. We were supposed to go on to have careers and find happiness in life.
As the Jury deliberated over the 4 or 5 days it took them to find a verdict, part of me was hoping they would find that it wasn't his fault, that there was some strange kind of reason for this horror, but deep inside I realised that wouldn't be the case.
I have read many of the comments that people have posted, many compassionate, more angry and vengeful. I can understand both of these views and I am glad that people are horrified by the act that took place. It would worry me more if there wasn't a strong reaction.
What it did bring home to me though, is that the community needed closure on this horrific event as well. The verdict that came down will allow this to happen and people can move on. Justice according to Australian law has been satisfied.
As for me, I will always think of Arthur Phillip Freeman the convicted murderer not as he is, but as he was Ardy my mate from school.
Was he Mad? Bad? don't know, all I know is that this is just tragically sad.
Even now, I find it hard to read the events of the crime without getting emotional. The betrayal of trust of a loving child and ensuing terror that must have been felt.
The defence lawyer when opening at the trial asked the Jury to determine whether Arthur was 'Bad or Mad' and argued that he was mentally impaired at the time of the crime.
Obviously the Jury decided that they didn't agree. I don't envy the emotional and taxing experience all of them must have been through over the last few weeks.
I have found the whole case very taxing as well even though I didn't attend court or have to make a decision that the broader community was sweating on.
I found it taxing as I went to school with Arthur. I knew him pretty well at High school and University.
We knew him as Ardy, not Arthur Phillip Freeman the convicted murderer.
What I can't reconcile through all of this is that Ardy was pretty harmless at school and definitely was not a bad person. He wasn't even mad although one could argue that the sheer amount of bullying and rejection he received constantly could repeat itself on him later in life as he became an adult.
Life is littered with tragic stories of those who have been abused and bullied from a young age not coping as adults.
I enjoyed reading Patrick Carlyon's 8 page article in the Herald Sun today http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/trying-to-explain-the-inexplicable-how-could-a-dad-kill-his-daughter/story-fn7x8me2-1226029860679
It really brought out some interesting points and I was impressed at how he was able to get his information from such a broad range of people. Especially around what school was like. We literally had groups of thugs at our school, they would get the pack mentality, a bit like wild dogs and would make you feel very lonely and afraid if you were on the receiving end of it. They could do some terrible things.
As I said before, Arthur was not a bad or mad person growing up but obviously something happened along the way that led him to either one of those or both which drove him to do what he did.
Something inside tells me Arthur isn't a bad person but was very sick. It wasn't in his nature to hurt maliciously when I knew him. Maybe that changed but I guess I will never know, I haven't seen nor heard from him since 1997 when I finished University myself.
As I have seen photos of him in the news and on TV, all I can think of is that this isn't what was supposed to happen to my friend from school. We were supposed to go on to have careers and find happiness in life.
As the Jury deliberated over the 4 or 5 days it took them to find a verdict, part of me was hoping they would find that it wasn't his fault, that there was some strange kind of reason for this horror, but deep inside I realised that wouldn't be the case.
I have read many of the comments that people have posted, many compassionate, more angry and vengeful. I can understand both of these views and I am glad that people are horrified by the act that took place. It would worry me more if there wasn't a strong reaction.
What it did bring home to me though, is that the community needed closure on this horrific event as well. The verdict that came down will allow this to happen and people can move on. Justice according to Australian law has been satisfied.
As for me, I will always think of Arthur Phillip Freeman the convicted murderer not as he is, but as he was Ardy my mate from school.
Was he Mad? Bad? don't know, all I know is that this is just tragically sad.
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
First Rant - Look out World!!
Today I decided to join the world of the Blogger! Yes, this much self-impressed opinion of mine will now be let loose on the world.
Those close to me will suggest that the term 'now' should be changed to past tense but too bad!
With the AFL season about to start I wanted to talk about how I feel Eddie Maguire (President of my beloved Collingwood Football club) may have made one of the most common yet fundamental mistakes of Leadership. Decision based on self interest due to emotional feelings towards an individual.
In 2009 Eddie and the Collingwood Board decided to put in place what we in the corporate world would call a succession plan with the coach by appointing the Favourite son Nathan Buckley as the heir apparent in 2012 to current coach Mick Malthouse.
Buckley a superstar of a player, extremely professional and disciplined individual but unproven coach was being pursued by other clubs and Eddie just couldn't bare the thought of his beloved "Bucks" at another club.
The plan was for him to be assistant coach for 2 years under Malthouse and have him take over with Mick on a yet to be defined (superannuation) role for 3 years helping Bucks out.
Now at the time it caused a stir but most Collingwood people were not too upset as Mick had been at the club for 10 years and hadn't delivered the ultimate prize to the club.
2010 turned out to the be year of the Pie however and now Mick has a flag under his belt and another one on the radar for 2011. You can just imagine the distraction this may become for the club and the men in charge.
Now why am I writing about this when most of the Melbourne Media already has?
Basically every time I have seen a leader make a decision based on personal preference or emotional attachment, it has come back to bite the individual. I have a few bite marks myself to be honest and I can't understand how a club, with a board and such a large stakeholder base can allow this to happen.
The comment that Leadership is a lonely place is true not because there aren't many Leaders but because to be a true leader you must be prepared to turn your back on what your emotional "self" desires, and do the right thing.
The cause for which you are leading needs to be stronger then the return for self interest. Another words if you would compromise the interest of those you lead for the benefit of self interest no matter how short sighted, it is best you reassess how you are approaching your role as a Leader as it will most likely have negative consequences.
Fundamentally Leadership is built around two core capabilities: Firstly, a leader must be able to get the people they are leading to buy into a vision, direction, goal or philosophy. They don't need to be the author but must be able to help people see it and set the direction to it.
The second core function of a Leader is to keep the people motivated to follow the vision, direction, goal or philosophy. Management is the tools or processes used to get there. (Distinctly different and another blog).
When self interest becomes apparent and the leader is compromised it makes keeping the followers motivated much more difficult and the role of the Leader becomes exponentially harder until it is potentially untenable and perfectly good directions are questioned.
So let's hope Eddie knows something that we all don't about the Mick and Bucks situation as once the Pies lose a few games this year, he will need to prove that he hasn't compromised our ability to go back to back.
That's my rant for today
Those close to me will suggest that the term 'now' should be changed to past tense but too bad!
With the AFL season about to start I wanted to talk about how I feel Eddie Maguire (President of my beloved Collingwood Football club) may have made one of the most common yet fundamental mistakes of Leadership. Decision based on self interest due to emotional feelings towards an individual.
In 2009 Eddie and the Collingwood Board decided to put in place what we in the corporate world would call a succession plan with the coach by appointing the Favourite son Nathan Buckley as the heir apparent in 2012 to current coach Mick Malthouse.
Buckley a superstar of a player, extremely professional and disciplined individual but unproven coach was being pursued by other clubs and Eddie just couldn't bare the thought of his beloved "Bucks" at another club.
The plan was for him to be assistant coach for 2 years under Malthouse and have him take over with Mick on a yet to be defined (superannuation) role for 3 years helping Bucks out.
Now at the time it caused a stir but most Collingwood people were not too upset as Mick had been at the club for 10 years and hadn't delivered the ultimate prize to the club.
2010 turned out to the be year of the Pie however and now Mick has a flag under his belt and another one on the radar for 2011. You can just imagine the distraction this may become for the club and the men in charge.
Now why am I writing about this when most of the Melbourne Media already has?
Basically every time I have seen a leader make a decision based on personal preference or emotional attachment, it has come back to bite the individual. I have a few bite marks myself to be honest and I can't understand how a club, with a board and such a large stakeholder base can allow this to happen.
The comment that Leadership is a lonely place is true not because there aren't many Leaders but because to be a true leader you must be prepared to turn your back on what your emotional "self" desires, and do the right thing.
The cause for which you are leading needs to be stronger then the return for self interest. Another words if you would compromise the interest of those you lead for the benefit of self interest no matter how short sighted, it is best you reassess how you are approaching your role as a Leader as it will most likely have negative consequences.
Fundamentally Leadership is built around two core capabilities: Firstly, a leader must be able to get the people they are leading to buy into a vision, direction, goal or philosophy. They don't need to be the author but must be able to help people see it and set the direction to it.
The second core function of a Leader is to keep the people motivated to follow the vision, direction, goal or philosophy. Management is the tools or processes used to get there. (Distinctly different and another blog).
When self interest becomes apparent and the leader is compromised it makes keeping the followers motivated much more difficult and the role of the Leader becomes exponentially harder until it is potentially untenable and perfectly good directions are questioned.
So let's hope Eddie knows something that we all don't about the Mick and Bucks situation as once the Pies lose a few games this year, he will need to prove that he hasn't compromised our ability to go back to back.
That's my rant for today
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