Education Stalwarts 2022 | Dr. R Varadarajan, Founder-Principal of NES International School, Mumbai | Leaders in Education
An institution is a collective unit which is a wonderful grouping of educators and professionals, who come together for a common cause – the cause of education and enlightening the young thinking minds i.e., the student community.
I call my students right from the beginning of entering my institutions as student leaders. I believe in leading from the front and I want my students to do the same by taking their mother country and the world to very great heights; by leading and not following. I entrust responsibility in them to blossom, grow and evolve as they progress on a daily basis, while they study in my institutions.
My team looks up to me as a very strict task master and a very thorough disciplinarian who believes that work is worship and discipline is the key to success. As I said earlier, I lead from the front and never rest on my laurels. I set goals for myself to follow and my dedicated staffs emulate me, thereby helping me to reach them. I believe in hard work, sincerity, punctuality, integrity; and at every stage, these are clearly and transparently visible in my day to day working.
I did not waste a single day during the pandemic and the various lockdowns that gripped and engulfed the world. I, along with my team, put this period to optimum use to think, plan, organize and implement new methods, techniques and perspectives to give the education, learning, and teaching process a new polish, new vistas and newer dimensions. A brilliant offspring of this effort was the Remodelling Project for all my institutions which brought in a lot of freshness, innovation and brilliant techniques in every department and in each stratum of the institutions. The project has been implemented in the Administration, Management, Education, Accounts, Housekeeping, ICT, and just about everything encompassing the entire body of the institutions, the results of which are clearly visible, and benefit all facets of the institutions today.
The brain is definitely the most vital and amazing part of an individual, but the brain also needs every part of the body to command, implement, authorize and achieve. I am the face of my brand NES-SVB, but my team is definitely of utmost and paramount importance to complete the portrait of my institutions and make it picture perfect.
When it comes to motivating teachers, they must set examples, realistic goals, show the way, pave the way, delegate responsibility, instill confidence, have faith, allow flexibility, encourage creativity, appreciate and acknowledge people, their efforts and then see the magic. It is important to motivate teachers to constantly develop themselves on a professional level.
Mentioning any one person or a group of individuals from all my 69 institutions is not an easy task and would not be fair. The entire team is with me, and I am with them. We inspire each other with our positivity and commitment. Citing examples is going to be difficult as every day is an example of team work, leadership, complementing each other, supporting each other, giving our best and achieving the best.
DETERMINATION is the key to fulfillment and a vehicle which takes you to the three magical words – NEVER GIVE UP. Leaders who have left an imprint on the footprints of time have always followed and lived this attitude of “Never Give Up” which has taken them to supreme heights of achievements, success and progress. A leader cannot rest, cannot take it easy, cannot be lackadaisical, and cannot have a wavering and fluctuating mind. The leader should choose to follow and not rest till they achieve their goal. All spectacular achievements are the product of just one mind set, which is – NEVER GIVE UP.
Mymessage to the upcoming professionals in the field of education with regard to the leadership qualities they must possess is that – opportunity comes to all. Some people are ignorant while opportunities keep knocking, and then they vanish. Some realize the loss after a long time, once the opportunity has lost its effectiveness.
The truly intelligent, industrious and enterprising individuals are the ones who, on the first knock itself, get up, open the door, grab the opportunity and use it to achieve the maximum.
An educator must have courage, faith, confidence, creativity and commitment towards the cause of education, an unflinching duty towards the student community, and fierce dedication towards the goal. The above qualities when emulated and implemented will make you the Creator of Miracles.
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