Dharamshala: - Sikyong, the political leader of Tibetans Dr Lobsang Sangay Tuesday, June 4, opened an experiential leadership workshop for Tibetan school prefects at the Tibetan Children's Village school in Dharamshala.
According to the Central Tibetan Administration, the workshop is being organised by the Department of Education, Central Tibetan Administration, coinciding with the ongoing summer vacation of schools. It is funded by the USAID grant awarded to the Department of Education, CTA.
The five-day workshop from 3-7 June will be presided over by Mr Sanjay Upendram, the chief executive officer of Amarthi Consulting based in Hyderabad. 32 school prefects from 17 K-12 Tibetan schools from both TCV and the Central Schools for Tibetans are currently attending the workshop.
Speaking to the school prefects, Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay, who is also Education Kalon acknowledged the importance of leadership in social growth. He said, a leader must always assume there is and will be conflicts of interests, and he should engage and enlist the aid of others to successfully empower the masses with the three principles of vision, strategy and execution.
He noted that western education relies more on cognitive science, but a gradual understanding of the importance of emotional science (training of mind) is also being recognised. Quoting Daniel Goleman's theory of emotional intelligence, he said leadership is driven by a wide array of competencies and skills. Self-awareness, self-regulation, social skill, empathy and motivation are some of the constructs enlisted by Goleman in his assessment of a good leader.
Sikyong Dr Sangay also said that he subscribes to the idea of a creative leadership as opposed to authoritative and activist leadership. A creative leadership creates a conducive environment to engage and empower, and encourages valid feedbacks from the masses, he said.
Sikyong Dr Lobsang Sangay reiterated the 14th Kashag's prioritization of education and urged the importance of academic excellence to succeed in life. He noted the incredible achievements of various individuals in the board exam, particularly Tenzin Chokyi, who became the first Tibetan to score above 95%.
