Study as Therapy?
Author: Andrew Protheroe
Like many, Iraq enabled me to cut-my-teeth at the unforgiving end of security. In 2006, after experiencing an ambush for the umpteenth time, I was compelled to explore ‘leadership and decision making’.
Slightly disadvantaged (no school quals), my first degree took four years. Most people took two, but ‘o’le school dodger’ had to read and re-read to make sense of words and sentences which were often alien to me.
However, one topic led to another, and I soon became engrossed in the organisational risk management areas of, health/safety RM, security RM, environmental RM, and quality RM.
Fast forward - Today I feel my journey is less to find answers as to how leaders make decisions, but more a journey of self-discovery and improvement. Study, like returning to Iraq, has become therapy.
Ironically, as I sit writing an assignment in Baghdad, rockets have just landed near the US Embassy, causing me to reflect how my perception of leadership has changed the more I’ve studied the concept and experienced those in control.
Parting thoughts:
1 - Good leaders want YOU to feel good. Beware the ‘mis-leaders’, they make everyone feel bad
2 - If you’re struggling - study may be an answer.
“Minds are like parachutes, they work best when open”
“Don’t trust it, TEST IT”
