Personal Leadership in T & T
As we begin 2012, we ask that as a nation we take a moment to reflect, not just on the adversities we’ve faced this past year nor on who is to blame for same, but rather on what we’ve learnt along the way. With economies across the globe in financial crisis and struggling with similar issues such as leadership, ethics, governance, policy development and implementation, unemployment, health, education and so forth, surely we’ve realized that the challenges we face in our own economy are not at all unique to T&T.
It is for this very reason we at the Chamber believe the questions we should be pondering upon at present are less along the lines of “Where have we gone wrong?” and more, “What can we each do to assist in getting it right?” What pockets of excellence currently exist within T&T? IMF statistics as at the end of 2010 confirmed that Asia remained at the top of the list for real GDP growth, the fastest growing economies therein being Singapore, India, China and Sri Lanka. The statistics for 2011 continued along this trend.
At the Chamber our aim is “To be the voice of business in the development of a strong sustainable national economy”.
Amongst the key contributors to sustainable economic growth within the Asian economies continues to be their emphasis on exports. Where do we stand in T&T on this? As a nation we continue to justify the need to import goods and services for which we should be actively building our own capacity to provide. Rather than speak of the absence of skills and resources let’s busy ourselves with development of same. Are we engaging the captains of enterprise who have gotten the export trade right to replicate their models across T&T?
Let us no longer just criticise and speak freely of consistent declines in revenues and profits, negative GDP, the risks of increasing national debt in an uncertain global financial climate, speak of the absence of sound leadership, good governance and transparency in addressing critical socio-economic issues affecting our nation while failing to make the link that addressing these issues on a national level requires that we all address them within our own shops. As leaders it is time to display some personal leadership, let’s change the “wait and see” game to a “go and do” race.
Rather than continue to expend our energies looking to the past for who’s to blame, let s enter 2012 looking in the mirror for the answers. Let us together explore “What exactly it is we would like to achieve as a nation?” and “What this path demands of us as individuals – in our own lives, homes, organizations, sectors and as a society and nation as a whole?”
Let us not sit immobilized by fear and uncertainty but rather define a way forward ourselves. Let’s commit to GDP growth in 2012 and decide once and for all to become what this goal demands.
