THE EDITOR: Commissioner of Police Erla Harewood-Christopher was overawed at the recent parliamentary joint select committee meeting.
The role of management is to control a group or groups of individuals in order to achieve a specified objective. Leadership is the ability of an individual to influence, motivate and enable others to contribute to the organisation’s success.
A commissioner needs to have a combination of management and leadership skills. Some of the many qualities of a leader is being able to communicate effectively, exude confidence, decisiveness, courage, resilience and emotional intelligence.
Harewood-Christopher was overawed by the questioning of members of the JSC. The confidence and communication skills one expects her to have were absent. She was unable to communicate effectively. There was no courage and decisiveness of her convictions and for these reasons one would say she is not quite suited for the top CoP role.
While she is well-qualified academically, however, leadership is not solely dependant on academic achievements. Valuable leadership skills include the ability to delegate, inspire and communicate effectively. A good leader should have integrity, self-awareness, courage, respect, compassion and resilience. I am not quite sure Harewood-Christopher possesses courage and resilience.
The CoP was questioned on the symbiosis of the Beyond the Tape programme with the TTPS and failed to stand up for her subordinate. Instead she cowardly pulled Sr Supt Roger Alexander off the programme.
The effectiveness of leaders depends on the respect of the people who work for them. It is difficult to get people to follow someone they do not respect. It leaves one to wonder whether Harewood-Christopher has the respect of the other members of the police executive.
I still wish her well for the remainder of her term. Best wishes to her is a benefit to all of us in the land.
CUTHBERT SANDY
Point Fortin
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