By JEROME OBOMIGIE

IN life there are no two individuals that our exactly alike no matter how they may be close in resemblance. Since an organisation is made up of people of different backgrounds, there is a dire need for a leader to co-ordinate the various components that make up the organisation. A leader has to plan, direct and evaluate what he feels that would propel the organisation to achieve and accomplish its.

Objectives. The leader of an organisation may not be the most intelligent of the organisation staff but at least he should be a little above average to be able to lead those under him. A leader who is a moron can only succeed in pulling down an organisation that is entrusted to him rather than stimulating it to a higher pedestal for higher productivity.

There are different types of leadership styles exhibited by leaders. These are democratic, work oriented and laiser – faire etc. The school as an entity responsible for the training of our youngsters in an organisation. Like other organisations it needs leaders. The school needs leaders because most of the nation’s revenue is invested on the sector. Where there are no effective and efficient leaders to supervise and monitor this sector all that is invested will go down the drain. For a leader to function properly he should possess legal authority. It is this legal authority that would act as centrifugal force that will pull together the subordinates for complete submission to the superior officer or boss. A leader without authority is a toothless bull-dog. Such a leader will not be taken serious by his sub-ordinates. In an organisation be it school or some other sectors, the leader should use his authority wisely but if the reverse is the case, he would create chaos and anarchy in the rank and file of the organisation. This is where it is very necessary for a leader in the school to possess high administrative acumen. This why people prefer school organisation to other sectors. All school managers should bring together their administrative strategies so as to achieve success in there educational endeavour. In school administration the image maker should remember there is no short cut to obtain the best, administratively. If as a school manager you prefer democratic style to any other, remember to allow some minute elements of autocracy for the system to sail through.

In Nigeria, at the apex of her educational ladder, we have the minister of education and the permanent secretary, commissioners and their secretaries at the state level. This continues until we get to the principals teachers and pupils. As a school administrator, it is not possible for one to be in control in all places. This is because one can easily break down. It is on this not that it is imperative that some of the powers are delegated to the subordinates. At the secondary school level the principal is at the apex of the administration. Some of the principal functions have to be given to some other persons like the vice-principals, heads of department, teacher etc to perform without interference so that the principal would have more time to other pressing issues.

By delegation of power we mean allowing someone to stand in your place for the purpose of performing a task that you ought to perform. In school heading great caution is required in delegating power to subordinate to perform a task. The following should be duely considered.

1. The person you want to delegate power to should be intelligent. It is only when the person is in possession of average intelligence that he would be able to perform creditably. This is because a person with low intelligents will not be able to carry people along to achieve the desired objectives.

2. In delegating power to a staff, the affair should not be on the basis of “man know man”. In most schools in Nigeria, this the trend of things. It is not uncommon to see square pegs in round holes. As school head, merit should be followed when power is to be delegated.

3. As school administrator, when power is to be delegated an unwilling staff should not be entrusted with school responsibilities because he many not put in his best.

4. The tendency where a staff is over bundered with much work should be discarded.

In some schools because a particular staff is good, he will be loaded with responsibilities while others are idle doing practically nothing. All school administrators should endeavour to use positive random sampling method while delegating power. This will afford staffers the chance to participate and not only a particular group.

5. Whenever power is given to a staff to perform, there should be mild supervision. Severe supervision can only be embarked upon when the task to be accomplished is extremely difficult. The power delegated should not have string attached to it.

6. When delegating power, the financial aspect should be closely monitored. This is because school heads are the chief accounting officers in schools. These people can be called upon to give account of their stewardship at any time. It is only when they we abreast with the financial transaction that they would be able to perform this role.

Having x-ray what the supervisor officer will bear in mind when delegating power to the subordinates the question now is what will the subordinates gain through the delegation of power given to them.

Life, people say, is dynamic when viewed subjectively and objectively. There is nobody that will ever remain at the bottom of the leader since the person accepting the power delegated to him will one day grow to be a superior officer, power delegated to him affords him the opportunity to learn. Today, our educational enterprise is filled up with men and women who just refused to learn from better brains. This is the genesis of myriads of problems that we have to contend with in our educational sector.

Another thing that the subordinate who accepts power delegated to him would gain is that at a large glaze he will be able to give himself on the spot assessment so as to know whether he can creditably perform the task assigned to him.

According to a renown educational philosopher “man is only a man at the content of his society and outside it he is neither man nor beast”. In Nigeria it is little wondered that some of the people that determine the fate of our education are people who refuse to marry their intellect with the world of work in their formative years. This is why most well thought out plans always fall by the many side even before implementation stage. Some of these superior officers who refuse to learn will pocket their hands and start to verbalise wrong ideas whenever they are confronted with problems. Talking without concrete action on the part of the boss to right the wrongs can never perform the expected magic.

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