Tuesday, 27 August 2013
Friday, 23 August 2013
Friday, 9 August 2013
THE PARACHUTE JUMP TRAINING
Parachute Regiments are
specialist unit in the armed forces trained for special operations. The
equivalent of the parachute regiment in the Ghana Armed forces is the Airborne
Force. Even though the Airborne force receives parachute training because of
its special role, all regular career officers of the Ghana Army are required to
undergo a 10 week parachute training to be able to operate alongside the
Airborne Force when the need arises. I find it difficult to forget 24 March 1999
because it was my first day I ever did my first parachute jump.
Military training is
difficult and dangerous and even more difficult for officers because they are
supposed to lead troops and take decisions in difficult situations which are analysed
by the media most times after the dust has settled. Officer Cadets in the Ghana
Military Academy undergo parachute training aimed at building their confidence,
teamwork and endurance. These are requisite attribute of great leaders both in
the military and the corporate world. I was part of the class of 1999 of 50 cadets
and I believed that my confidence, endurance and teamwork skill was going to be
developed if I survived the parachute jump training.
The officer cadet course is
in two phases. Phase one is the Standard Military Course (SMC) and phase two is
the Regular Career Course (RCC).The parachute training takes place at the RCC
stage in the northern region of Ghana where the weather is hot and dry. We
start training from 4 am to 4pm carrying 40kg sandbags or logs running and
walking intermittently for about 30 km, and drop whatever we carry, return to
barracks and go for them in the afternoon when the sun was hot. Our worse
enemies were the Physical Training Instructors (PTIs) and the Parachute Jump Instructors
(PJIs) whose work it was to ensure that every item on the training programme was
taken care of. The training is a requirement especially for regular Army career
officers to gain the commission of the President of the Republic of Ghana.
The parachute training is a
two part ten week rigorous training
which demands physical fitness and a high level of endurance. Eight weeks is
devoted for physical fitness, ground training and a host of drills from the time you board the aircraft through
to the time you land and fold your parachute. Obstacles crossing were routine
for the 8 weeks ground training and some were so dangerous that a little
mistake could be fatal if strict orders and instruction were not adhered to. We
are expected to cross obstacles in teams and it was the responsibility of each
member in the team to ensure every member crosses if not the whole team goes
through the whole obstacles again. It was at this point that I developed and
came to appreciate the essence of team cohesion.
Each day of the 10 weeks
ended with the sense of accomplishment and I developed the feeling that
everything was possible with determination. .Again, I realized that what really
unlocks ones potential is daily effort and not strength or intelligence. After
almost 14 years of the parachute training I can say that the objectives of the
training which was confidence building, teamwork and endurance was achieved to
the fullest.
ACQUIRING ONLINE NETWORKING EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS
I
remember how thrilled I was last year when I received a mail from the
University of Leicester that I had been accepted to pursue a finance MBA from
the School of Management. The reason for my excitements was because at
least the masters degree was going to make me more marketable and my transition
from the military to the corporate world was going to be smoother after the
successful completion of the Leicester MBA. The issue of employability skills
never came in mind and I had never dreamt about such a thing. The first day I
read about this online networking and employability skills module, I was equally
excited that I was going to acquire such an important skills at no extra cost
culminating in the development of my digital footprint.
After
my initial reading about the module I was convinced that, at the end of the
module I was going to learn about how effective I could use the social media
tools available to enhance my employability skills. I was a bit disappointed
initially after checking my digital footprint because I did not find anything about me even though I had Facebook and LinkedIn accounts but since it was
the beginning I assured myself that I was going to be armed to be able to create
a firm footprint. I am already enjoying the benefits. After reading extensively
on the different social media available I now know how individuals and organisations are
using the social media tools. Also, I now know the importance of Facebook, LinkedIn
Google Plus, Twitter and all the other tools. These are powerful tools
especially for job seekers. I have created a Google plus and a blog. I have
made friends far and near
I
have always had a LinkedIn account but had not developed my profile
efficiently. This online networking and employability module has enhanced my
skills and it is now reflecting my profile. I have started receiving job and projects request based on my enhanced profile .Through this module I have made
friends with people far and near some of
them in organisations
I plan to work with in the near future. Interesting ly,I am teaching my
colleagues about the module and the changes I have seen since the beginning of
the module and their interest and
enthusiasm is unimaginable. I have become so important to them because of this
module. That is the power of information and knowledge. I am marketing not only
the module but the University of Leicester and all that it offers.
All the benefits I
have enumerated come at a price. The challenge of being efficient at your job,
your MBA assignment and exams, this online networking and employability module,
family and friends who are equally interested in everything I am learning from
this module, is really what makes the differences. With the evaluation of my
buddy’s blog and the creation of my online CV still waiting, I expect nothing
but the best from this online networking and employability module
Monday, 22 July 2013
CHALLENGES OF A TEAM LEADER
As I indicated
in my last blog post on 11 July 2013, I am currently deployed as military
observer in a UN peacekeeping mission in Democratic Republic of Congo in East
Africa. Military observers are a sub unit of a military component of UN peacekeeping
force. Our duties as military observers are to observe and report information
relevant to the implementation of the UN mandate in Democratic Republic of
Congo. Military observers are professional military officers of the rank of a captain
and above, deployed throughout the mission and not more than 6 officers from
different countries. The location where they are deployed is often referred to
as Team Site. Currently, we are 6 officers: 4 Majors,1 Lieutenant Colonel and I
Captain from Ghana, India, Indonesia, Ukraine, Egypt and Bolivia. I am a
Ghanaian Major and the team leader is from Bolivia.
The team leader
went on leave for one month and I was appointed the team leader. The
responsibilities of the team leader include operational, security and
administrative effectiveness, timely and accurate reporting of all incidents,
regular update of documents and maintenance of equipment and vehicles, and
conduct and discipline among others. I saw this appointment as an opportunity
to improve on my employability skills in the area of leadership skill specifically,
persuasion skills, organizing skills, and listening skills and how to lead a
team. Listening and communications skills were critical to me because of the
language differences and the fact that I have a dream to work in a
multinational environment after leaving the military. Leading professional
officers from different cultures is a challenge and can be extremely difficult
in a multinational peacekeeping environment. Again, the people I was supposed
to lead knew that this appointment was temporal. On my first meeting one of
them was 10 minute late and I saw this as my first test. To be firm and avoid
offending him and the others members of the team I told him right away that
officers are time conscious so to avoid any embarrassment such behavior would not be tolerated. He
later came to apologize and promised not to repeat such unprofessional conduct
so my strategy worked.
Because we were
of the same rank, they felt comfortable to air their views but I made it clear even though we were to work as a team , the final decision would
be taken by me .I gave then individual task,
with specific performance indicators and
deadlines and added that I would be available for all clarification. In doing
this, I improved on my coordination and supervisory skills. During this period
I chaired various meetings involving other UN agencies, NGOs and local security
agencies. In interpreters become valuable during such meetings because English
and French are the key languages used in such meetings. Controlling people
during such meeting was another big challenge. Here, my communication skills
were put to test and I think I passed because of the comment that came to me later.
I had to give directives but ensured it did not appear as a typical military
orders with deadlines and the results were unimaginable. I had to ensure that
all daily reports that were supposed to be sent to headquarters were sent on
time and were correct.
Within this
period our Team Site received VIP visitors whom I had to do presentations about
the activities about our Team Site and in our area of responsibility. This was
typical of a peacekeeping environment. In such environment, people are
identified by their country so sometimes you are addressed by the name of your
country. Again, I saw such visits as
opportunity to demonstrate by professional competency and the pride of being a
Ghanaian. Transitioning from the military to the corporate world or civilian
institutions is always difficult so I saw my team leader appointment as an
opportunity to demonstrate my versatile capabilities and I also expected criticisms
from the people I was supposed to lead. I think all these adds up to the employability
skills required of today’s job seeker.
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