Pandemic: Outstanding Leadership at IIE

As an aged academic, I have spent many a lecture on elaborating the theoretical qualities and personal traits that are necessary to produce an acceptable leader. Theory and practice in this field however seem to miss each other in my experience, especially in time of crises. While none of us have been through the likes of Covid-19, there's nothing more suited like this pandemic to reveal true stupidity and true leadership in those who have influence over the lives of others. I have been an independent contractor with the IIE's Varsity College now for twenty years. I started lecturing on Saturdays and week nights and in 2013 started lecturing to the full-time students. It has been a steady journey watching the Advtech Group transform into a solid force in the tertiary environment. Granted rapid growth does have some flaws and not all was always as it appeared to be. Having worked in most of the more better known tertiary institutions for over forty-years, I believe that I'm fairly qualified to an experienced opinion like this. I have witnessed some of the best and worst leadership one could experience! One of the traits of an academic is, that we always believe there should be improvement, and at Varsity College I have seen that happen. When we went into lock down there was (as I'm sure there was everywhere else) a sense of despair among the contractors and full-time personnel alike, that we would lose our income. Why wouldn't we everybody else was about to! The sequence of events and communications that occurred within the first few days of lock down was amazing and is the point of this review. There has been nothing but support for all from the beginning! Personally I have not lost a cent of income and the alternative plan to support our students online has been seamless! While not everyone's cup of-tea, the IIE and Varsity College's leaders have risen to the occasion logistically, financially, but most of all morally, and while the playing fields have been shifted and there is more to do than usual, we are doing that because our leaders have supported us!