The burden of Awards and Reconition

THE BURDEN OF AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

As a part of a search committee to select right candidates for a certain award some twenty years back, I called up  a lady who was doing yeomen service in the field of education to request for a copy of her profile along with a description of several initiatives she had taken. She laughed and replied “Awards? What for? Thanks for considering, but let me tell you.. I don’t want to be the part of this race. I am doing a silent job.. allow me to continue that.. If I have to work because someone is going to recognize and award my work, I will be defeating myself..”

As I kept the phone down, my mind screened a number of people who have been chasing the awards along with recommendations from the powerful and the influential... The world consists of people of both kinds..

Imagine of a person who came to receive an award, but already had in his wallet, a visiting card indicating the award, he was yet to receive.. Possibly he wanted to release it the moment he received it...

What do awards really indicate? Many times recognition of the deserving.. Possibly a tonic to them to improve their performance.. a catalyst to accelerate their good work.. in a few cases, the kind of influence they exert or the visibility or connections they have.. I have also witnessed some influential persons getting quick recognition of very high order just in two to three years one after the other...

Do the awards and recognitions really act as a brand? May be in other fields of business.. but certainly not in education. I believe, awards pose a challenge to the receiver, put on one’s shoulder a responsibility to be worthy of what has been received!

While I certainly do not present a negative picture of the awardees, the message is clear – that they have to raise their bench mark.. they have to live up to a quality that they have defined for themselves or others have defined for them...

In the annual day of a school, I heard the master of ceremonies listing twenty one awards received by the Head of the Institution though the number of years of service of the individual was much less.. No complaints.. There may be enough justifications..but what was being communicated?

Like many of the International certifications, some schools display on their reception halls, which has nothing to do with the profile of the organization or its processes, sometimes these awards are just events in the lives of a few people.. it is time we take the meaning and spirit of these awards quite seriously and enrich our leadership !!