Barbados cricket Association article.
Bridgetown, Barbados - The 13th Special Meeting of the Barbados Cricket Association is slated for Thursday, August 27, at Lloyd Erskine Sandiford at 5:30 p.m.
Joel Garner, who has been president since 2007, is being challenged for the second time by former First vice-president Conde Riley, who was beaten 166 votes to 121 two years ago.
Following is Garner's platform:
It has been an honour to serve as President of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) for the last eight (8) years. Every democratically elected President of any organization expects to be under scrutiny and constant assessment. A President must always be prepared to account to stakeholders especially the members of the Association who elected him and if they so choose, can re-elect him.
An Annual General Meeting (AGM) is the most formal and significant scrutiny of performance that I face as President. In that regard I believe that it is, therefore, appropriate that as your serving President, asking again to be re-elected that I present you with a framework which allows you to assess not only what we have accomplished together under my stewardship but also what I know we can continue to accomplish.
In that regard I believe there are questions that you can ask me and my answers will help you to see that I am still the best choice for BCA President. I am convinced that my answers will persuade you to re-elect me and the persons who have come to be regarded as a part of my team. Let us be realistic, no President works alone and I would be the first to admit that it was and remains a team approach to work with the BCA Executive.
The questions are:
1.Why did I aspire to become BCA President in the first place?
2.What did I hope to accomplish on becoming President?
3.What have I accomplished?
4.How did I go about getting it done?
5.Is the BCA a better organisation today under my stewardship?
6.Did stakeholders benefit?
7.What do I see as the current and future priorities?
8.How can we achieve the goals?
9.What do I need stakeholders to do to help me?
10. Can you trust me to continue keeping my word?
1.Why did I aspire to become President of the BCA in the first place?
I felt within my heart that I could make a valuable contribution to cricket as President of the BCA at that stage of my life (my playing days were long past). When I first joined the BCA I did so to serve cricket by giving back to the game that had contributed markedly to my development and success on a global stage. I had chosen a path of service by joining the BCA and subsequently becoming President. I could have done like many other stalwarts of the game and looked for moneymaking opportunities for myself; I did not. I chose to serve instead. I was committed to service. Specifically because:
●I knew the game and had played it at the highest level
●I had the competence to lead the organisation – by that time I had strengthened my formal knowledge of Management as an area of study and practice
●I was accustomed to working in complex team environments with people from many cultures, traditions and ethnicities
●I had contacts and influential networks among stakeholders, locally regionally and internationally that I could call upon to help us
●I had clear ideas as to what we needed to do to continue developing our cricket
2.What did I hope to accomplish on becoming President?
I wanted to assist in the development not only of strong Barbados teams but to assist in the redevelopment of West Indies cricket by strengthening Barbados cricket at all levels. I also wanted to contribute to improvements in the way our cricket was organized and how the BCA, the Board of Management and the Secretariat functioned. I felt I could do this by using a team approach with stakeholders.
3.What have I accomplished?
Let us focus on three areas: Cricket Development; Organizational Development and Stakeholder Involvement.
Cricket Development
The successes and improvements we have had in our cricket development during the past eight (8) years are significant. In comparison our minor setbacks were just that: minor. We concentrated on our core business of developing cricket and our strategies have borne fruit. The number of Barbadian cricketers playing for the West Indies and challenging for places at Test, A team and ODI squad levels is clear evidence of that. It is clear that our selectors and selection process have worked well. We maintained our scholarship programme in the UK for young cricketers even in challenging economic times. Our plans were clearly articulated in a Cricket Development Plan.
Organizational Development
The publication of the Strategic Plan underpins the achievements relating to making the Board and the Secretariat function in a professional manner based on sound principles of Leadership, Management, Teamwork and Accountability.
●The Cricket Operations Department is being strengthened to ensure that we continue to develop skilled cricketers and leaders
●The (Sir) Everton Weekes Centre of Excellence continues to play an important role in the development of our young cricketers
●We developed an Employee Handbook which is now being revised and finalised
●We are recruiting a Human Resources Specialist to ensure that we comply with the stipulations of the Employment Rights Act and introduce and maintain good human resources practices
●The rules governing the BCA are being updated and revised. In that regard recommendations for restructuring Governance practices will be formally considered within the next few weeks
The appointment of CEOs presented us with some challenges. We have made clear publicly issued statements in that regard; when CEO’s had to be terminated. The Board followed established procedures and took the advice of specialists from recruitment to termination when required. We took collective decisions. In the final analysis, each job applicant is the ultimate advocate for his own integrity and competence or the opposite.
Stakeholder Involvement
There can be little doubt that we have maintained high levels of contact with our stakeholders. The information provided in our various reports and on the BCA website has put all our stakeholders in a position to be informed in a timely manner. Additionally, the Stakeholder Consultation that we conducted as we developed the Strategic Plan was an innovative and forwardlooking approach to stakeholder involvement and participation.
At the extra-regional level, we have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Lancashire County Cricket Club. Implementation of the MOU will enable us to strengthen the BCA and its staff through coaching programmes, seminars for Curators and training in other areas of cricket management.
4.How did I go about getting it done?
I had a very clear Vision and Strategy and I was always able to build a coalition of the willing, capable and committed on the Executive during each of my terms as President by using a team approach. Additionally, I was able to get staff and personnel of the BCA to see me as a person who cared and who listened and took decisions after appropriate consultation.
In essence what I did was the following:
●I was able to get the Board of Management to agree on some key matters as mentioned in the document.
●Oversaw the development of the Strategic Plan and participated actively in all phases of the process to produce the Plan
●Involved stakeholders in our plans
●Redefined the role of the Secretariat and improved its capacity
●Focused on improving the standard of play on the field and the quality of life of players off the field
●Did my best to model Proactive Leadership: being patient and collegial; I sought to model the behaviour expected of me; I demonstrated commitment to our plans and I remained committed to accountability
●We have led the way in some key initiatives which have been adopted by the WICB
5.Is the BCA a better organisation under my stewardship?
The BCA is a demonstrably better organisation:
●Our teams have been more consistently successful at Regional level
●The BCA now has a comprehensive Strategic Plan
●Plans are more closely aligned with budgets
●The Secretariat has a more clearly defined role
The Critical staffing needs of the Secretariat have been identified and is being systematically upgraded
●Sponsors have kept faith with the BCA even in difficult economic times
●Although we have addressed the rules the rights and privileges of members have been attended to and the BCA maintains its focus on this important area
6.Did stakeholders benefit?
Yes, stakeholders have benefitted in several ways:
●We have brought more focus to the development of women's cricket
●Barbadian women are playing a major role as the west indies cricket team rises in the world rankings
●We have started the process of professionalizing women's cricket
7.What do I see as the current and future priorities?
The Strategic Plan clearly identifies five (5) critical strategic areas and seventeen (17) goals for the next 34 years. The strategic areas are called Key Result Areas. We will focus on:
1.Governance and Organisational Development
2.Cricket Development
3.Outreach and Engagement
4.Innovation and Technology
5.Advocacy
The Five Key Result Areas (KRAs) are not distinct or separate but are mutually supportive and compatible with each other; for example, improvements in the use of technology will result not only in improvements in Cricket Development but also in Governance and Organisational Development and Outreach and Engagement.
Let me highlight some of the Goals shown in our Strategic Plan:
●Restructure the BCA in line with modern management practices
●Focused our spending to ensure the financial sustainability of the BCA
●Maintain a standard of cricket that creates opportunities for Barbadian Cricketers to be selected to West Indies teams at all levels
●Develop and maintain a structured programme for the expansion and development of women’s cricket
●Expand and upgrade the use of technology in cricket
●Maintain an atmosphere of collaboration, cooperation and mutual support with stakeholders
●Expand interaction and engagement with cricket administrations and teams around the world
●Promote cricket as a means of socio-economic development
In addition to the specific goals shown, we intend to expand our strategic partnerships with cricket organizations in the wider world such as is demonstrated by the MOU with Lancashire County referred to before.
8.How can we achieve the Goals?
The Strategic Plan (Section 8.0) provides us with a roadmap for achieving results. It identifies three (3) pillars: Proactive Leadership; Stakeholder Involvement and Organisational Development. Those three pillars apply to a greater or lesser degree to all of our Goals. The Proactive leadership that is referred to embraces the philosophy that leadership is action not a title or position. This means that by continuing to develop the Secretariat, improving the Governance arrangements for the Board and Committees and systematically engaging stakeholders and facilitating their contribution to plans and projects we will have a high level of goal achievement. Section 9 of the Plan describes the Monitoring and Evaluation Framework that we will use to constantly assess progress as we implement the Strategic Plan.
9.What do I need stakeholders to do to help me?
Stakeholders can help by:
●Continuing to show confidence in the BCA
●Participating actively in all events to which they are invited or included
●Executing their own roles and keeping commitments given to the BCA
●Managing their own projects and programmes effectively with full accountability
●Creating new and expanded partnerships to build on the progress that we made so far
●Embracing the philosophy that cricket belongs to all stakeholders and we can all make a contribution to its future development in Barbados and the Region
10. Can you trust me to continue keeping my word?
Many of you have known me all of my adult life and while I accept that greater maturity has come with responsibility as I have lived my life, I can say with confidence that the values that were instilled in me as a child still guide me today.
I have never attempted to use my position as President of the BCA for personal gain. I have never sold my conscience or my vote to the highest bidder in any sphere. I try to treat all persons with respect. It is true that I am known to lose patience in the face of inefficiency and incompetence when it appears in front of me but that is because I am committed to success for all. You have seen the maturity with which I have dealt with challenges to my office as President. The people who consider me a friend would have distanced themselves long ago if they could not trust me. I have life-long friends from all walks of life from childhood up to today. You all know that my image and reputation in the world of cricket are intact.
When it comes to values, ethics and integrity, I am the same Joel Garner I have always been. If re-elected I will continue to serve based on those values and principles. I am grateful for the opportunity to have served as BCA President thus far and invite you to re-elect me for another term.
Yours respectfully
Joel “Big Bird” Garner
August, 2015
First Published On bcacricket.org.