Workshops at the Fiqh Academy of India July/August 2008 by Prof Dr Omar Hasan Kasule
GUIDELINES:
1. This module assumes the concept of performance gap which is the difference between the ideal and the actual in organizational performance. The performance gap is the difference between the potential and actual performance of organizations and individuals. Many individuals and communities all over the world are experiencing phenomena of revival and renewal. There is a new reawakening and a determination to make tomorrow better than yesterday. However the zeal, commitment and efforts of the revival have not been perfectly or completely translated into practical results that everyone can see in the society. The practical achievements fall far short of the potential. Success in building and managing institutions, the backbone of real and sustained change, has been limited in several communities and countries. The gap between aspirations and achievements is due to a relative deficiency of practical skills in leadership and management. These skills are not in-born. They can be taught or developed through experience on the job. Individuals and organizations pay a high price in terms of lost opportunities for the continued existence of the performance gap.
2. There is no one fixed system of Islamic leadership or management. As with many similar social phenomena, Islam defines the broad principles and leaves it to the people of each place and era to define the system most suited to their circumstances. The system must therefore change with changes of time and space. There is no utopia. Any human system will have strengths and weaknesses. The aim should be to decrease the weaknesses and increase the strengths. The best system are those based on empirical experience and that are open to changes if empirical evidence shows that they are not working well. The empirical experience must be within the moral context of Islam for it to bear fruits.
3. This module consists of 12 workshops each covering a leadership/management skill or issue. Each workshop requires 3-5 hours distributed as follows: pre-workshop preparation (30 minutes), facilitator presentation (30 minutes), group discussions (1-2 hours) and a plenary concluding session (1-2 hour). You have to prepare by reading the material before the day of the workshop. Start by studying the outline of the session. Then read the background and text. Scan through the discussion questions. On the appointed day, the workshop facilitator makes a presentation followed by a question and answer session. For discussion, groups made up of no more than 5 persons in each are formed. The discussion covers the background reading, analysis of the text, and the discussion questions at the end. Relate everything you read or discuss to your practical experience. In some cases the group has to undertake an exercise or a case-study analysis. Each discussion group presents a summary of its discussion to the plenary session. It is recommended that you supplement the material given by readings in books and other sources on the subject. Write down your all discussions, observations and conclusions
4. The following conceptual tools. Technical terms will be useful in your discussion: leadership (attributes, functions, skills, values, attitudes, authority, influence), model leaders, evaluation of leaders
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