Chandigarh, October 11
The Tribune Group of Newspapers, in collaboration with Chitkara University, organised the Principals’ Meet to deliberate on ‘Creative Leadership’ at a hotel here today.
As many as 115 principals from various schools of the tricity attended the event. The session emphasised that “creativity is one of the most important qualities of a modern business leader”.
Keynote speaker Dr Virat Chirania stressed on the importance of creative thinking in shaping the leaders of society. Dr Chirania said: “It is the time to shift from convergent teaching to divergent teaching so that creative thinking ability enhances the thought process of children, which will also help them in the long run”.
“Creativity is born in a free mind and is the softest skill that the world demands. Unless the mind is at peace, one cannot be creative,” he said.
He also emphasised on inculcating topics such as mind management and emotional intelligence in the curriculum of schools so that children can be shaped for a better tomorrow.
“Convergent thinking focuses on finding a well-defined solution to a problem. Divergent thinking is the opposite of convergent thinking and involves more creativity,” said Dr Chirania.
Dr Madhu Chitkara, Pro-Chancellor of Chitkara University, talked about empathy, which according to her is an important aspect in the leadership.
“You have to be a problem solver and give solution to anyone who comes to you with any problem. Try to make your clone so that the system can work even in your absence,” she said.
She also emphasised on sharing the best practices among schools so that the entire teaching community could be benefitted from each other. Dr Chitkara also laid stress on implementing the National Education Policy and including courses such as “art of living” for school-going children so that their mind can be trained positively.
Respect other’s ideas
A principal must be creative. No teacher can think of being creative until and unless the leader is. The leader needs to appreciate and respect other’s space and ideas. The principal should be a constant learner. Anjali Sharma, St Soldier School, Mohali
Great opportunity
The conference based on “creative leadership” by The Tribune has been a great opportunity to engage with eminent leaders of our region. The role of meditation to create a stress-free mind space for creative ideas to flow was emphasised. Vandana Saxena, Tribune Model School
Freedom to express ideas
Creative leadership gives freedom to your peers and colleagues to express their creative and innovative ideas. Krit Serai, Satluj Public School, Panchkula
Will help hone creativity
Schools thrive only when we have creative leaders. Thus attending today’s session on “creative leadership” will help all leaders, who attended the session, to hone their creativity for the betterment of the institution. Soma Mukhopadhyay, Bhavan Vidyalaya (Junior)
Inclusive leadership
Creative leadership” means inclusive leadership i.e to include all stakeholders who stand for each other and build emotional quotient, adversity quotient and spiritual quotient of all. — Gurnam Kaur Grewal, Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36
Hands-on experience
It was a wonderful session on creative leadership with hands-on experience on creative thinking. This experience can be used to devise and innovate activities on creative thinking for students. Sumati Dogra, KV Mullanpur
Way to think freely
Creative leadership gives way to every stakeholder, including children, teachers and others, to think and share ideas freely. Monika Sharma, Ashiana Public School
Enriching forum
The Tribune Principals’ Meet, true to the spirit in which it is always conducted, was an enriching forum that saw an invigorating exchange of ideas among educational leaders of the tricity. Among multiple takeaways were the reaffirmation of implementing the National Education Policy and creating a happy environment in the schools for the teachers and the taught for creativity to blossom. Gurvinder Sohi, Aravali Int’l School, DLF Valley, Panchkula
