Leadership course for senior fisheries officers in the Caribbean

This course was developed as part of a formal cooperation between UNU-FTP and the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (CRFM) with a support from the Island Growth Initiative Fund of the Government of Iceland. Local counterparts in the project there lecturers of the faculty of business and management of the University of Belize (UB). Several meetings were held both in the Caribbean (Barbados and Belize) and Iceland during the developmental phase of the course from 2008-2010. The course was run for the first time in April 2010 in Belize with participants from 15 countries in the Caribbean in addition to several staff of the CRFM secretariat.

Course goal:
The overall development goal of this capacity building workshop is to enhance the contribution of fisheries to the social and economic development of the countries and achieve better quality life and standard of living for fisherfolk and coastal communities through sustainable development, management and conservation of the fisheries resource systems.

Course description
A five (5) day course will cover and reflect on main issues in building leadership ability among fisheries directors and administrators in the Caribbean. Special focus on will be on relevant issues and situations in the participants’ environment, and identifying personal strengths and weaknesses among participants so they may improve their leadership skills as the course progresses. Attention is paid towards specific management tools leaders may apply in their work. Strategic visions on both national and regional level will be analyzed with the aim of having the participants developing personal skills and understanding of organizational challenges they meet in implementing those visions. The course will focus on how participant can develop their personal leadership style. Case-studies and assignments drawn from the fisheries sector in the Caribbean and also in Iceland will be used to further emphasize practical aspects of the course material. In terms of the course output, the participant will have, at the end of the course:

developed new core leadership knowledge and skills and where appropriate, renewed and updated their existing expertise.
explored their leadership style and identified how to make it more effective
developed knowledge on creating high performance team and how to inspire and motivate team members.
received feedback and new insights on their current leadership capacities to help them focus on specific (practical) development actions where small improvements will make a major difference to the impact they have as a leader.
strengthened working relationships in the Regional Network of Senior Leaders.
developed an appreciation of the management tools commonly used in organizing and operation projects.
understood and identified the principles of organizational changes.

Target group:
Chief fisheries officers in the Caribbean

Contributors:
Milton Haughton (CRFM)
Thor Asgeirsson (UNU-FTP)
Helgi Gestsson (University of Akureyri)
Arsæll Arnarsson (University of Akureyri)
Ögmundur Knútsson (University of Akureyri)
Patrick McConney (University of West Indies)
Bernard Watler (UB)
Sharret Yearswook (UB)
Jean Perriot (UB)
Silvia Cattouse (UB)
Vincent Palacio (UB)
Melanie Simmons (UB)
Eda Arzu (UB)
LeRoy Almandarez (UB)
David Gibson (Consultant)

Course topics:
Day 1: Leaders or managers!
Day 2: Vision and performance
Day 3: Leadership and performance
Day 4: Organizational change
Day 5: Leadership acquired