The Old Diocesan Issue 13 - Magazine - Page 9
MESSAGE FROM COUNCIL
Niall Carroll
We set a vision: to be one of the leading
Anglican boys’ schools in the world.
Honouring the past and preparing
for the future are not opposites.
Done well, they are two halves
of the same task.
We are asked, too, to hold the
interests of the whole community,
not any one part of it. Debate has
always been part of the life of a
school like ours, and it should be
– a community that argues well
is a community that cares. What
matters is that we conduct our
disagreements in a way that is
true to our values, so that they
leave us better understood by one
another and more closely aligned
than before. That asks something
each of us can give: making sure
every voice is not only heard but
felt, so that people know their
view has landed, whether or
not a decision goes their way.
We should also be ambitious,
and unembarrassed about it. To
measure ourselves against the
leading Anglican boys’ schools
in the world is neither vanity nor
a rejection of our roots. It is a way
of telling our boys what we believe
them capable of. Ambition of that
kind grows out of who we are; it
does not replace it.
There is a phrase in our purpose
I hold especially dear: Inspiring
Individuals. Not only the prizewinners and the first teams, but
every boy, whatever his gifts: the
mathematician and the musician,
the actor and the rower, the quiet
boy who will find his feet in his
own good time. A school earns
its name by what it draws out
of each of them.
If Inspiring Individuals is about
drawing out each boy’s gifts,
Growing Good Men is about the
character that governs how they
are used, and character is the
work of our values. They are not
ornaments, but the grammar of
how we treat one another: in the
classroom, on the field, and in
the small, unwatched moments
that show who we really are.
The truest mark of a Bishops
man should not be the blazer
or the crest but the way he treats
those who can do nothing for
him. Courage, humility, integrity,
kindness and respect, lived rather
than recited, are how a good man
is grown.
I have been asked many times
why I have taken on the role.
I left Bishops in 1982, and for
a large part of the time since
then I have helped to build
and lead organisations across
several continents. This included
a company owned by a semi-rural
community north of Rustenburg,
whose purpose was to turn
success into dignity and
opportunity for people who
had little of either. That work
taught me that talent is only half
the story, and that an education
is measured most truly by how
it is used in service of others.
I have come back to Bishops
because I love this place and
believe in what it is for.
The road ahead requires
patient work, much of it quiet
and unglamorous, and not the
work of a single year or even a
single decade. But it belongs to
all of us – Council, staff, parents,
ODs and friends alike – and it is
a privilege to be part of it. If there
is something you would like me
to hear, please tell me. There is
a great deal to do, and it will be
far better done together.
(1981O), who
assumed the
role of Chair
of Council in
June, was at
Bishops from
1973 to 1982,
finishing as a senior prefect in
his post-matric year. A Theron
Scholarship and Bishops bursary
made his education possible, and
he made the most of it, excelling
academically, in sport and in music.
Additional scholarships and
bursaries steered him to UCT, where
he completed a BCom (Hons) and
CTA. He qualified as a CA(SA), and
later became a CFA charterholder.
He began his career at Deutsche
Bank, becoming country co-head
and head of investment banking,
before serving as founding CEO
of Royal Bafokeng Holdings
(2006–2012). There he helped build
a community-owned investment
company into a portfolio worth
$4-billion, generating returns that
supported infrastructure, education
and leadership development.
In 2016, Niall co-founded CG
Tech, the global holding company
he chairs, now employing about
5,000 people in nine countries. He
also chairs CG Philanthropies and
has served on numerous boards.
An accomplished trombonist
and former head of the Bishops
brass band, Niall retains strong
interests in education, conservation,
technology and the arts. He and his
wife, Sue, have two adult children,
Sebastian and Olivia, and divide
their time between the UK,
Switzerland and South Africa.
To read a longer biography
of Niall, as well as those of the
entire current Bishops Council,
visit www.bishops.org.za/
AboutUs/Council
THE OLD DIOCESAN | 5
