You must not wait to be elected into office, before you begin to serve. Begin to serve every where you are; in the home, community, school, university, work, hospital, church, market, society, nation and among many other places.
~ Lailah Gifty Akita
Leaders must served and not to be served as demonstrated by Jesus Christ, the Saviour.
It is not an overstatement to say that the destiny of the entire human race depends on what is going on in America today. This is a staggering reality to the rest of the world; they must feel like passengers in a supersonic jetliner who are forced to watch helplessly while a passel of drunks, hypes, freaks, and madmen fight for the controls and the pilot's seat. – Eldridge Cleaver, Soul on Ice, 1968
~ Mark Kurlansky
Whether it is in business life or in political roles, leaders rise up to offer the solutions to problems society faces. They act with the right actions at the right time.
~ Israelmore Ayivor
Jonathan had been around Washington long enough to know that no offer was exactly what it seemed.
~ Stephen L. Carter
The accomplishments of the women in 'The Counselors' are a testament to the power and promise of the American Dream and are sure to resonate deeply with many young women who have the desire and the ability to make their own unique contributions to this legacy of progress. . . . Just as the women in this book were empowered by the efforts and example of those who came before them, a new generation will be inspired and encouraged by the spirit and achievements of this remarkable group.
~ Bill Clinton
Leaders will love to be poor and see their people rich, than to be rich and see their people poor. This is their mission.
You don't necessarily need atomic bombs to destroy a nation. Politicians who value their pockets than the life of citizens always do that every day.
Leaders don't cry for what country can do for them for free. They dream about what they can do for country at high cost.
Take for instance, a society where the prevailing value system is that you only go into politics and leadership to serve and not to make money. In such a nation, people know that those who go into politics and leadership come out of it poorer than they went in.
~ Sunday Adelaja
In leadership, the way up is down. Serve before you get served
~ Bangambiki Habyarimana
You need to have the means to impose yourself
The only principle which will make you more content, less bitter is to live a life that has Less excuses, more results. Less distraction, more focus. Less me, more we. Live with Gratitude not with Greytitude
~ Abhysheq Shukla
Around the world, the perception and reality of corruption and bad governance in public places remains very high. But it isn’t just in governments that these are found; they can permeate through society, where they are rampant in private enterprises and even religious institutions. We need to deal with the causes, not just consequences. You will need to play your role, both as a good example as well as part of the social police force. Cultures and beliefs must change at a personal level as well as at institutional levels.
~ Archibald Marwizi
Just imagine the strides Africa would have made if all the resources being channeled towards conflict resolution were going into construction of power generation plants and irrigation capacity. Can’t we promote our own peace? What are we doing to seriously focus on other eco-friendly energy sources like wind and solar?
Creating the right mind-set and a positive attitude today, will help you to start crafting a clear plan of how you intend to make your life a success.
A leadership comfort zone brings stagnancy, deprives one of innovation, stifles growth and frustrates both the leader and the team they lead. Your personal preferences like leadership style, communication style, prejudices, habits and mannerisms must be effectively managed so that they do not work against you. You have to be careful that your strengths do not end up becoming a hindering comfort zone. Seek to lead, driven by a cause.
Realise your Stewardship role as a parent – you raise children to offer a quality gift to society. Even your spouse should not be treated as an object or possession you own; support them to be the best of what they were created to be. Do your part and trust God for the rest. If you have empowered them, trust them to be responsible.
Empower your children - Allow self-discovery and self-awareness (their own key to success), Facilitate an environment for learning through experience (practice of knowledge acquired). Remember, this exploration will take place whether you approve or not – it’s inevitable, that’s why YOU MUST be in charge of providing awareness and exposure to improve the quality of decisions made during exploration and experimentation.
Having a succession and legacy plan in place will make you ready for forced changes due to circumstances beyond your control, like death, any form of incapacity, sudden changes in laws and regulations and even corporate scandals and moral failure.
Passing the baton - Oh what a challenge this has proven to be in many societies, families, businesses, governments, religious organizations and obviously in every other relay race! Why do this? - for starters, you will not live forever – how about that? After a given mileage, even a car will need new tyres!
Start planning from your internal or spiritual view of things. The external view always has a way of distorting, discouraging and limiting your dream.
When you have pictured and defined your desired legacy, allow your present life activities and efforts to begin reflecting the future you desire. Begin to do what you want to see, become involved in the causes you want to be a part of. Show your legatees how you want and expect things to be done after you are gone. This will enable them to fit the vision into their own as they make their own individual unique mark.
A leader, who divides his own people, contaminates his platform and begins to destroy his own territory.
Consider your will to be the vision of your influence on earth after you cease to be a part of it. Crafting a lasting legacy means you start planning and making it possible now.
Release children as part of your delegated leadership influence - this will enable you to leave a legacy worth noting. Realise the risk in delegation and bestowing this trust - if you sacrifice a rib, you expose your heart to possible pain, hurt or pride, fulfilment and joy. When these come – it’s not the end of the world, be brave enough to face the challenge with a positive attitude.
There are batons that you will obviously choose to pass on, upon your death, but there are others that would be advisable you pass on whilst you are still alive. Implement as practicable as possible, all succession elements that can be done whilst you are still alive so that you can ensure they are done according to your will/desire.
Do not do everything for your children – teach them personal responsibility and accountability. This includes using your home environment – the kitchen, the garden, making their room/bed, chores – as training platforms. Prepare them to be independent.
Open the door for communication and interact with your children. Provide the answers (if you don’t know, look for them or get expert advice). Guide them on how to deal with other sources of information – friends, TV, other media, society or the internet. Coaching empowers them to make their own informed, quality decisions.
Timing is a critical issue when it comes to succession. Passing the baton too early or too late could both cause irreparable damage. The timing just has to be right, but again you are responsible for creating or influencing the right conditions over the course of your leadership tenure.
Teach faith as a non-negotiable - What should your family be aware of? Why should they be aware of these things? How will they become aware? When and at what stages must they become aware?
It’s about teamwork, realizing we are on the same side and complementing each other. The family is at its best when exposed to and engaged in high-quality environments, interactions, and relationships. This is not technological or economic quality – it is leadership and effectiveness quality. Children mature best when the adults in their life work in partnership with one another. There must exist important aligning of mission, beliefs, values and behaviours within the family unit.
A leader must produce other leaders. Why do you want to produce followers, when by being called a leader the assumption is that you already have followers? Influence those who follow to birth their kind and develop others to lead.
Begin to invest in productive capacity, and the ability to see people flying or shining on the platform you have set for them in support of your vision. You need to draw the best out of them so that the reach and impact of your vision becomes phenomenal. See them as your extension, the multiplication of the tentacles of your vision and mission – sometimes when they shine, they are not trying to replace you at all, they are trying to be a “little you” somewhere you cannot be, as you focus on other key strategic issues elsewhere.
Alignment of vision, mission, values and attitudes need to be matched between you and those you choose to surround yourself with. The cost of training or replacing will be very minimal and less painful if recruitment, selection and positioning are done well. This applies even to general employment processes, whether at leadership or staff levels.
It is the challenge for every leader to develop and invest in those he depends on, to ensure his or her vision is realized in the way it has been put upon the leader’s heart. These key people will enhance the success or taint the leadership image and brand of the visionary.
You choose the leaders and place them strategically around the table of your vision and mission. They are already around you because of some degree of loyalty, so if you continue putting 80% effort in enhancing loyalty that already exists, you will end up going into overkill and igniting a toxic level of internal office politics that was not originally existent in your organisation.
Change in leadership brands must be influenced and proactively effected at a personal level, it can never be forced from outside with sustainable effectiveness. Saddam Hussein, Muammar al Gaddafi and Hosni Mubarak are all political trophies, yet the effects of the military or “civil” initiatives that toppled them, are nothing to be proud of considering what continues to happen in countries like Iraq, Libya, Egypt and Syria, after the use of force to bring political change.
The African Challenge - We must end conflict in Africa. We must lead to allow the Africans to enjoy the benefits from their natural resources. We must end poverty in Africa. Every African must be educated, have access to health care and a fair chance to fulfil their dream. Preventable sickness and disease must not reduce life expectancy or rob pregnant women of a chance to continue living. Africa must develop. Africa must not depend on foreign aid. Africa must be united and governed more effectively. Africa must customize her leadership culture and philosophy in a way that gives her global relevance and respect but still remain true and authentic to herself. Will you accept the challenge? Will you be that Africa?
If in this generation, you still consider yourself the only one who knows or who has the capacity to make a difference, it’s a shame because you are delaying this leadership excellence train from reaching its destination. Make a decision to change your leadership philosophy and agenda today!
