to Wikipedia, Leadership may refer to “Those entities that perform one or more acts of leading,” “ability to affect human behaviour so as to accomplish a mission,” and “influencing a group of people to move towards its goal setting or goal achievement.

The political aspect leadership is indeed more than anything failing us not only as Nigerians but as Blacks and indeed everyone will definitely agree with me when I say this. This has continued to bother my heads as Africans do not seem to naturally posses what it takes to lead their followers or subjects. It is more than shameful for us all who are Blacks. The case of Nigeria is simply sympathetic because our leaders are not very leadership oriented. The definitions given above are viewed as tools for presenting to our so called leaders that political leadership is not mainly Caucasian owned but open to all fully interested humans wishing to lead their followers to the Promised Land. The leadership model as provided for in the annals of Nigeria has failed to promote the understanding of techniques involved in political.

It is today acknowledged that Nigeria is a potential giant of some sort of promises; the country has all it takes to rank with the rest of best world economies but the leaders crops the nation has produced have all lacked the wherewithal to position it in this avenue because of certain vices which are associated with these leaders. A look at the generality of leaders which the country has produced whether then or now clearly shows that the nation has never had good leaders but individuals only interested in their own well-beings and those of their families.

Before this time, Chinua Achebe has emphatically stated in one of his books well known to all that the problem with Nigeria squarely has to do with leadership, however I wish to state in clear terms that now added to this perhaps beyond Achebe comprehended was “corruption” which has added colours to the ways leaders roles are schemed in Nigeria.

Every system of government appears to have failed Nigeria too, Parliamentary system known then as the Westminster model which the country inherited from her colonial masters, Britain was condemned as a not too good enough model by the military men who thought they had all it took to liberate Nigerians from the bad leadership chains of the first civilians, again, this military men who ruled the country for decades proved that fraudulent acquisition of the nation’s wealth was more than anything topmost in their selfish agenda.

Within decades, a new generation of khaki men with different political ideologies, agendas and personal attitudes to life such as Buhari, Babangida, Abacha, and Abdusalami had in their selfish interests taken power in different incredible circumstances wasting the lives of millions of Nigerians through hunger, protests, lack of amenities, frequent increase in the prices of petroleum products, deliberate elimination and execution of brilliant individual citizens usually through unfounded rumours of trump up coups. Lives were lost in these battles notably M. K. O. Abiola and Ken Saro Wiwa, with the whole world again starting to attach credence to democracy as the best form of governance for the nation. Political leadership has once again failed Nigerians and the nation was now a pariah in the international arena not good enough for to relate with.

Not many will easily forget how the civilians recouped again to battle these khaki men in order to wrestle power from them in the name of democracy and finally democracy returned courtesy of Abdusalami, the man who had seen beyond Buhari, Babangida and Abacha, and even the old generation of Aguiyi-Ironsi, Gowon (the one who had every opportunity to industrialize Nigeria but went on to announce to the world that how Nigeria would spend her money was the problem) Murtala/Obasanjo (the man who handed over to a democratically elected leader)

Democracy again returned with Obasanjo handed the mantle of leadership after he suddenly became a born-again. His leadership model is indescribable here as he was himself a controversy manufacturer who ironically was accused of everything he accused his opponents of. The leadership style of this man became a failure to the whole nation and opinions once again began to condemn him. Obasanjo was hurriedly made and sold by People’s Democratic Party unprepared with the tag as “a saviour,” a party without any agenda priding itself as the biggest political party in Africa and maybe “the entire world” With time it became clear that this man was visionless without any clear direction. The height of his own crisis of leadership was the foundation for the auctioning of Nigeria’s Bakassi to Cameroon. Worse still, the man stylistically and unconstitutionally called for his term elongation to the amazement of the whole world.

Obasanjo lacked political stature and was far from activists, the result was irrational behaviour and apolitical authoritarian attitude the type required to only maintain one’s family. Actions referred to as policies were only geared towards what political friends would gain and what political foes would lose, these for him were assumed sufficient to pilot the affairs of his giant nation called Nigeria supported by his political party, PDP. Obasanjo no doubt added to the political crisis of his nation such that his immediate “selected” successor, inherited innumerable problems like nation wide hunger, teachers’ protests, increase in VAT and petroleum products and voluntary giving out of Nigeria’s territory to an unfriendly-friend Cameroon.

Professor Rita Kiki Edozien has said that “the crisis in leadership in Africa perhaps not one of the regimes in power per se, but it is a crisis in the broader civil society which lacks vision and a strategic plan on how to put the continent back on its toes” With a development the ugly situation of Nigeria will persist.

The result of leadership failure in Nigeria today is the present 2008 Index for Accessing Governance ranking of the nation as the 39th in terms of governance out of 48 countries in the world, and the 14th out of 16 West African countries which indeed is very shameful. The criteria used are:

1. Safety and security

2. Human rights

3. Transparency

4. sustainable development

5. Human development, and

6. corruption

The result of the above is that Nigeria is only better governed and fast developing than two West African countries.

One major problem Nigeria has is that the nation is lacking in consistent policy which puts the mechanism of the political leadership of the country and achievements in inertia. Nigerian leaders engage in sorts of probes with no reports seen or even implemented such has become the identity of the present administration. The implication of these probes is that victims do not lose sleep as they go about their normal businesses in their typical manners. Perceived representatives of the people as they claim to speak for the people are in the eye of these people lacking legitimacy.

Nigeria has not learnt any lessons of history, however there is need to reposition the nation and strategic plans for attaining this must be employed in order to make progress and responsive political culture, these must be upheld if the nation is to gain success in leadership. so much monies are spent on electionsand re-elections only good enough to be called sham. The 2008 Lagos Lg election is a typical of what I mean. The moment a particular government is power, it sweeps the result of the whole election.



Thanks to Emeka Esogbue for contributing this article to our Leadership Development blog:

Leadership Development Training

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.” - Abraham Lincoln, US-President, 1861-1865

In order to become a fully functioning, successful individual in whichever endeavor you choose to undertake, you must first cultivate the right attitude and behaviorial traits. No where else is this fact more true as than when we consider the dominant characteristics needed for entrepreneurial leadership.

There are effective executives and directors in many fields but most leadership development programs neither focus on increasing entrepreneurship nor do they employ innovative training methods. However, you can acquire, develop and robustly practice the requisite entrepreneurial leadership skills.

According to the late great management expert, Peter F. Drucker, “The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity. Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship. (It’s the entrepreneurial) act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.”

Entrepreneur extraordinaire, Sir Richard Branson, explains why he changed his mind and became one because he originally “wanted to be an editor or a journalist, (and) I wasn’t really interested in being an entrepreneur, but I soon found I had to become (one) in order to keep my magazine going.”

So in a very real sense, Sir Richard, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and others like them already had attributes of the leadership mind-set and they were behaving in similar ways as leaders do too. If you hope to successfully initiate any commercial, governmental or public service undertaking, you will have to learn, exhibit and embrace the characteristics of entrepreneurial leadership.

What types of character traits do entrepreneurs have? Are those behaviors really important? In a word, these characteristics are important because if you don’t possess them, you will have lower chances in terms of business success. The characteristics are as follows

1. Risk Assessor - this very important aspect of entrepreneurship is probably the most misunderstood one of all. Many organizational executives are willing to take any risk which presents itself as a breakthrough or never-before-tried opportunity. But without taking the time and effort to thoroughly evaluate or explore the potential pitfalls of their new idea, they are not very likely to succeed in their venture. In the course of doing business, you will always encounter a number of challenges, problems and situations demanding your prompt attention, decision and resolution.

However, after careful evaluation there are many risks which are worth taking, especially if their variables can be examined and then worked out and if the majority of these uncertainties are determined to be good for the business. At those times, you must be willing to be a risk taker, otherwise you won’t be acting in an effective entrepreneurial leadership capacity.

2. Wise, Smart and Accepting of New Ideas - Most people believe being smart is all there is to being a successful executive - but wisdom, a willingness to learn new things and an acceptance of new realities and viewpoints are also necessary traits for winning in your entrepreneurial enterprise.

Of course, your cleverness, keen insights, and witty interactions with others will carry you far throughout your business dealings. Regardless of your position, today’s complex and pressure-packed situations compel you to demonstrate mental toughness, alertness of changing circumstances and intelligence about emerging trends. Those attributes will help you earn the respect and trust of your clients and all your associates or partners.

3. Executive Leadership Development - It still surprises me to hear someone say that leadership is just a talent some people are born with. Yes it is true that the raw ingredients and characteristics of leadership excellence can be hard to detect or find among any random or unorganized mass of individuals.

There are not many people who naturally have the kind of nerve it takes to lead. However, today’s innovative training programs easily empower large groups of ordinary people to learn, understand and adopt the proven fundamentals of entrepreneurial leadership principles, practices and discipline.

Your executive leadership skills will serve your venture when your personal qualities and behaviors help you guide, influence, manage and direct people. These abilities will enable you to handle your business affairs with greater ease and positive emotions.

4. An Inner Passion for Your Enterprise - One essential characteristic of successful entrepreneurs is the amount and scope of their enthusiastic, passionate zeal they have for their business. We have seen high levels of this emotional trait in many public service, governmental and commercial leaders who were also founding members of their organizations.

No executive leadership development or innovative training programs can “teach” you how to have an intense yearning and desire for your venture. You alone must have, maintain and increase your enthusiasm for and uncompromising interest in your business pursuits. When your drive, determination and passion reaches a fever pitch, you will be well on your way towards successfully operating and growing your business.

5. Honesty, Integrity, Trustworthy - Every organization is built and depends upon positive relationships. Some management experts say entrepreneurial leadership means dedicating and investing eighty percent (80%) of one’s time into developing, organizing and strengthening relations with associates, customers and other stakeholders.

As cinema director, Neil LaBute, observes, “In a relationship you have to open yourself up.” Every manager knows this is true because without being forthright, dealing sincerely with and providing access to your clients, the business will not go very far.

Your honesty, integrity and trustworthy nature will enable you to earn the loyalty, custom and good will of your community, buyers and sponsors and your colleagues.

Obviously, there are other characteristic and behavioral traits needed to ensure success in your entrepreneurial leadership activities. The five attributes listed above will help you handle most of your organizational responsibilities, duties and obligations.

These traits also form the basis for successful careers in any industry or profession. If, however, you can equip yourself with the means to improve your performance, some additional time spent in innovative training courses will put you over the top.

If you plan on using an executive leadership development program to sharpen your competence in these characteristics, all you’ll need to do is study market trends carefully, think of a few strategic options for your venture, provide the capital and you’ll be ready to take entrepreneurial leadership action.

“The real issue is not talent as an independent element, but talent in relationship to will, desire, and persistence. Talent without these things vanishes and even modest talent with those characteristics grows.” - Milton Glaser

Copyright © 2008, Mustard Seed Investments Inc., All rights reserved.



Thanks to Bill Thomas for contributing this article to our Leadership Development blog:

Leadership Management Skills

In his book “Good to Great” Jim Collins headed a research team to look at what drives average organizations to take a great leap and become great. The research concluded that a crucial component of greatness is a group of leaders with a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. These leaders who Collins describes as Level 5 leaders channel their ambition away from themselves into the larger goal of building a great company. All of the companies in the study that went from good to great had Level 5 leadership in key positions, including the CEO, at the pivotal time of transition.”

However, Collins couldn’t answer a critical question; how to develop Level 5 leadership?

“I would love to be able to give you a list of steps for becoming Level 5 but we have no solid research data that would support a credible list”

The inner development of a person remains a “black box”. In this article we will attempt to suggest ways that you can unlock the black box of great leadership. Our key is a set of capacities that we call awareness and communication capacities.

Collins’ Five Level Leadership Hierarchy

Level 5 – Level 5 executive

Builds enduring greatness through paradoxical

combination of personal humility plus professional will

Level 4 – Effective Leader

Catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of clear

and compelling vision; stimulates the group to high

performance standards

Level 3 – Competent manager

Organizes people and resources towards effective and

efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives

Level 2 – Contributing team member

Contributes to the achievement of group objectives;

works effectively with others in a group setting

Level 1 – Highly capable individual

Makes productive contribution through talent knowledge,

skills and good work habits

Each higher level builds on the lower level so that the Level 5 leader incorporates all five levels. A Level 4 leader incorporates all level apart form Level 5 and so on.

Collins’ model is a fine first look at leadership and this model can be significantly improved by locating it within an integral approach. You can learn about the integral approach by clicking here. In what follows we assume that you will be familiar with the terminology of the integral approach.

An effective leadership formation program needs to be able to help people form the awareness and communication capacities that are the key to reaching Level 5 of Collins’ model.

In addition to each of the companies having Level 5 leadership at the crucial times there were a series of steps the leadership of the Good to Great companies implemented.

Getting the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus

The first step these companies took was to hire the right people. Collins talks about this as getting the right people onto the bus and the wrong people off the bus, or alternatively re-positioning someone to a place within the organization that suited their talent. Once the leadership had the right people on board and in the right positions they set about deciding about their future direction.

Confronting the brutal facts, (but never lose faith) <

Each of the Good to Great companies faced up to the brutal facts they confronted. In order to achieve this critical step three awareness capacities are critical. These three awareness capacities are:

1. Treating everything that arises as an opportunity to learn;

2. Accepting unconditional responsibility for the choices made;

3. Achieving emotional mastery;

Treating everything that arises as an opportunity to learn is about accepting the provisional nature of all of our beliefs and being ready, in the face of a better argument, to modify and change our views. This is not something that many people find easy to do, who, when their view is challenged experience it as a threat and will defend their point of view “to the death.

A striking feature of Level 5 leaders was their willingness to accept full responsibility for any mistakes they made and to use the experience as an occasion to learn. Level 5 leaders at the same time were quick to attribute success to luck or to the exceptional capacities of the people involved rather than massaging their own egos.

The Good to Great companies also never lost sight of faith in their capacity to find a way forward. This is about the healthy management of emotions and feelings. People who can manage their emotions are able to distinguish between the feelings of the emotion and honour those feelings, but at the same time recognise the reasons that lie behind the feelings. They are then able to take steps, by using the energy of the emotion, to deal with the reasons. They use their emotions as reliable indicators of the steps they must take. It’s part of facing the brutal facts.

The hedgehog concept (Simplicity within three circles)

The hedgehog concept is an intriguing title for one of the steps in moving from Good to Great. Collins draws upon a parable created by Isaiah Berlin who contrasted the hedgehog and the fox. The hedgehog had a simple strategy and tactic to stay safe, while the fox had all the cunning and guile in the world, but the fox could not outwit the hedgehog. Collins makes the point that all the Good to Great companies were hedgehogs. They all developed a ‘hedgehog concept” that formed the basis of their business plan.

The hedgehog concept is made up of three circles:

1. Understanding what they could best in the world at doing?

2. What is the driver of their economic machine?

3. Do all the people in the organization have passion for what they do?

The hedgehog concept emerges at the intersection of these three circles.

In integral terms understanding what they could be best at, and appreciating the importance of the economic driver are properties of the Lower Right quadrant. Even though this is an easy concept to understand it took each of the Good to Great companies a long time and much soul searching to develop their hedgehog concept.

The issue of passion is a property of the Upper left quadrant and is a reflection of the people in the organization being aligned with the vision and objectives of the hedgehog concept. Articulating the vision associated with the hedgehog concept is very much a task for leadership.

A culture of discipline

A pre-condition for moving from Good to Great is having an integral mode of communication. An integral mode of communication presupposes a culture of discipline, and a culture of discipline depends upon the consent of the people within the organization. It’s not something that can be imposed from on high. A culture of discipline depends upon the formation among the people in the organization of the awareness and communication capacities that we have already mentioned.

The importance of a culture of discipline means that people do not need to be managed. This recognizes the reality of the modern business regime that depends upon knowledge work. All knowledge work involves a residual space within the systems and processes of Lower Right quadrant where the workers must exercise their own judgement and discretion. This requires a disciplined approach and one that recognises the broader aims and objectives of the organization consistent with the hedgehog concept.

Technology accelerators

Jim Collins makes the point that technology can accelerate progress but it can never on its own be the basis of moving from Good to Great. Organizations need the discipline to evaluate technologies in terms of whether the technology can enhance the hedgehog concept. In many cases the judicious use of technology helped the Good the Great companies to be the best in the world at what they did.

The flywheel

Jim Collins makes the point that viewed from the outside the Good to Great companies appear to suddenly take off. Closer examination reveals that there is a relatively long transition period where the foundations are laid for phenomenal growth and take off. A great deal of work goes on in the take off period requiring discipline and facing the facts balanced by having the faith that ultimately success would follow.

The organization’s vision

Prior to the Good to Great project Jim Collins collaborated with Jerry I Porras in researching and writing “Built to Last”. This project dealt with the qualities required to build an enduring great company. After the completion of the research for “Good to Great”, Collins saw “Good to Great” as a prequel to “Built to Last”. All the Built to Last companies had been through a Good the Great build-up and breakthrough.

To make the shift from a company with sustained great results to an enduring company Collins recommends applying the central concepts of “Built to Last”. This is to discover the organization’s vision for the future consisting of core values and purpose beyond just making money, what he calls the core ideology, and combine this with the dynamic of “preserve the core/stimulate progress.

In addition Collins argues that a central point of Built to Last was to develop what he calls a good BHAG. This is an abbreviation for Big Hairy Audacious Goals. Therefore building a vision involves:

1.Discovering your purpose for existence as an organization beyond just making money;

2.Discovering your core values;

3.Working out a good BHAG with a time frame of 10 to 15 years;

These tasks are pre-eminent leadership tasks and any credible leadership formation program needs to be able to help leaders work through these three steps. The leaderships’ tasks is to the articulate the vision and align that vision with the aspirations and hopes of the people within the organization.

Finally Collins asks the question Why Greatness? He offers two reasons:

First it is in fact easier to seek greatness using the tools provided than trying to manage mediocrity. Managing mediocrity involves a great many hassles and takes a great deal of energy. Forming the conditions for excellence takes less energy and generates positive reinforcing momentum.

Secondly if your people are doing something they care about (if the people in the organization have passion for what they are doing, a component of the Hedgehog concept) then they are going to want to excel at what they are doing.

All of the qualities required for a leadership formation program are contained within the CMI leadership formation program that you can learn more about by visiting our site.



Thanks to Bob Calkin for contributing this article to our Leadership Development blog:

Best Leadership Development Programs

Introduction

 

An executive is only as effective as the leadership team she or he puts in place.  Whether you’re building a team from a clean start, or working with one you’ve inherited, your job is to evaluate that team and make sure they are able to work with you and carry out your agenda. 

 

This article provides valuable guidance on the most important roles on a leadership team.  Use it to your benefit!

 

Don’t Make the Biggest Mistake

 

When you’re putting together your leadership team, or evaluating the one you’ve inherited, watch out.  Most of us have a blind spot.  We really like it when we find leaders like ourselves.  We know we’ll get along with them.  We know they’re likely to agree with many of our ideas. 

 

After all, the only reason I need a leadership team is that there are too many people and too many tasks for me to oversee it all myself.  If I could clone myself that would be perfect, right?  Well the next best thing would be to find people just like myself to fill out the leadership team. 

 

Wrong! 

 

First of all, you don’t have all the answers.  Don’t believe that?  You need an ego check.  And if your leadership team consists of clones (or worse, sycophants) then they have the same limitations collectively, as you do individually. 

 

Second, there are roles to be played on any leadership team.  It’s possible and desirable for one person to fulfill more than one role.  It’s also desirable to have the same role be a strength for more than one person.  For example, it’s great if there are two or three people on a team who are all strong in customer relationship management. 

 

But if you stack the leadership team with people like yourself, then the team will be strong in your strengths, but magnified in your weaknesses.  (You do have weaknesses, don’t you?)

 

The 5 C’s

 

Let’s explore the roles on a leadership team.  I call them the 5 C’s.  I mentioned the first one above:

 

Customer Relationship Manager - If you’re leading a customer service organization this won’t be a problem.  But if you’re running an IT organization, as I have, this might be your biggest challenge!  I’ve met CIO’s with absolutely no customer skills at all.  They load up their “leadership team” with technology experts whose customer skills are worse than their own.  CEO’s and COO’s need to guard against letting this happen. 

 

Communicator - It’s a cliché, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true.  If you want to keep people on track, you need to keep communicating with them.  Leaders who know how to speak and write effectively are critical to your success.  Enough said.

 

Challenger - Executives who stack the leadership team with their own clones overlook the importance of the Challenger.  Whether you’re setting out a strategic plan or dealing with day to day tactics, there are decisions that the leadership team needs to make.  If they were easy decisions somebody else should have made them.  So you’re decision making responsibilities can’t be taken lightly.  The decision making process should involve debate and challenge.  You’ll want to time bound the discussion so you’re not paralyzed by debate.  That’s your job.  But if members of a leadership team don’t challenge one another, decision making is less effective.

 

Commando - You need a leader or two whose greatest strength is getting things done.  I was on a leadership team where this role was called the 800 pound gorilla.  We rolled it out when we were in trouble, or thought we were about to be in trouble.  The guy we relied upon for this role didn’t really care if anyone liked him (though he was, all in all, a very likeable guy).  He cut through the you know what and got people fired up and focused.  Big projects don’t always go smoothly, and distractions can really bog you down.  The commando gets you back on track.

 

Celebrator - I had a boss who called this person the Vice President of Fun.  He or she may not have the same scope of responsibility as others on the leadership team, but this person is constantly thinking of the employees.  The celebrator isn’t just about parties and recognition.  In this role you’ll want someone who people trust, who can let you know when you’re wearing people out or losing their support.  This is someone who can remind you and your leadership team that Susie deserves a pat on the back or the production team feels its concerns are being ignored.   This person helps you listen to your organization.

 

What’s your role on this leadership team?  Build it, and hold it together.  Help the people in the different roles appreciate one another’s strengths, since that may not come naturally to all of them.



Thanks to Tom O\’Dea for contributing this article to our Leadership Development blog:

Organizational Leadership And Development

We can get acquainted with quotes of leaderships through schools, colleges, libraries, universities and they can be of great help as these are inspiring for the young generation for improving their leadership potential. After all, they are going to lead this future universe. These quotes of leaderships from famous people are often displayed by hanging them on furnished walls of interiors of the classrooms of the schools, colleges and universities.

In his quote “When I give a minister an order, I leave it to him to find the means to carry it out”, the great French King like Napoleon Bonaparte tells us about the basics of the administration. According to him, never impose your opinion on others though you are a final decision maker. Always analysis the suggestions from your subordinates and in critical situations try his capabilities, decision making and his approach to such situation. The great Bonaparte stuck to his quote and so he was the strong leader and a wise administrator.

Another quote from the famous American president like Woodrow Wilson is incorporated with very valuable message that “Leadership does not always wear the harness of compromise”. It means that sometimes, there is no place for compromise, negotiations in the governance. The leader has to take hard decisions for a peaceful cause and safety of the nation.

As a president of America, the tenure of Woodrow Wilson was the significant example of his powerful and sensible decisions, his governance. He was firmed to his opinions according to his quote and got a significant place as a true leader of America. 

Likewise his quote such as “No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent”, in his presidential inning of America, Abraham Lincoln gave importance to the teamwork and co-understanding between his administrative staff.

In the modern corporate world, these quotes on leadership are used as the guidelines for all those executives and mangers for carrying out the managerial and regulating administration more accountable and responsible. These quotes on leaderships facilitate them with various kinds of phrases, usages, rules, and theories of how to get excellence in the leadership qualities.

Such Quotes on leadership really facilitate them to how to make co-ordination between the employees, how to make himself strong for decision making in critical situation, how to persuade the employees from organizational threats like strike, low productivity and loss.

In the business leadership coaching sessions, leadership journals, online leadership columns, articles; the reader views and read a wide range of quotes of leadership. Therefore, such quotes instrumental with accountability and responsibility while managing any business organization. Some of the quotes of leadership facilitate you with the secret of leaderships. By arranging the special session on such quotes of the leadership, we see the enhancement in the potential and productivity of the employees.

The usability of such quotes from famous people of leadership is not limited to only business sectors. These are instrumental in every field of society like science, politics, educations, sports, space research, music, etc. so in adverse situation, these quotes on leadership reinforce our talent and confidence to overcome such situation. So according to these quotes, for acquiring success, satisfaction and development in life, proper   execution of leadership has to be there.



Thanks to Muna wa Wanjiru for contributing this article to our Leadership Development blog:

Management Training And Development