AFRICAN PROBLEM, NIGERIAN PROBLEM Leadership moves a nation from the fringes of international relevance - from the dark dungeons of the Third World - to the centre stage of emerging medium power and industrial and economic democracy of the 21st century. That is the story of Lee Kuan Yew! He oversaw the separation of Singapore from Malaysia in 1965 and its subsequent transformation from a relatively underdeveloped colonial outpost with no natural resources into a First World Asian Tiger. He has remained one of the most influential political figures in South-East Asia. Nigeria requires a leader that will articulate a vision that will drive the nation’s transformation process - a leader who will dream dreams and mobilise fellow Nigerians to buy into that dream. Such leaders inspire a clear mutual vision for the nation, a clear mission that all citizens will commit themselves to. This is what Warren Bennis calls the management of attention. Nigeria’s transformational leader must be able to build virile teams that will work with him to transform the polity - not political lightweights nominated by godfathers being rewarded for political patronage. Leaders are not just managers or supervisors; they are team leaders. And a team is more than just a group. A team is a group of people with a high degree of interdependence geared towards the achievement of a shared goal for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. Belbin (2003) identifies nine team roles vital to effective leadership: ▪ The Plant - These are the original thinkers who generate new ideas, offer solutions to problems, and think in radically different and imaginative ways; ▪ The Resource Investigator - These are the creative icons who are prepared to “run with the vision”. They are popular extroverts who get things going; ▪ The Coordinator - They are highly disciplined and controlled individuals, who have the capacity to focus on objectives and truly unify the team; ▪ The Shaper - They love a good challenge and are achievement oriented. They always go for great and good results; ▪ The Monitor Evaluator - These are the analysts - calm, detached objective thinkers, who balance and weigh the various options; ▪ The Team Worker - This is the diplomat - the good team player, always supportive and cooperative, and wants what is best for the team; ▪ The Implementer - This is the expert with great organisational skills with a lot of common sense, who just wants to get the job done; ▪ The Completer - These ones are painstakingly conscientious, able to check details, and always willing to tidy up after others; ▪ The Specialist - This is the professional with drive and dedication, possessing specialised skill (Cited by Templar, 2005). The leader must satisfy two indispensable conditions: he must be trustworthy and be able to communicate his vision. Trust and confidence in a leader is the single most reliable predictor of people satisfaction in a system while effective communication requires a successful application of analogy, metaphor and vivid illustration as well as emotion, trust, optimism and hope so the vision can secure the attention of subordinates. Trust is the combination of competencies, constancy, caring, fairness, candour and authenticity at the core organizational relationships that hold together the entire entity. Trust is a balance between Ambition, Competence and Integrity. Predictability makes it possible to anticipate what will happen if certain actions are undertaken. It is the weakest form of trust. Then there is Reliability, where employees fairly assume that employers will follow through with their promises. This is a stronger form of trust. Finally, there is Mutuality, a state where employers and employees share expectations of each other, and so feel comfortable in taking actions with limited communication. This is the strongest form of trust. Nigerians are yet to see a leader they trust, who will not lie to them, and who will model the best virtues that we desire to see in ourselves and our children. One of the more enduring challenges for leadership in Africa, remains the example of Nelson Mandela, a man fired by the zeal for his fatherland. At great personal risk, he put his life on the line to salvage his people from bondage to colonialism, apartheid, poverty and want. He paid a great price - nearly thirty years in the gulag, dehumanized, brutalized, scandalized and thoroughly traumatized. With great patience, candour and humility, he paid his dues. The day came that he swept to victory on a groundswell of the people’s vote. The despised last citizen soon became the first citizen. He assumed power as President of the Republic of South Africa without any bitterness, without any hint of vindictiveness, and without any thought of revenge. He became the glue that held his nation together, a symbol that inspired young and old to great nobility of character and personality. Such was his popularity that if he wanted to be President for life, it was easily within his grasp. But no, he declined a second term in office. He would rather that the younger ones were given the opportunity to grow; he paid the price, but held out the prize to his countrymen. When he was the anvil, he bore a tremendous lot; but when he became the hammer, he was most reluctant to strike. When Nigeria produces a Mandela, our national hurts and divisions will be healed. Transformational leadership was the lighting rod for the metamorphoses of a poor village cattle boy and a jail-bird into an international statesman, the world’s Number 1 citizen, and a frontline opinion and character moulder. That is the story of the man Nelson Mandela! Raised from obscurity and irrelevance to become the Face of Africa, his ever-ready winsome smile communicates the confident assurance of a continent’s ultimate triumph over the forces of hate, greed, bigotry and mindless violence. Today, Mandela has become an oracle, not because he went to jail, not because he fought apartheid, but because he demonstrated leadership. Mandela left mankind eight lessons in leadership: ▪ Courage is not the absence of fear - it is inspiring others to move beyond it. He learned as a leader to pretend to be fearless, and through the act, inspire others. He knew that he was a model for others, and that gave him the strength to triumph over his own fear. ▪ Lead from the front - but do not leave your base behind. He had a vision and conviction to chart a new course for his people, but he also knew that his support base was his strength. He got the people to buy into the vision and be part of the new deal; he took them along at each turn. ▪ Lead from the back - and let others believe they are in front. In herding cattle as a boy, he learnt that cattle can only be led from behind. He developed quite early, the need to form consensus as a leader. “The trick of leadership is allowing yourself to be led too. It is wise to persuade people to do things and make them think it was their own idea”. ▪ Know your enemy - and learn about his favourite sport. The leader must understand the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy and formulate tactics accordingly. Whether fighting with the enemy or negotiating with him, either way, the leader’s destiny is tied to the enemy’s. ▪ Keep your friends close - and your rivals closer. Keeping a wide circle of acquaintances is a means of neutralizing those that cannot be trusted, with charm. Embracing rivals is a way of controlling them; they are more dangerous on their own than within the leader’s circle of influence. ▪ Appearances matter - and remember to smile. Symbols matter as much as substance; and often, perception is more powerful than reality. A smile can be all the message friends and rivals need. For Mandela, white South Africans found in his smile, an absence of bitterness; and for the Blacks, it was a symbol of his sure triumph. ▪ Nothing is black or white. Life is never either/or. Decisions are complex, and there are always competing factors. Nothing is ever as straightforward as it appears. A leader should be comfortable with contradictions, so long as he is pragmatic enough to keep the goal in sight. ▪ Quitting is leading too. Knowing how and when to abandon a failed idea, task or relationship could be the most difficult challenge for a leader. But it is the duty of the leader to set the course, not to steer the ship. And leaders lead as much by what they choose not to do as what they do (Stengel, 2008: 23-28).
Posted on: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 08:37:04 +0000
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