Back in 28th-29th August 2012, Link World Media and Events in partnership with the Lesotho Institute of Accountants held a seminar on "Accelerating socio-economic Growth Through Effective Leadership" In that Seminar I presented on "The Challenge of Change and How to Make Moves That Matter……….." and that was where I AM A CA dream was born. To share a bit on that day, I am sharing with you the Speech made by a Man I admirer so much for his tactics, entrepreneurship taste, Tactician, a balanced all round smart Mosotho 100%; Ntate Mpho Malie (A Change Agent in his own right..and certainly does not need introduction). Lesotho Leadership & Management Summit 28th-29th August 2012 Paper delivered on 29th August 2012 By: M. Malie The difference between a Good leader and A Great leader Thank you Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen. Allow me to thank the sponsors of this one and half day event, for a job well done. This Seminar has come at a more appropriate time, been conducted during a great month, the month of the woman & to all ladies gathered here this morning a warm welcome. I only hope my talk will not be biased just leaning to Great Women, instead of Great Leaders. Chair, the topic I am dealing with is the difference between a Good Leader and a Great Leader, that is what extra mile does one have to travel to move from Good to Great as a leader. When addressing the subject I first would like to define in alphabetical order the three words that will be central to my delivery, first the two adjectives Good and Great and then the noun Leader. The definitions have been picked from the Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus which defines Good as; “having the right qualities; of a high standard, behaving in a way that is right, polite and obedient”. The Thesaurus; the book of same, similar or related meaning; goes on to give over twenty alternative adjectives such as acceptable, admirable, agreeable, appropriate, approved of, commendable, delightful, enjoyable, esteemed, fabulous, fair, fantastic, fine, gratifying, incredible, lovely, marvelous, nice, perfect, pleasing, praiseworthy, proper, remarkable, right, satisfactory, sound, splendid, super, superb, valuable, wonderful, worthy and many more such as angelic talented, professional thorough, etc. ALL DESCRIBING GOOD. Great is defined as “considerably above average in amount, extent or strength, much above average in ability, quality and importance. Excellent” Thesaurus goes on t o give synonyms such as colossal, enormous, extensive, grant, gigantic grand, huge, immense, large massive, prodigious, tremendous, vast etc. Now when we look at the noun Leader, is defined as “a person or thing that leads, a person or thing that is the most successful or advanced in a particular area”. The Thesaurus is more interesting coming up with the following words “ayatollah, boss, captain, chieftain, commander, conductor, courier, demagogue, director, figurehead, godfather, guide, head, patriarch, premier, prime minister, principal, ring leader, superior”. There are basically two or more synonyms missing in this Thesaurus, the ones that comes to mind are president and dictator. I should think this was not an omission, it is simply because the Thesaurus came out of the Oxford Press, the American Presidency having slipped their minds, and their having no room for Dictators. We observe from the synonyms that we can have various kinds of leaders, from all walks of life, namely Religious, Political, Criminal, Cultural, Artists, Business, Sports, Academic, Military, Space Exploration, Security etc, and these leaders within their respective helm can be good or great. My address will certainly avoid “Toxic” leaders. Leaders that Chenoweth in Expert Magazine, Nov 2005 describes as; “extremely unethical and immoral, credible in the beginning but lack credibility at the end, very political astute, very competent could even be visionary and charismatic.” We know that when we say that a person is politically astute, it implies that he/she is good at making accurate political judgments, is shrewd, artful, canny, crafty, foxy and clever among others. The problem with Toxic Leaders, Chenoweth further goes to say, is that they are very dangerous because at times they share the same characteristics of Great Leaders. I am simply not going to be talking about Alcapone and the Mafia godfathers. Unfortunately as indicated these Toxic leaders can be very influential and we need to morally guard against their bad influence within our societies. Chair, ladies and gentlemen The internet is a great source of information, and as I was preparing for this paper I browsed through a few sites of the many that are there on Great Leaders, I also took a look at some relevant literature that has been gathering dust on my library shelves. I was certainly amazed by the amount of information on leadership and great leaders, something that makes ones approach to the subject rather awkward. In the Religious sphere, I read about Moses –born of a Hebrew slave in ancient Egypt in 1593-1480 BC, the man who lead his nation from bondage and authored the Torah which is still being read up till today. i.e. the law of God as revealed to Moses (Judaism), I read about his brother Joshua 1550-1390 BC successor to Moses, a man with a legacy for bravery and courage. ”. King David’s live of success, failure, restoration and ultimately honors, a man Born 1040 BC who passed on in 970 BC. I read about the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt in particular Hatshepsut who lived 1508BC to 1432BC, described as a great ruler who set up and build great trade networks of the time, by the way she was a woman Pharaoh, and according to the Egyptologist James Henry Breasted “the first great woman in history of whom we are informed” There was the Queen of Sheba, Makeda or Belkis who came on the centre stage around 960BC, during the times of biblical King Solomon she is one of the ancient great leaders, who has influenced modern times even movies made about her life. There are also many others great leaderswho came during the early AD. It would be remiss of me if I would fail to pay tribute to Par Excellence Leaders, standing shoulders high, our founder King Moshoeshoe I, the founder of this Nation, King Chaka the founder of the Zulus. Great Political Leaders, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Mandela, Nkurumah, Mokhehle just mentioning a few. In business I would like to mention a few great Leaders such as Bill Gates, Steve Job, and Bono, the U2 lead singer who has been in our country on his AIDS in Africa campaign, and next door in South Africa Patrice Motsepe. After mention of some of these Great leaders and those that I call par-excellence leaders, what really differentiates them from Good Leaders. There are a number of traits that are there to set aside the Good from the Great. First of all I would like to take a look at those attributes that are associated with a good leader, and then conclude by indicate those other distinguishing qualities that sets the great apart. Politically Astuteness, that is , knowing how to build coalitions and making compromises so that groups with disparate goals will work together towards a common goal. They become great players on issues affecting their organizations and they embody the law and are good listeners. They are principled with principle-centre leadership; they don’t work by coercions through coercive power, utility power, which says follow because there are benefits nor legitimate power born out of trust, respect and honor, which is basically not blind faith or mindless obedience, but knowledgeable, whole-hearted, uninhibited commitment, the problem with it is externally driven, so long as we see trust, respect and honor we follow. Above Average in Competence, good leaders are great at combining formal or informal education with experience and skills that tell followers that this person knows what they are doing. They have one great skill to enhance these; they are great at articulating issues. Good leaders are Selfless with a moral compass, “not the don’t sell out or squall on each be true and loyal to each other by gangsters” which has no “True North”, the magnetic principle of respect for people and property. By Chenoweth good leaders are very ethical, credible, with above average competence, average political skills, sometimes visionary and charismatic. By being Very ethical, does not necessary imply that they are religious, but they are honest people that you can trust, their word has very high integrity, i.e.they place very high value on themselves. They are mature and balance well between courage and consideration with a basic mission of increasing standards of living and the quality of life for all stake holders. Most of time they treat people with respect and importance and never look down upon them, they are accommodative. They seek first to understand than to be understood, an excuse that takes courage, patience and inner source of security. They are open and doubt love to exert themselves in advising and sharing experiences good or bad. Because of their honesty, their advice is always well received. Credible in all involvements, because of their forward looking nature, they take calculated risk and are very good at risk and conflict management. They work well with people giving unreserved advice and guidance to peers and followers. They in spire confidence, they are great role models and they are great visionaries that dream and turn those dreams into realities. They are great thinkers and extremely hard working literally burning the candle from both ends. Now having taken a look at some of the traits of a Good Leader, what takes him apart from a Great Leader Their great mentors, yes they turn into Mentor the adviser of Telemachus in Homer’s Odessey. They have the extra patience in guiding, and always work towards people giving, producing, and achieving their maximumpotential. They Inspire people, those close to them and those looking at them through aspiration. They have a lot of respect for peers, colleagues, and subjects. They are the kind of people who would never be speaking behind ones back or speaking at onether person, they go that extra mile to be accommodative to all. From them you would never hear phrases like I don’t have time for fool. They are great Visionaries, and because of this, they set themselves clear targets that is tangible goals on whatever their doing or planning. They are good at team work and assembling teams for specific tasks of their long term vision. Very Ambitious individuals, carrying those ambitions made of stunner staff. And are equally successful in these. Lastly they sacrifice, they sacrifice for the greater good, to an extend that you find that they don’t have family lives. They take long our in offices, at war, travelling, consulting, in meetings etc. YES TO BE GREAT COMES AT A PRICE, THAT THE GOOD ONES ARE MOST OF THE TIME NOT WILLING TO PAY, OR ARE NOT IN A POSITION TO PAY. Ones again I would like to thank the sponsors and say that we are looking forward in future to more of these and also to projects such as the building of a hall of fame for our Frisco’s, Motsapi’s, Mokhehle’s, Mohapeloa’s and others. • Halls of fame • Recognition of the good the hardworking the archivers • Motivational talks Thanks Chair. MOLIMO O HLOHONOLOFATSE BASOTHO LE LESOTHO
Posted on: Tue, 08 Oct 2013 12:57:45 +0000
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