MY heart goes out to all who lost loved ones and property in the Molotov cocktail recently served by Boko Haram in Kano. I guess they had a field day because the battalion of soldiers that should have been on ground to checkmate them was busy in Lagos ‘quelling’ peaceful rallies! Story story!

I am yielding this page today to an incisive write-up by a gentleman by the name Atoyebi Oyelere. I saw it on his Facebook page and found it very instructive. I sought his permission to use it – of course with some editorial input. He graciously obliged. Enjoy!

“Ken Blanchard, author of the popular book “One Minute Manager” while commenting on a book “Who moved my Cheese?” by Spencer Johnson said “Everyone knows that not all change is good or even necessary. But in a world that is constantly changing, it is to our advantage to learn how to adapt and enjoy something better”. The essence of meaningful leadership is initiating and managing change.

As has been said ad nauseam (and I concur!), the menace of underdevelopment in Africa is basically an outgrowth of the bane of incompetence in leadership. As the fight against the removal/continuance of the subsidy of petrol (PMS) progressed, my reflections were not about the economic justifications or moral sanity of the whole drama or the imbroglio and brouhaha generated. From the angle of a student, I was able to garner some practical lessons in leadership that I want to share here.

You don’t introduce change as a leader when you are not trusted.
The basis for every credible leadership is trust. Consequently, before any meaningful journey requiring change could be embarked upon, credibility is the first point of reckoning.

Prudence is the diligent combination of the correctness of a decision and the appropriateness of timing for the implementation of such decision. While wisdom has to do with the “how to…” of knowledge or a decision, prudence deals with the “when to…” of it.

A change imposed is a change opposed.
An organization can only change when enough people in it change. If you can work on people’s mind long enough, then you can make the necessary impact (change) in their situation after they have seen where they fit in in the big picture. If people carry the mindset of Egypt into Canaan, they would soon change Canaan into Egypt. Capital development without human (manpower) development is a waste of resources.

Leaders don’t just set goals, they set standards.
Any leader who demands from others, what he himself has not been known to sacrifice is only seen as a tyrant, no matter the “nobility” of the cause he/she claims to be pursuing. The defining characteristic of a leader is sacrifice. It’s not about what you acquire, but what you give.

Leaders must develop the capacity of communicating the end and making it desirable by the majority if not by all.
It is when the people see how change can make things better that they get more interested in making the change happen. It is when the desire for the new level is greater than the comfort the status quo offers that change is birthed!

Leaders must know that defining changes that are very critical to their followers are not made drastically.
They are gradually introduced over time. It is puerile to make major economic decisions in times of political and social upheavals, not to talk of precarious security situations. You don’t need a prophet to know that such change would be opposed - and fiercely too! People whose security cannot be guaranteed would never support change!

If someone calls you a donkey, don’t pay any attention to him, but if five people call you a donkey, go buy a saddle.
When change is being resisted, it is either you are wrong or your followers are hurt. I believe leaders who have shaped their world are always in the minority, but they are never detached from the feelings of the majority, unless the decision to be made is a personal one. Americans rejected the privatization of social security despite former President George Bush’s country-wide advocacy for it. Bush later shelved the policy. Leaders are sufficiently grounded and understand the game well enough to know that just like in a team sport, personal awards and accolades are a CONSEQUENCE rather than an OBJECTIVE. Leaders don’t lose if they give in to the wish of the people “temporarily” to later win in the end; it is just an avenue to show how paramount the interest of the people is to them.

Honesty is still the best policy.
Transparency is the hallmark of inspiring leadership. Any leader who applies double standards WOULD NEVER gain the trust of his people. If there is a cabal that is above the rule in any organisation, then the revolt by those classified as under the rule is only a function of time. The scale of injustice is never permanently at rest, it is like a pendulum which is more often than not, activated by the wind of change!”

Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!