Twentieth Century Leadership Approach to Change Versus the Twenty-first Century Approach
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Ten Commandments for Possibility Thinkers
Potential is a fascinating subject, but it's worth nothing if you don't put it to work. To perfectly utilize your God-given potential, you have to believe in yourself. You must practice a possibility thinker's ten commandments to believe in yourself.
Robert Schuller, the author of the famous book "Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do", outlined those commandments we must obey if we desire to flourish in life. As an undergraduate, I posted those commandments on the back of the door of my room, and I always read them before I went out for the day. Schuller, as a kid growing up, dreamed of pastoring and building a church that would be all glass and crystal clear for anyone worshipping to see through the sky. He imagined a situation where, when he prayed to God, there wouldn't be any barrier between him and his visual accessibility to God. The Crystal Cathedral was built and dedicated in 1980 for $18 million, the equivalent of about $51 million today, despite being raised in an impoverished background.
The Desirability of Friendship
Friendship is a sacred commitment to trust and care for someone you hold in high esteem, whom you are not really expecting any reward from in return for the gift of your friendship. But here is the twist: when you initiate such a friendship, don’t seek people’s approval to be relevant or make life comprehensible to you. If you do so, you will live all your life in deep regret. Caroline Myss observes that “When you do not seek or need approval, you are at your most powerful.” But whenever you seek or need the approval of others to remain in a friendship, you are in the wrong friendship. At this point, people’s goal will be to toy with your emotions and leave you at their mercy for you to survive.The key to nurturing an enduring friendship is mutual care — consistently showing up for one another with empathy, commitment, trust, and respect. This means active listening, honest communication, and supporting each other through the highs and lows of life. It also involves shared experience of memorable events and forgiveness for mutual imperfections in order to strengthen the bond of friendship over time.
The Intent and Purpose of Leadership
There are many ways in which people have defined leadership across time and age. I have been privileged to come across a few of those definitions. Amazingly, all the ones I have come across in my study about leadership are insanely good. However, the definition that resonates with me the most was the one given by John Maxwell, who defines leadership as “Influence, nothing more, nothing less!” Maxwell also says, “Everything rises and falls on leadership!” I couldn’t agree less with him because, whichever way you look at leadership, it is simply about influencing, inspiring, and motivating people to do things they would not think of doing on their own. Leadership is taking people from a state of inactivity to a place of extraordinary accomplishment. When you can genuinely mobilize people to get things done without force or coercion, you become enlisted in this type of ingenious leadership. But when you fail as a leader to inspire people to get things done, it reveals a deep flaw in your leadership ability.
There have been many questions about those who aspire to become leaders. The problem is not always with leadership aspiration. Some people have thought it is wrong to aspire to become a leader. No! There is nothing wrong with wanting to be a leader. What you should be concerned about is why you want to become a leader. This is a question that reveals your leadership motive, intent, and purpose. Your motive is very important if you hope to become a leader that society would be proud of and to celebrate.
Re-imagining the Leadership Framework of African Society
Everyone, since Nkrumah, has emphasized Africa's great potential, but the question remains: Is potential all there is? Five decades later, Nkrumah’s optimism hasn’t been fulfilled! Successive leaders of the continent, plagued primarily by selfishness and greed after the colonial rule, have failed to create a compelling vision that captured Africans' imagination and transformed that vast potential into reality. I have often asked myself what type of leadership is most suitable for African society. This is a difficult question to ponder! It took me nearly three decades to process this. Another question of interest is what went wrong with the Monarchical style of leadership in Africa? Some observers have come down very hard on the Monarchical style of leadership. They argue that absolute power should not be concentrated in the hands of a single ruler. But when you look at Monarchy in its purest form, especially as depicted in my own tribal legends or myths, you can see that it is a type of leadership in which responsibility is shared through consultation and inclusive participation. The question often arises whether democracy is working in Africa. Democracy is an imported style of governance that was not properly adapted to suit African political philosophy and worldviews. Democracy is fragile and has its own weaknesses, as recently witnessed among some of the most sophisticated societies. For these reasons, I presupposed that the servant leadership approach should be researched and embraced within the African context. Since the post-colonial era, little progress has been made in the various political leadership structures, whether military or democratic. I am therefore postulating that servant leadership, with its plausibility of consultation and inclusive participation, will make a difference!
You are absolutely right. There is something in this and an excellent idea, I agree with you.