“Be the Change you want to see in the world” – Mahatma Gandhi
I have always believed that Europeans, Americans, or Asians will not build Africa. At best, they will do so much that will serve their socio-economic interests and political hegemony. If anyone will ever build Africa, it will have to be by Africans and for Africans. Africans need to borrow and domesticate ideas until they become thoroughly African. Transferring ideas from other nations without filtering them will be counter-productive, which is what happened to democracy in Africa. Democracy in most countries of Africa is laughable and imbued with greed and self-absorption. Political leaders in Africa have weaponized poverty to continue to have a socio-economic edge over the people and keep them for a long time at their mercy.
To build any viable nation, you need a different species of leaders called transformational leaders. We have had lots of these enigmatic leaders throughout the history of human civilization. Still, society has a shortage of them in Africa and the Globe in this twenty-first century. Most transformational leaders don’t need political power to change human society; they need their conviction, roadmap, and strategy more than anything else. Don’t let anyone deceive you into thinking that you can’t make a change until you become a politician. The American Society envied by all was principally built into a flourishing state by entrepreneurs. The role of the government was to provide policies to curtain their excesses.
As an aspiring Transformational leader, you need to create something of value that our society will not be able to resist or function effectively without, i.e., creative ideas that can disrupt the existing norms.
My work at the School of Transformational Leadership is to help nurture and develop this category of leaders in our society. Transformational leadership is a re-introduced concept gaining momentum in contemporary society today because it affects a cultural change in a society or organization. Although it has been around for a long time, many people do not know what it is and how to identify it. The notion was first popularized in the 1970s by James Macgregor Burns when he tried to contrast its significance with transactional leadership.
According to Burns, transactional leadership doesn’t care as much about cultural change as the organization’s bottom line, profit. This is why many people scramble for political power in Africa for monetary gain rather than public good and personal legacy.
On the other hand, transformational leaders don’t just move people towards a worthy cause; they create a cultural shift within the society by altering people’s behavior, resulting in social development.
Don’t let anybody tell you that Africa can never be great again! The best businesses have not been started yet! Our higher education system is still in its infancy. The most authentic government is the one that puts its people first rather than the people in power and their beneficiaries. We still have a long way to go in fostering brotherliness by encouraging intracontinental trade among African nations. Since technology (AI) will determine the fate of any nation that will flourish in this century, we can leverage our human resources in the diaspora to build a prototype of Silicon Valley in Nairobi, Lagos, Accra, Abidjan, etc. We can turn our diversities into strength by promoting mutual respect and creativity rather than focusing on our differences.
At the school of transformational leadership, our curriculum is conceived to take you through a personal transformative leadership journey. The executive wellness leadership program and other transformational leadership blueprint courses are designed with you in mind so that you can take your leadership skills to the next level. Contact us today and an enrollment specialist will walk you through our programs.
If you are passionate about writing and understand the power to shape culture through writing, please contact us immediately, and our representatives will walk you through how you can join our team of writers at the Africana Leadership Digest.
Author: Olusegun Osineye
Olusegun Osineye earned his Doctor of Ministry (DMin) in Transformational Leadership from Boston University. He's passionate about creatively adding value to the black race by utilizing life's simple philosophy for their flourishing.
