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Leadership is the smallest component of society. It is exactly the way of the driver’s seat as well as the remote control. All three are just a tiny part of their mother set but they are in charge. Nothing happens sans their say-so.
Like most cars which refuse to move at all or to move well because of the person in the driver’s seat; like air conditioners or television sets which refuse to power on or off because of remote control or the lack of it: leadership is the make-or-break determinant of the direction of society. That is, leadership is the number one enabler vis-a-vis how far or near or fast a country or county or any such group can progress or retrogress. 90% of societal failings are a direct fallout of leadership. Even worse, in almost 100% of that 90, the real challenge is with the leadership recruitment process.
Why do so-called developing nations, for instance, approach leadership and processes thereto with such undeveloped mindset? Why do we put square pegs in round holes when it matters the most only to turn around from just six months down the line to weep over betrayal, and incompetence, and sundry shameful acts? Why is leadership such struggle, such rocket science in some I-know-you-know parts of the globe? And, comparing and contrasting all that you know and think, is it the follower or the leader who has more development-enhancing powers?
Unfortunately, none of the foregoing is the focus of this entry. At best, they are just a guide or a wake-up call or food for thought. The intendment of this edition is to offer genuine leaders and their potential colleagues the A to Z of the bounden trade. You cannot qualify as a true leader if you do not score an A or more in the following 26 areas.
ABC: the true leader accentuates or adds value and understands how to consult while displaying compassion and courage in the process. Humanity and geographical space must necessarily become and be seen to look better because of the leader. When subjects in a jurisdiction are adamantly awesome and better and cheerful and committed, one needs no further proof that a caring heart -who has character- is on the throne. Or, the reverse will be the reverse, through and through: you understand, do you not?
On that flip side, no true leader is so arrogant to the point of making own people afraid, or less of themselves; behind and in front. No true leader is so boastful they use own people or team members as public toys or the butt of their joke, and just so you know those jokes are pure evil when they become too frequent. The leader who is arrogant and boastful is a pretender to the throne (of leadership). Such a one suffers from self confidence deficiency -a very dangerous disease that can totally destroy human and material resources.
DEF: the true leader defines the roadmap, engages both gear and people and finds the destination. Here, because clarity of thought is intrinsic, flowing from ABC, delay and error margins are infinitesimal. The true leader determines what the issues are, draws up the plan, engages those who can deliver and frontally leads the charge. True leaders cannot and never pretend that they can do it alone.
Leaders who dared to dream that they can be the one tree to form a forest always fail. True leaders never think themselves or tenure eternal. By the way, those who say that no tree can form a forest should today learn it exists. It is called banyan, but no human being, no leader can form a community let alone a nation!
GHI: the true leader personifies grace and honour and industry. They enjoy tremendous goodwill with own and other people. They are so honest and honourable and human and humble and industrious that there is nothing forced between their people and them. Those who grumble or murmur in the age of fantastic leaders are enemies of progress.
Fortunately, this piece is not about them. Perhaps, unfortunately, their time in this space approaches. Today is for leaders, and it is good for you to know that Proverbs 29:2, telling us the leader is either righteous or wicked, is spot on. No true leader is wicked.
JKL: the true leader is monstrously just and knowledgeable and liberal. These attributes and more come naturally to them. They exercise generic not selective justice; they are genuinely interested in knowledge or education; they are kind enough not only to seek or to acquire but also to share -and across board. They are rare but they exist.
The leader who gathers without sharing to own people is a wicked soul. Ditto, the leader who shares to outsiders only and to either the poor only or the rich only. That particular sharing formula is satanic: it can on one hand, make own people slaves to outsiders in the course of time and on the other, make the poor rich and the rich poor, and vice versa. Posterity is waiting to bury names and memory of leaders this fake.
MNO: the true leader has a mind of their own, what those who know term political will. They lead their people with the fear of God, no-nonsensely. They can go overboard just for their people. You are not a true leader, if you are a leader at all, when you have no mind of your own or the presence of mind to perform during a perceived or real tsunami or to rise above noise or to the occasion of an outcry.
Leadership is not a tea party. Leadership is not beans. The leader, at difficult junctures, must be ready to make hard decisions which will only favour the people in future. No true leader must fore-sightlessly be loved like ice cream seller 24/7 nor must this be a leader’s excuse to be mean.
PQR: the true leader is patient (almost long suffering) because they know that their people neither know nor see the big picture. The true leader is powerful but never deploys it against own people; the true leader is quintessentially quiet and royal. True leaders are not petty and do not pretend: they never do and undo nor do they talk in the morning and untalk in the afternoon (doublespeak). They are in charge of own emotions as well as those of others around and under them.
No true leader panics; no true leader quarrels (especially with people under them or openly); no true leader quits just like that; no true leader roars like a lion but acts or appears like a cat. Even if all of their people were sheep, the leader must necessarily be a lion or tiger or combined. Who do you think would dare their people? Alas, if all of their people were lions and the leader a sheep: the jurisdiction, the people and they would not only be finished they shall be completely so.
You get the point now, do you not? STU: the true leader is strong, all round. They stand tall and unbending, for their people. They never sell their people short even if you promised them heaven on earth. They are never selfish; never tamed because of recklessness; never shy of showing understanding (empathy and sympathy) to own people.
Only pseudo leaders think there is a problem with showing one’s people empathy and gratitude and sympathy. That it is strength to always bark out orders or commands or to hold back appreciation. In the military, generals generally do not shout but everybody knows there is no room for even the tiniest bit of indiscipline. Fake leaders by dwelling too much on enforcement by force stand the risk of raising timid followers.
VWXYZ: the true leader is the very epitome of valour and verve; of warmth and wonder; of xenia and everything anti-xenophobia. Not to forget, of yearning for excellence and yea-saying; of permanent zealousness to own people and zing. A leader worth their salt is at once a yokemate, a lover, a supporter, an ally; someone in whom all followers ought to trust blindly. No true leader toys with that privilege.
To fill the gaps, we cannot forget to chip in other obvious facts. True leaders must be deliberate cultivators of people and, at the same time, very careful employers of action and language. True leaders cannot and should not be careless talkers, privately and publicly. True leaders should never, whether in anger or jest, speak or treat lightly genuine efforts imputed by own helpers and supporters.
Leaders who are guilty of any of the above have no business on the head table. They lead nobody, not even themselves. They are clowns, and all people of good conscience and courage should see them as such. That is the very reason they are almost always too desperate to prove -to belong.
These things ought not to be so. Therefore, dear followers and leader-makers, now that you know what you did not know, approach the recruitment process of any leader (family or village head; school prefect or student union official; big or small political office holder) differently, going forward. The day to stop sowing crass leadership but hope and pray to reap bountiful dividends was yesterday. Make sure to not mention my name if you become a fool at forty hereafter, because I cannot come and kill myself.
Finally, and this is very important. Let all leaders after reading this score themselves over a hundred. To balance things up, let all followers score their leader too in percentage. It will be interesting to read the scores, up and down.
God bless Nigeria!
