Leadership not about personal gain, says don

Leadership should not be considered a personal achievement but an opportunity to deliver services for the common good of the people, Dr George Njenga, the Founding Dean of Strathmore Business School, said yesterday.He was addressing leaders from both the public and private sectors who attended the launch of The Effective Director (TED) programme in Kigali.The programme is slated to commence on June 22 with speakers to be drawn from various countries including Kenya, Nigeria, India and South Africa.“A good leader is one who grooms people who can succeed him and who can even perform better than him. A leader who chokes competition or innovativeness does so for his personal gain but not for the future of his company, which in the end turns out disastrous,” Njenga said in his address.“As CEOs, chairmen or board members, much as we are in privileged positions, we should understand that we do not even make 20 per cent of the one billion people in Africa. Therefore, we should lead ethically because many people in Africa depend on our decisions and look to us for a better life.”He praised the Rwandan public sector for creating strong institutions that address people’s concerns and asked the private sector to follow suit.“When I look at Rwanda, I see it as African Switzerland, where the leadership has demonstrated unique ethical headship by setting up the right institutions of development, democracy and governance. “On the other hand, the private sector has to look at the bigger picture as well, by handpicking relevant board members, continuously checking the health of their businesses and conducting training for both the general and high level staff.”Participants said that the introduction of executive programmes for leaders would go a long way improving business management in the country.“The role of top level management is to ensure that a company moves to the next level, and this cannot happen if the society is not impacted positively through the services offered. Executive programmes introduced by SBS will motivate leaders to always think about the people,” Sandeep Sharma, the Head of Retail Banking at Fina Bank Rwanda, said.Strathmore Business School is an international university and leading business school based in Nairobi, Kenya, offering a wide variety of executive education programmes designed for top level managers, including CEOs, board directors and chairpersons. The meeting yesterday was attended by scores of CEOs from various companies including leading banking institutions.

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Leadership not about personal gain, says don