‘Johnny come lately’ on Leadership

Where there is a group of humans, they will be a leader. I guess this applies to other animals too but for the purposes of this piece allow me to focus on human beings. Sorry to dear fans of the lion king; this is not Mufasa’s or young Simba’s day!Nothing casts the weight of responsibility that comes with leadership to unprepared shoulders more than the sporting arena. Most people get into sports for one reason; because they love whatever it is that they play.A few exceptions do exist like the Williams sisters in tennis whose father Richard Williams decided that they would be professional tennis players after being inspired by the exploits of Romanian Virginia Ruzici.In sport as in life, the role of leader may turn out to be a poisoned chalice. As the leader laps up the adulation of a successful team, so must they face the ridicule of a losing side.Such was the case this week with England’s Cricket captain Andrew Strauss. In a space of under four years he oversaw the transformation of England’s fortunes from ‘also runs’ to the number one side in the world.Then it came all crashing down in one week. His team was divided along personality traits some in support of his ‘no nonsense’ approach and others bewitched by the flamboyance of England’s best player Kevin Pietersen. With the number one ranking at stake, the selectors chose to omit Pietersen from the team in support of the captain and England went on to lose to South Africa their arch rivals.The rest is history as they say. South Africa is number one and Andrew Strauss is now the former England captain. What history will not tell us however is to what extent did Strauss’ failure to manage Kevin Pietersen contribute to his eventual demise as a respected leader.It was once believed that leaders are born and not made. Experience and formidable research have consistently put this theory to the sword. It’s now accepted that the key ingredients of good leadership can be mustered by about anyone willing to put the time in.Some individuals may genetically be predisposed to garner the necessary skills to become good leaders, that much is true. This would only serve to shorten their learning curve as compared to the majority who are meant to be led by the chosen few.Aristotle, the Greek philosopher in his work “Ethics” alluded to the notion that what drives people to seek public office or positions of leadership is their pursuit of honour as a measure of ‘goodness ‘ or morality. This was supported by his belief that ‘the science that studies the supreme Good for man is politics’Thomas Carlyle, a social commentator from the 1800s made the case for natural born leaders in his book “on Heroes, Hero worship and the heroic in history”. He asserted that what was important was the leader’s ability to shape events in history and not their morality. The subjects of his examination were diverse ranging from military generals like Napoleon to religious leaders like Prophet Mohammed.On the African continent, in recent years a buffet of personalities has been served up in the form of heads of state. From magnanimous men like Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Ketumile Masire of Botswana and Nelson Mandela of South Africa to self styled ‘big men’ like Idi Amin Dada of Uganda, Mobutu Seseko of Zaire (now DRC) and Maummar Gaddafi of Libya to mention but a few.All without exception had their pros and cons but it’s the wholesome assessment of their individual legacies that categorises each as a hero or villain. Nyerere may be blamed for the stagnation of the Tanzanian economy in the 80s while Amin may be credited with building most of Uganda’s public infrastructure but public opinion is clear on who the hero and villain is.If leadership is to be defined by one word that word would be service. To quote Ronald E. Roggio PhD an expert on leadership, “leadership is a lot like playing tennis, if you can’t serve you lose”.One thing is for sure, you can’t please all the people all the time and hard decisions have to be made. Always let your conscience err towards the greater good. In a recent interview with Tony Metcalf of Metro, a US publication, President Kagame was asked ’’ the New York Times quoted a report by a human rights group accusing you of running a repressive regime. How do you answer those claims?”His answer gave a clear insight on what kind of leader he is. He responded that he understood why such claims would be made in light of the laws relating to genocide ideology but he did not back away. He clearly stated that he is happy to defend those laws and went ahead to explain why by narrating the divisionism and abuses of ‘freedom of speech’ that precipitated the 1994 genocide.The president’s words were the embodiment of Max Lucado’s advice; “a man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back to the crowd”A leader’s credentials can only be assessed with a good understanding of the environment and times in which they live. The legacy they leave on the other hand is theirs to shape. Its one thing to get to the top but only enduring tangible works can guarantee you fond memories once you are gone.Dear leaders, opportunity has knocked on your doors! Use whatever platform fate has bestowed upon you and answer Dylan Thomas’ immortal call, “Don’t go gentle in that good night!”

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‘Johnny come lately’ on Leadership