Forget about the title embossed on your business card. It does not make you a leader. It is passé. Mahatma Gandhi did not have one when he revolutionized the political landscape of India. Stop thinking about the size of your corner office. It only gives you positional authority. Beyond that, it does not do much for you. Mother Teresa did not come from the Oval Office when she spoke at the United Nations General Assembly and won the Nobel Peace Award. Forget about the type of car that you drive. It is a pageant of social status and does not endure. Ethiopian marathon runner, Shambel Abebe Bikila, won gold twice at the Olympic Gala, breaking the world record while running barefoot. Kamuzu Banda trekked from Malawi to South Africa by foot to access higher education. Erase from your mind the number of zeros at the end of a figure in your bank account. It is feigning. The Wright Brothers did not have a bank account when they assembled the rudimentary aircraft taking them to the skies. Stop thinking about the exotic perfumes and fashionable clothes that you wear. They are posturing - you came into the world without them and you will leave without them. Do not even keep in mind the magnitude of the bounty of possessions and chattels cataloged in your name - I have never seen a forty-foot container truck following a hearse to the cemetery. All chattels are bequeathed to heirs and heiresses in a will.
My key point, dear reader, is that true leadership extends beyond personal achievements. Position, prosperity, or social status do not make you and me a leader. You don’t need a multi-million-shilling bank account to be a leader. True leadership is about nurturing others to become a better version of themselves. Great leadership is about creating more leaders. If you understand what I am talking about, give me a silent head nod.
Imagine you were to put two people side by side - a multi-billionaire and a street pauper. I ask you to tell me who would be a better leader. What would you tell me? What about putting a Miss Universe beauty contest winner and an unappealing mademoiselle shoulder to shoulder? Would you be able to tell me who would be a more formidable leader? Who is a better leader, a Northerner or a Southerner? An Extrovert or an Introvert? Difficult to tell, not so? You cannot use one’s exterior attributes to determine their leadership skills.
Ask any economics scholars and they will unequivocally tell you that inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon. Likewise, leadership gurus will forthrightly tell you that leadership is always and everywhere an inspirational phenomenon. Less than this, it is something else. Fully engaging in what inspires you has some handsome side effects – you inspire others. All great leaders, deceased and living, were inspired by and stood for something that, through their actions, inspired others. Leadership is contextual.
Leaders are dreamers. They see phenomena that other people cannot see. Leaders see through corners. They deduce the birth of a phenomenon well before it is conceived. Inversely, this proves to be a double-edged sword. Their prescience puts them in an awkward position - they are the only ones in the know, with the idea, with the solution, with the vision, who understands the phenomena better and ahead of everyone else. Followers may have no idea what lies ahead [of their future]. This is where the issue of inspiration comes in. Great leaders are so charismatic that they can rally people behind their embryonic dreams and drive them to achieve their dreams or visions. Since followers don’t have the vision, leaders need to develop a way of taking them to it. This can be achieved through inspiration or manipulation. Whereas the former is the bedrock of leadership, the latter is the nursery of tyranny.
Every year, companies, non-governmental organizations, and governments across the globe spend trillions of shillings to send employees to business schools to learn leadership skills. Every year, parents, and guardians labor with bills for school fees to send their children and wards to universities to study leadership skills. Yes, year in and year out, entrepreneurs and business captains set aside huge amounts of money for their training budget to sponsor colleagues to attend conferences and seminars on leadership skills. Alas! Look at the state of the world, today. We are faced with untold wars, illegal migration, human trafficking, hunger, racial prejudice, corruption, terrorism, climate change, nepotism, and trade tariffs. The list is endless. Every dire condition of humanity is the result of poor leadership. It is puzzling: What is lacking in these business schools, colleges, universities, conferences, and seminars that fail to turn our children and wards, men, and women, into true leaders? Where is the problem?
Yes, organizations and governments spend a lot of money to train and retrain employees in leadership skills but with minimal results and peripheral impact. Where is the misalignment? I don’t know about you. I have, for many years, struggled with this matter, as I formulated my personal standards. I think I found the answer, a solution that feels utterly right for the puzzle: Leadership is not taught, leadership is about self-discovery. You cannot teach someone to be a leader in a classroom. The world is littered with people who are regarded as great leaders who never stepped foot in a classroom to sit behind a desk with a lecturer in front of them. Ok. Let me be direct: Leadership does not come from books, literature, or podcasts. I agree that books and podcasts will give insights about leadership, but they cannot turn someone into a leader. Books will no doubt remain for centuries the world’s most prized source of knowledge and enjoyment. [I adore books]. Unfortunately, they cannot make you and me a leader. No great professor under the sun will make you a leader. Naught. Leadership is intrinsic, not extrinsic.
Mahatma Gandhi was distinctly betrothed, particularly, and deeply engaged with the certitude and idea of liberating Indians from colonial rule. He was so inspired by the vision of a free Indian nation that his passion morphed into action - millions of people in India and across the borders rallied behind him to achieve his vision. His inspiration was so deep that the followers made his vision their vision. When he decided to march to the sea, alone, on the famous salt protest, every soul in India, young and old – some in wheelchairs - joined in and marched along Gandhi to the sea. Whereas many Indians advocated violent demonstrations against colonialism, Gandhi opted for non-violent disobedience doctrine. In the nick of time, everyone bought into the doctrine and practiced it in every respect and aspect. Whoever said that leadership is contagious was right.
Likewise, Nelson Mandela envisioned an apartheid-free South Africa. At the time when the apartheid rule was at its peak, Mandela spoke passionately about his vision, “. . . I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal for which I hope to live and see realized. But, my lord, if need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” His vision was so strong that the statement pierced the hearts of the offenders and nursed the hearts of the offended. The whole rainbow nation – as South Africa is popularly referred to - rallied behind the vision, consequently bringing the apartheid regime to an end.
Steve Jobs was my hero. When no one in the tech industry was thinking about smartphones, Jobs inspired and touched the hearts of many people with his vision, passion, and creativity of making beautiful tech products. His legacy lives on through Apple’s marvelous creations - iPhone, iPod, Macintosh, iPad, iTunes and Siri. Apple is known for designing and creating stunning top-class products that ‘insanely’ wow consumers with an appealing and engrossing user experience. Let the truth be told, Jobs was so engrossed with creating insanely beautiful tech products that when they were designing the iPhone, he instructed his team, “. . . to make the buttons on the screen look so good that users would want to lick them.”
I revere Jobs not only as a business titan but as a beacon of leadership. He was a leader in its truest sense. He made people dream more - whether as a user of Apple products or as an employee. What he said to Pepsi's former CEO, John Sculley, when he was luring him to join Apple, is a testament beyond debate. Jobs asked Sculley, “. . . do you want to sell sugarwater for the rest of your life or do you want to come with me and change the world, creating a dent in the universe?” Put yourself in the shoes of Sculley, how would you respond to Jobs’ question? You and I know how Sculley responded – he left his lucrative position at Pepsi and joined the ‘then less-fancied’ Apple. Yes, John Quincy Adams got it right - if your action inspires others to dream more, to learn more, to do more, and to become more, you are a leader. Jobs was an ideal leader.
Whereas everyone could see a mere plantation of trees and Lake Buena Vista in Orlando, Florida, Walt Disney envisioned a theme park. In his vision, he saw a castle, Mickey Mouse, trains, restaurants, beautiful gardens, an artificial island, and a lake. None of the people around him at that time bought into his vision. When he narrated it to them, they thought he was becoming insane. Today, you and I, fly all the way from Africa, Australia, Asia, and Europe to visit Disneyland in Orlando - the dream of Walt Disney.
Let me rephrase Adams’ statement - if you can inspire others and make them look deep within themselves to rediscover their potential, you are a true leader. My advice: If you are a writer, write with passion – someone follows your writing with purpose. If you are a business executive, manage the business with courage and vision – someone within or outside your organization is watching you and looks up to you as a model. If you are a parent, be careful with what you say and do in the presence of your children. You are not just a parent, but a standard upon which children view the world - positively and negatively. Those little eyes watch every move that you make. Don’t instill fear or an inferiority complex in their belief system. If you are a politician, oversee the nation's affairs without any trace of corruption – you hold the nation's future in your hands. The citizenry deciphers whether you have their interest at heart or not.
We are creatures of imitations. Naturally, we find it hard to resist the temptation to do what we see others doing. When we see a workmate working hard and knocking off late, we follow suit. When we see our boss being courteous to clients and junior staff, we follow suit. When we enter a room and see people laughing, we spontaneously start laughing without even asking them what they are laughing about. When we see our neighbour painting the wall of their fence white, we also paint ours with white paint. Do you know why Brazilians make good footballers? Nothing to do with talent. It is all about inspiration. When poor kids from the Favella look at the mansions of football superstars and the elegant life they live, they get inspired and enthused. They also dream of playing football in Europe, going back to Brazil, building their own mansions, and living an elegant life, too. Modeling the older generation of footballers, these kids work hard, practice hard and enrol in football academies. Just in time, they re-discover themselves.
Do you know why Lebanese and Indians make great businesspeople? There is a backstory - because they got inspired by their ancestors, who were shrewd businesspeople and judicious business thinkers. It is no coincidence that Italy produces the best men’s suits in the world. It is not a coincidence that the Swiss make ultra-hip grade-A watches. It is no coincidence that the United States produces great entrepreneurs and innovators. It is not a coincidence that South Africa produces the world's best rugby players. It is all about somebody inspiring someone and keeping the ripple going.
The point of wisdom, dear reader, is: do what you are enthusiastic about really, really, really well. You will positively influence and inspire others, who will in turn be enthusiastic about something [latent] within their domains. This is how great leaders help other people re-discover themselves.
Successful people seek the company of other successful people. Success is virulent. Similarly, leaders seek the company of other leaders. Was it not Napoleon Hill, who said, “. . . water seeks its level with no finer certainty than man seeks the company of those who occupy his own general status, financially and mentally.” Oh, lest I forget: views from the top are that leaders beget other leaders through inspiration.
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