TUESDAY INSPIRATION

This Tuesday inspiration is a reminder of the stance of leadership in our Nigeria. The Chairman, Tony O. Elumelu in an address speech to the with the Nigerian Airforce, Navy & Army students & the Armed Forces Command & Staff College in Jaji, Kaduna State sometime in August 2017 pointed out some key Leadership qualities.

''Whether in the public or private sector, leadership is the same thing. It is the demarcation between success & failure, development & underdevelopment; poverty & prosperity. So, I welcome every opportunity to discuss & examine this important subject. 

1. Good leaders are driven by purpose. Leadership is not an end on its own but a means to an end which is the fulfilment of that purpose. There is no happenstance in leadership, it is deliberate. Leaders make sound decisions because they understand that their success lies in the rigor of the decisions they make. They put the end in view & act with a sense of urgency because they know, especially in the private sector- & the military, sometimes you don’t get a 2nd opportunity to get it right. There are consequences to every decision. Sometimes it could cost you hugely & sometimes it comes with significant rewards. 

2. Good leaders set milestones & celebrate them when achieved. They therefore know when they are succeeding & when they are failing. As I said this, I shared my story about how we went about achieving milestones as we built  UBA Group, a pan-African financial institution with a presence in global capitals around the world. We achieved so much because our people became confident with every milestone attained & made the corporate purpose their own. 

3. A good leader knows that he hardly ever operates on his own. His success lies largely in how he leads people to deliver results. We realized that winning depended on getting the right people so we hired right, trained them & instilled self-confidence. We made our people feel they were the best & they became the best. 
Africa needs leaders, in the public & in the private sector. We need purposeful leaders to give us direction, to raise the standard of living & for our companies to be much much more successful. We need to be relentless & unforgiving until we get what has been lacking in leadership on our continent to set us apart.

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