The Lion King | 43
Career
The leader in ‘U’
By Abayomi Orungbe
H
ow do you build the “leader in U?”
Can leadership characteristics be
acquired? Warren Bennis, author
of the leadership classic, On Becoming
a Leader, says “Leadership is a function
of knowing yourself, having a vision that
is well communicated, building trust
among colleagues, and taking effec-
tive action to realise your own leader-
ship”
Ultimately, your first and greatest source
of empowerment is knowing who you
are; what you are doing here; who your
heroes are and asking, how do I pay for
my passage on earth?
Leonard Ravenhill in “The last days
Newsletter” writes about a group of
tourists who were visiting a picturesque
village. As they walked by an old man
sitting beside a fence, one tourist asked
in a patronizing way, “Were any great
men born in this village?” The old man
replied “Nope, only babies”
Leadership is developed, not discov-
ered. Leaders only emerge, they are not
born. In wanting to become one of the
thousands of people aspiring to lead,
you will find that all leaders fit in one of
the four categories of leadership below:
The Leading Leader
This is a person born with leadership
qualities and has also seen leadership
modelled throughout life. He has also
acquired leadership qualities through
training and has built the self discipline
required to become a great leader. It
is important to note that three of the
four leadership qualities of “The Lead-
ing Leader” are acquired; they do not
come with birth.
The Latent Leader
The latent leader cannot lay claim to
any leadership qualities at birth. Instead,
he or she grows to see leadership mod-
elled, and learns to be a leader through
training and acquires the self-discipline
needed to become a good leader.
The Limited Leader
The limited leader has little or no expo-
sure to leaders and leadership training
but has the desire to become a leader.
The Leader Manager
Leaders who fit into this category are
long term thinkers who see beyond
the day’s crises and the quarterly
report. They show strong interest in
their companies well beyond the units
they lead. They want to know how all
of the company’s departments affect
one another and they are constantly
reaching beyond their specific areas of
influence. They also place heavy em-
phasis on vision, values and motivation
and have strong political skills to cope
with conflicting requirements of multiple
constituents and most importantly, do
not accept the status quo. They show a
strong desire to change things positively.
It is important in your leadership aspira-
tion to realise that people do not want
to be managed. They want to be led.
No one is described as “World Manag-
er?” instead what we hear are; World
Leaders, Political Leaders, Religious
Leaders, Labour Leaders. They lead,
not manage!
So, the
ATTITUDES and ACTIONS
you
need to build the “Leader in U” include
understanding your job description thor-
oughly; knowing where your company
is coming from and where it is going in
terms of strategy; not being afraid to
accept responsibilities and maintaining
passion for consistency and excellence
in whatever you do.
Enhancing the “Leader in U” also comes
with being a creative person, showing
empathy and integrity, while avoiding
bureaucracy and embracing team
work in whatever you do.
In today's progressively competitive
world, successful leaders are those that
want more and do more.
the team towards those goals.
The appointed leader must
therefore be a coach who un-
derstands the individual team
members. The ultimate leader
must be emotionally intelligent
to lead and maximize the
potentials of the team.
Communication:
A team must
have seamless communica-
tion within the team. There
must not be information gap
within the team, to reduce
friction and confusion. One
important aspect of commu-
nication within the team is
giving credit and reward to
the team members.
Connection:
Team connection
is both at the personal and
professional level. A team
lead must connect with his
team- he or she is better off if
he touches the heart before
asking for the hands. Touching
the heart is often a product of
mutual respect and treatment
of the team members. Team
members must also connect
with each other, understand
each other’s needs and
move in to fill it when a gap is
noticed.
Value Contributions:
Every
team has different parts. For
a football team, there is the
defence, midfield and attack.
For a team to perform opti-
mally, the linkages between all
the parts must be smooth. It
is the ability of the team lead
and members to see the need
to be timely contributors into
the next phase of the process
that determines the outcome.
An attack must move smooth-
ly from defence. Every team
member must play his or her
role effectively to make the
team excel.
Emotional intelligence:
The
ability of the team members
to be aware of their emotions,
manage their emotions and
use their emotions in the best
interest of the team is essential.
Most often, lack of emotional
intelligence in a team leads to
indiscipline and disruption of
the cohesion in the team. The
level of the team’s emotional
intelligence is a key factor in
setting priorities and reacting
to any changes in the external
environment.
