April - June 2017 •
The Lion King
• 53
FEATURE
BY SIMEON ALIGBE
THE 21
ST
CENTURY
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADER
T
he 21st-century transformational
leader is one that has clear-cut
big, hairy and audacious goals.
Muhammad Ali once said, what
keeps him going is goals. This kind
of leader puts in place a structured
and supported process to reflect
performance and achievement for
career development. He is a leader
who operates under the SMART
model. He sets Specific, Measurable,
Attainable, Realistic and Time-bound
goals.
The 21st century transformational
Leader, first and foremost, needs to
recognise that attaining goals requires
strategic planning and identifying
objectives for reaching such goal. He
has the details of what he wants to do,
the steps he will take to do it and the
sequence of prioritised events.
One of the most important things he
does is preparing ways to overcome
obstacles that stand in the way
of attaining goals. The best way
to remove or navigate around an
obstacle is to anticipate and be ready
for the eventuality ahead of time.
If it happens, you will know what to
do; if it doesn’t, you were fortunate
and certainly didn’t lose anything. To
prepare for an obstacle, one needs
to be able to identify it ahead of time,
of course. This is why fighter pilots go
through so much training in a simulator.
The trainers want them to have
experience and thus be prepared for
any and every eventuality.
Confucius, the Chinese philosopher
once said, when it is evident that
any goal cannot be reached, the
21st-century leader never adjusts the
goals, rather he adjusts the action
steps.
These great leaders are not in charge
of others by virtue of the positions
they hold in their organisations. They
have the ability to influence others
by inspiring them and making them
believe in themselves and their
capabilities to do things right. They
can communicate their expectations
to others and to give good feedback,
positive or negative. The 21st-century
transformational leaders can be found
everywhere in an organisation from
top management to staff.
Queen Elizabeth II said “I know of no
single formula for success. But over
the years I have observed that some
attributes of leadership are universal
and are often about finding ways
of encouraging people to combine
their efforts, their talents, their insights,
their enthusiasm and their inspiration
to work together.”
The 21st-century transformational
leaders are like great conductors
that lead their orchestras. They don’t
have a single way to lead, but they
have several ways of communicating
expectations.
The BIG question is,
‘Are you a
21st-century transformational leader?’
