LEADERSHIP CONUNDRUM

 

The leadership deficit in our country today

is a great cause for concern. It is the prime cause for all

other deficiencies;

structural, infrastructural, power, education, and many

others too numerous to

count. From the pulpits in our churches and the Minbar in

the mosques, at

seminars and other fora where the problems of this country

are being discussed,

the issue of leadership usually fronts the bill. Our readers

have therefore

become agitated and are asking the pertinent question: Are

leaders born or

made? In view of the failure of leadership in our country,

one is not

surprised. This, however, is the most basic and most

often-asked question

about leadership. The job of leading an organization, a

military unit, or

a nation, and doing so effectively, is indeed very complex.

To expect that a

person would be born with all of the tools needed to lead,

is a very tall order.

Yet, there are some "raw materials;

some inborn characteristics, that predispose people to be

and become leaders.

What are some of these inborn qualities? Extraversion has

been associated with

leadership positions and leader effectiveness. There is also

evidence that boldness, assertiveness,

or risk-taking or sometimes daringness can be advantageous

for leaders.

Leaders also need to be smart to analyze situations and

figure out courses of

action: All these are not taught in leadership training

camps or ‘man o war’.

They are ingrain in individual make-up. Even among business

persons, they are

traits that are not taught in Harvard Business School. You

either have them or

you don’t. It is these peculiar traits that separate

effective leaders from run

of the mill ones. To this extent therefore, we could

conjecture that most of

the traits that make a good leader are ingrain. For example,

intelligence is

associated with leadership, but perhaps not general IQ, but

social intelligence

- understanding of social and political situations and

processes; is

the component of intelligence that is important for

leadership. Finally, some

sort of empathy, or ability to know followers, is also

advantageous for leaders.

The leader must be able to know what followers want, when

they want it, and

what prevents them from getting what they want. All of the

above traits are

innate and are not learnt and tend to support the fact that

most leadership

traits and qualities have to do with the makeup of the man,

rather than

internalized. Leadership, therefore, being the ability to

exercise influence

over others for the leader's purposes, aims or goals, is

largely made up of

inherited qualities and traits that make men better suited

to lead. This leads

to the conclusion that most leaders are born. This is

supported by what has

become known as ‘Great Man’ theory and other ‘Trait’

theories. To suggest that

leaders do not enter the world with extraordinary endowment

is to imply that

people enter the world with equal abilities, with equal

talents, said Thomas

Carlyle. 

There is a significant difference

between “learning a skill” and mastering one, in the

same way that others

are born with amazing musical gifts or athletic talents.

They will excel

naturally in these areas but others would

not.

Born leaders are different from made or

artificial

leaders. All remarkable leaders have great history behind

them. They were

leaders from the onset of their journey. Some observers have

opined that birth

is a natural process and the notion to associate leadership

with it is

arguable. This is true to a large extent. Hence, they argue

that leaders are

made not born.

Behavioral Theories believe that people

can become leaders through the process of teaching, learning

and observation.

True, leadership is a set of skills that can be learned by

training,

perception, practice and experience over time. Leadership

learning is a

lifetime activity. Good leaders seek out development

opportunities that will

help them learn new skills. This is true of the military,

para-military and so

on, or managerial positions in corporate organizations.

However, no matter the

amount of training, some military and managerial personnel

will stand out above

the rest and in situation that calls for leadership, they

will be in front.

History is replete with such leaders, such as Patton,

Montgomery, Laurence of

Arabia and Julius Caesar.  

Can enrolling for a programme on management

and leadership makes someone a leader upon completion? Can

charisma, influence,

integrity and the ability to inspire be taught? Will the

granting of a

certificate and a few degrees after one’s name make them a

leader? These are

questions that are begging for answers. Soft skills can be

explained, but not

implanted. The ability to share your vision takes more than

a sophisticated

PowerPoint presentation.

Leadership can be learned by anyone with the

basics. But an awful lot of leadership cannot be

taught. Some do well

but others find themselves poorly equipped rendering

mediocre results. This

much is our bane in this country where we have social

deviants, delinquents and

miscreants parading as political leaders. People of doubtful

and questionable

pedigree and foundation. Even when they are learned and

schooled, they still

lark most of the qualities and traits of good and able

leaders. They are people

who have imbibed deviant cultures and products of

sociological mutations: And

like all mutants are never advantageous to the specie: Area

boys, cheats,

liars, kleptomaniacs and those Awolowo dubbed ‘lost

souls’. Yet, there is no

iota of doubt that this country of over 180 Million people

is blessed with men

and women of sound and impeachable characters who have

exhibited exemplary

leadership in politics and the economy, military and

religion. Where are they

that we are saddled with charlatans and masquerades?

 

Leadership is therefore, an art rather than

a science. It is a set of innate traits, refined and

perfected over time with

education, training and experience.

There is also an aspect of being in

the right place at the right time; which could be call

opportunity. You

may be a leader but also a matter of whether or not you are

in the position

within which your talents can shine

forth.

The discussion about leadership also needs

to identify the location as well as the environment. Not

everyone can be a

leader just like not everyone can become a good actor. Some

people will never

have that aspect in them while others have the latent

ability and thus can be

taught how to lead. All the books, classes, education and

training cannot turn

a follower into a leader.

To be a leader in a structured environment,

one needs some formal training. Most people can learn to

manage well, start a

business, lead a project team since good management is based

on rules - rules

that can be learned and mastered. But, we should remember

that Leadership is

often a choice. A leader is a person who comes forward to

take the challenge.

If a leader rises up from the multitude, then that person

was already a leader

to begin with. Should someone have all the best training,

nurturing and

opportunities, but would rather be hidden in the crowd, an

unwilling

participant...not a leader.

Leadership styles varies with maturity,

followers and situations.

Leadership attributes will include, among

others: “Integrity; charisma, inspiration, vision,

encouraging, positive,

confidence builder, dynamism, foresight, effective team

building,

communicating, coordinating, decisive, intelligent, and

win-win problem solver.” These

attributes are a combination of personality, character,

skill, communicative

ability, and emotional intelligence. Therefore, a leader is

born, developed,

skilled in communications, and cultivated through life

experiences.

Remarkable Leaders would include the

likes of Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King

Jr, and Aung San

Suu Kyi…etc: Individuals that seek neither wealth nor

fame, selfless, loved

justice, passionate about people and worked for the greater

good of others.

Here in this clime we have an acute shortage of such

men.

In times like these, may Allah give us men

that would rise to the occasion and lead us to the Promised

Land; Amen.

Barka

Juma’at, Ramadan Kareem and Happy

Eid. Babatunde Jose

+2348033110822