Oladotun Fadeyiye
Why leadership?
Virtually all the continents across the globe have been blessed with abundance resources which would require effective management for sustainable development. And for us to achieve continous efficiency in managing these resources, leadership is required to some degree. Apparently, Leadership, is an essential factor in achieving sustainable development be it, within a sovereign state, a locality, a community, an organisation or a group. So logically, leadership is an act of social influence.
What makes a good leader?
There are some attributes which would distinguish any leader from mediocre ones. They are the core features of a visionary leader.
Self reflections: As a leader, you must self reflect. This is asking yourself if the decision you taken were actually the right ones. It is called personal cross examination.
Proactive not Reactive: Setting goals and pursuing such relentlessly is one attribute of a good leader. And taking Proactive steps towards achieving a certain goal rather than just sitting and reacting makes leadership an effective one. Being proactive as a leader makes you plan ahead.
Passion: Passionate people make good leader. As a leader, you must be passionate to effect change, be passionate about making positive impacts in the lives of the followers.
Integrity: This is one vital attribute in leadership. However, it has been a major challenge in leadership. Most leaders fail to keep their words. For you to lead by example, you must be able stand by your words. Do not be wishy-washy in your decisions and actions. This is important so as to practice what you preach.
Vision: There must be a vision, a cause or some set goals to which every leader is pushed to achieve. One of the ways for the actualisation of this vision is the reason a leader is chosen in the first place, we shouldn’t forget that. Therefore, every good leader must be vision driven. He must deeply understand the vision to be able to fully exert influence on the followership.
Determination: Determination brings about resilience, which is a positive attribute of a good leader. A determined leader would never say die even in the face of challenges. Knowing that if leadership give up on its vision and chicken out, followership will not only fall apart but doomed.
Ability to learn new things: Evidently, to be a good leader you must be opened to learn new things including innovations. You must be opened to corrections as well, why this is important is that, as a leader you can never be right with all your decisions at all times. One unfortunate thing about leadership is, when you are not a good team player before you are given a leadership role you may find it hard to own up to your errors and admit corrections from others.