Credible Leadership - By Dr. Elvis UKPAKA
In the eyes of your employees, the totality of your leadership is dependent upon the things that they see you do. That means things like your ethics, values, morals, attitude, beliefs, character, skill, knowledge, etc, are closely watched and examined by those you are leading. Your actions as a leader count a lot in achieving credible leadership. You see, credibility is a leader’s currency. With it he or she is solvent; without it he or she is bankrupt. Let’s examine the way John Maxwell puts it: “A Leader with credibility has a pocketful of coins. As long as the pocket is full, the Leader is believable, worthy of respect, and able to be trusted. Each time the Leader breaks a promise or acts inconsistently with professed value, he or she must pay out some of the coins in his or her pocket. When the coins are gone, so is the Leader’s credibility. No amount of persuasion or personal appeal will be able to buy it back. Once lost, respect and trust take years to regain’’. What is credibility? Let us look at it like this: Credible means capable of being believed. Credibility on the other hand, is the quality of deserving belief or confidence. It is the amount of confidence placed in one on the basis of his or her record, knowledge or proven ability. In other words, it is about reliability, integrity, sincerity, and having right standing known to others to be untainted. Therefore, Credible Leadership is the ability of a Leader to demonstrate an exemplary lifestyle which others willingly follow without questioning.
Defining Your Business Purpose As A Leader - By Dr. Elvis UKPAKA
You win when everyone knows your purpose. It is not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is: why am I busy? Having a clear purpose in what you are doing enables you convince the world that it is richer with you than without you, which in turn helps build your reputation. Even before you set out to write a business plan, you must answer these two fundamental questions: (1) Why am I in this business and (2) What do I want out of it.
Your answer will quickly prompt other questions; such as the following: Will the business be my principal career activity and primary source of income or a secondary pursuit? Am I launching it as an investment to sell as soon as I can? Or, do I envision something more permanent? Will it be a family business, and is providing jobs to family members as my primary motivation? Answers to these and related questions will have an impact on the business’s aims, its development, and its strategies.
A business that knows why it exists, instead of just what it produces, can take a long term view, spot risks and seize opportunities. You are able to give your company a clear sense of direction that keeps you focused and inspire your employees.
What Every Leader Wants In A Follower—PART 2
In my last article, we began to look at “What Every Leader Wants In A Follower.” As earlier noted, leadership cannot be devoid of followers except it isn’t leadership. Great leadership calls for great followership. And a leaders’ success to a great extent is dependent upon good followers who are willing to go all the way in supporting the vision toward achieving a common purpose. Earlier we examined three of the seven things every leaders wants in a follower. Today we shall explore the remaining four as outlined below:An Effective team member: The most valuable single factor that contributes towards high levels of excellence and quality in a team emanates from an individual team member's ability to work with others. The word T.E.A.M can be likened to an acronym that stands for (T=Together, E=Everybody, A=Achieve, M=Much more). Every leader wants to work with followers that support the teams’ effort in achieving their goal. No leader wants to work with a follower that distorts the progress of the team. If I may ask, do you consider yourself a “team player”? As a follower, take heed the words of Vince Lombardi, a renowned American Base Ball coach, that says, “Individual commitment to a group effort—that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work”. Leaders enjoy working with team players because their presence in a team makes a huge difference.
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What Every Leader Wants In A Follower---PART 1
The leader-follower relationship is an exciting one most especially when mutual trust and benefits exist between each other. In my previous article, I wrote on “what every follower wants in a leader”. It is also interesting to know that there are “what every leader wants in a follower”. Both the leader and follower need support from each other in order to achieve a lasting success. Leadership is not a one sided thing. As the saying goes, “it takes two to tangle”. That means success in leadership is not only dependent upon the leader but also on great followers. Naturally, it’s the duty of the leader to show direction, courage, care, empower, cast the vision, show the example, and thus, take the lead by being at the hot seat. It is also the duty of the followers to reciprocate in certain ways that keep the leader energized to do more.
