#LEADERSHIP: SUCCESSION PLAN AND BEYOND...

 "We'd never know how high we are till we are called to rise; and then, if we are true to plan, our statures touch the sky"...Emily Dickinson.

"It is the fault of our bad leaders that our country is in such terrible state!!!"

This is perhaps the most common saying or rather the most consistent fall back of the average citizen of a presumed failed or failing state, predominantly in Africa.
Criticism of government is actually healthy, as the popular saying goes "only the test of fire makes fine steel".
The citizenry (well...optimistic or do i say good willed ones?) do help shape the nation through their strive to make living richer and better by criticizing the policies of the government, especially when the government officials seem to stray, after-all, partnership is gaining new meaning.

What is Leadership by the way?
There have arisen many a word, love for instance, that various prominent thinkers have tagged to"mean different things to different people", surprisingly, leadership is not one of them.

Leadership is an oxymoron of sort, being strongly embodied by a consistently strong and unchanging principle, there is no two way about it, you are either a leader or you are not.

You might say there are many definitions of leadership, but if you look very closely, you will find that they are all actually saying the same thing.
Warren Bennis defined leadership as the capacity to translate vision into reality.
Napoleon Bonaparte said a leader is a dealer in hope.
General Montgomery said leadership is the capacity and the will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence.
Peter Drucker described leadership as the lifting of a person's vision to high sights, the raising of a person's performance to high standard, the building of a personalty beyond its normal limitations.


   "Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others."...Jack Welch.

Most people like to be referred to as leaders, even without doing anything to warrant it.
Robert Kiyosaki answered the presumed and so called self exalting leaders beautifully in his rich dad, poor dad series: Cash flow Quadrant by saying "You have to qualify" although he meant it in the financial context.

Leadership happens to be a principle which thrives with the embodiment of discipline, vision, focus, consistency and wait for it, and believe it or not, PMA a.k.a Positive Mental Attitude, why not? Bruce Kasanoff Co-Author of Smart Customers reiterated the inspirational phrase "The best talent is bringing out the talent in others" A superior leader is therefore described as a person who can bring ordinary people together to achieve extra-ordinary results, and you definitely cannot do that if you haven't first of all loved yourself so much that it spills over, prompting you to extend the gesture.

A leader knows the right direction to take when in an unfamiliar terrain, as John  C. Maxwell professionally put it in his motivational best seller "21 Irrefutable laws of Leadership".
He painted a scenario where different people from varying backgrounds were put in a room, they all move towards different directions to prove that they know which way to go, eventually, they all line up behind the person that actually knows the right path to tread.
There is actually a distant distinction between sight and vision which is really awesomely imperative for a leader to greatly possess or armed with on a first hand basis to the view of the enthusiastic followers.
Even the Bible emphasizes it in Book of Proverb 29:18


"Where there is no vision, the people perish".

As the saying goes, "Stagnant water stinks", when someone who is respected as a leader falters, it is quite natural for a more discerning and qualified one to emerge possibly from the back seat to take over the steering of the vehicle of leadership, in order to avoid a crash that can annihilate the greater population that will dictate the course of the future.
So, this is probably a wake up call.
Are you a leader, and do you have a follower that you are grooming up to continue in your hard earned and proud legacy?
Remember, the key word here is qualify.

"Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way"...General George Patton.



Thank you.

Akin Abimbola. (akinzogee@gmail.com)


SOURCES:   Google
                     Forbes
                     SearchQuotes
                     Rich Dad, Poor Dad : Cash Flow Quadrant (Robert Kiyosaki)
                     21 Irrefutable laws of Leadership (John C. Maxwell)