Leadership

Adetokunbo Obayan
 Opening thoughts
Peter Drucker

“WE live in a period of very rapid change. That

also means that the opportunities for
improving, for getting results, are changing
very fast. Things that were not possible or
were not needed yesterday suddenly become
possible, and things that made a great deal
of sense yesterday do not make sense.”
Opening thoughts
“EVERYTHING RISES
AND FALLS ON
LEADERSHIP”
John Maxwell
Leadership ? What images
come to mind?
Are these leaders?
Exercise

Name a leader that you

admire
 Why

Identify a leader that you find
disgusting
 Why
Are these leaders?..

You?

Why?
Leadership discussion challenges

Our History

Our Know how

Its universality and

Its multifacetted nature
Our Leadership definitions are
influenced by
Our
perceptions
The of
stories leadership
we hear

The heroes
of our time
“The problem is never
how to get new,
innovative thoughts
into your mind, but
how to get the
old ones out.”
Dee Hock
 Definitions of Leadership –
“there are over 350 definitions” Burt Nanus
The number of
Leadership
definitions are
like opening up
a box
 Definitions of Leadership –
“there are over 350 definitions” Burt Nanus
A Lot of
Leadership
definitions
have been like
the Hindustani
blind men and
the elephant
Definitions of
Leadership –
“there are over
350 definitions”
Burt Nanus
Leadership has been
described as the
“process of social
influence in which
one person can enlist
the aid and support of
others in the
accomplishment of a
common task”
Wikkipaedia
dictionary
 MAJOR DEFINITIONS

Gibbs 1969 – Leadership is influence.
When your behavior influences people
that they respond to achieve a desired
objective That is leadership.
- The leader
- The people
-The Objectives
W.C.H. PRENTICE(1960) defines
leadership as “The discipline of deliberately
exerting special influence within a group to
move it towards goals of beneficial permanence
that fulfills the groups real needs
Key Words

Discipline – learning or training/working

Deliberate – no effective reluctant leader

Special Influence – it is concious

Group – Success as group is evidence of leadership

Goals ! Goals ! Goals ! Goals !

Groups real needs- Maslow’s hierarchy

Some key things to note

Leadership and Management are not
synonymous

You can attend to management
responsibilities without being a Leader

You can be a leader without formal
responsibility

Your level of effectiveness will ultimately be
decided by your leadership ability (self
development) supported by your
management skills (training)
 This is important therefore
because

1. Leadership is essential
“LEADERSHIP IS THE ONLY THING THAT
DIFFERENTIATES SOCIETIES AND
ORGANISATIONS FROM EACH OTHER OVER
THE LONG TERM”

“EVERYTHING RISES AND FALLS

ON LEADERSHIP”
John Maxwell
 This is important
therefore because?....
2. The growing understanding
that we all are leaders
whether we like it or not

“Everyman is a leader”
 This is important
therefore because?....
3. There is the Law of the Lid
relating to Leadership

“Your personal effectiveness is

determined by the level of your
Leadership”
 This is important therefore
because?....
4. “The most important job for a leader who wants
to win in the 21st century is to create more
leaders at all levels”
Noel Tichy,
Director, University of Michigan Business School

Managers have it as a main function

 This is important
therefore because?....

Because the number of people
who engage with enthusiasm and
participate in leadership the more
the results

“Never doubt that a small group of

committed people
can change the
world. Indeed it is
the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead
—
 This is important
therefore because ?....

The concept that leaders are made
not born- This is the place of
vectors.

Vectors – A concept developed by
the author
Section II
VECTORS OF LEADERSHIP
 Vectors of Leadership

The basic descriptives which determine the

direction and impact of your leadership.

The key things which if analysed determine
the total effectiveness and continuing
relevance of your leadership exertions

the factors or issues which need to be
addressed to affect and beef up how far
one’s leadership goes.
The Key Vectors are

Knowledge

Vision

Implementation

Leadership Over self

Leadership over others
 Knowledge
“A man of Knowledge increases and
strengthens his power”
Proverbs 24:5
“As a rule he who has the most
information will have the greatest success
in life”
Benjamin Disraeli

Three areas

General

Specific

Performance related knowledge

 Some important things about
Knowledge

Knowledge is the foundational vector

You must have knowledge that is
universal, current and situated

You must have knowledge of what your
environment is

You must have knowledge of your field

You must have knowledge of what a your
particular job
 As an example based on your
Knowledge are you
Do you know your place in the
orchestra?
 Some important things about
Knowledge

Knowledge and understanding grow with
study and reading–

You must also be engaged in knowledge
sources – books, the internet

Strive to be on the cutting edge

It is essential that we have pride and
commitment in what we do
Vision – The second vector

The Principle of vision is the key to
understanding leadership”
Dr John Haggai

“There is no more powerful engine driving an
organisation (Individual) towards excellence
and long range success than an attractive
worthwhile vision for the future”
Burt Nanus



“There is nothing so tragic as a man with sight
but without Vision”.
Helen Keller the Blind Composer
 What is vision?

The vivid and

compelling image of an
exciting future that
can, should and must
be attained by us

Capturing a relevant image in our view

 What is vision?

Oxford Dictionary –”The ability to think or
plan about the future with imagination

“a shared
picture of the
future we seek
to create”
Peter Senge
Therefore vision is:

What you see?

Sharable

Vision is about the future

Vision is about the relevance of

what you are doing
Therefore vision is:

About a desirable future –

desirable to us

About our ability and
willingness to create. This
implies that it’s related to us
and it is designed not for an
external body but for us

Exciting and personal
 EVERYONE HAS A VISION
BECAUSE WE ALL SEE SOMETHING

The Question is
•WHAT DO YOU SEE?
ULTIMATELY YOUR BEHAVIOUR IS A
FUNCTION OF WHAT YOU SEE.
 Leadership over self

“If anyone wants to LEADING
lead he must SUBORDINATES

spend 50% of his

energy leading LEADING
himself, 20% of his LEADING
PEERS
SELF
energy leading his
superiors, 15%
leading his peers LEADING
SUPERIORS
and only 15%
leading his
subordinates” Dee
Hock, founder VISA
 Who you are is affected by

Two main types of
interactions
External
Context

Internal

External Internal
Context
 Essentials …. 1 the self
factor

Understanding
self … who am I?,
what makes me
tick, what is
important to me?
Peculiarities?
Johari Window model
known unknown
by self ask by self

1 2
feedback
solicitation
known
open/free blind
by others area area

tell

self-disclosure/exposure shared others' observation

discov-
ery

unknown
by others hidden unknown
self-
area discov
area
ery
3 4
 Essentials …. 2 the self
factor

Engaging Strengths, minimising
weaknesses and establishing values

Developing self management skills
 Self-control

 Self motivation

 Utilise and engage the entirety of

the person
 Transforming or Changing the Self
 Leadership over others

what I call a derivative vector or an “applicational”
vector
 both an outcome and a subject
Fundamentals for Leading Others

People are Important and central

Lead People Manage Things

 It was the American Admiral Grace Hopper who coined this statement
that you lead people but Manage things.

The whole is more than the sum of the
individuals
 The Human being has tremendous capacity but it is amazing how much
more a group of people can do. The 2004 European cup illustrated this
when Greece a

The Human factor is a constant not
 Key essential…
1. Be fully aware of the nature and types of
people he must exercise leadership over

Those with authority over us:

Our peers:

Our subordinates:
* It would include those with whom you interact with in
unequal relationship in which power is tilted in
your direction. The relative inequality of power
easily gives the impression of effective leadership
 Key essential…
2. ENGAGE AND INFLUENCE THEM

Establishing, clarifying and expanding a
relational platform

Communicating effectively across the
platform bandwidth
“You can have brilliant ideas but if you can’t
get them across your ideas won’t get you
anywhere” Lee Iacocca, Former CEO, The
Chrysler Corp.3Our subordinates:
 Key essential…Things that help

Positivity- The positivity element in
relating with others

Supportive -Our relational
atmosphere can be measured on the
level of supportiveness it provides for
the group members.

Consistency of action and purpose –

The quality of our expectations
influences the quality of our
relationship and our leadership.
Vector 5: Implementation or execution

Our Goal setting and Action Planning
“Goals are the legs of Vision” John Haggai

The effectiveness of our preparation
“Failure to prepare is preparing to fail
Mike Murdoch

Our recognition and use of resources

Our responsiveness

Our ability to handle change

Our monitoring and evaluation skills
“Evaluation like breathing is not optional” Kim
James and John Burgoyne.

Our accountability
(John P. Kotter)
What determines our Leadership
Growth?

1.Our desire for growth- commitment

2.Our Understanding of the growth
process
• I don’t know what I don’t know
• I know what I don’t Know
• I grow and I know and it starts to show
• I simply go because I know
What determines our Leadership
Growth?
3. Understanding and resolving our
personal Conundrums

4. Recognising that leadership development is

lifestyle not just academic
Leadership skills Killers

Selfjustification and
unwillingness to change

Undue modesty

External attributions
 Leadership skills
Killers…
Tyranny of the urgent
Final Word
“The future belongs to
the adaptive”
Ralph Gailbreath
Thank you!