BUILD YOUR PEOPLE TO BUILD THE ORGANIZATION!

In recent times I have seen myself talking so much about leadership. Obviously, the lack of it is what has kept our nation at the level it currently is.

However, true to every act of learning, only those with capacity for change can learn. I want to take you through a simple class on leadership that can change your perception of leadership, particularly for leaders of organizations and business people.

Every individual, every group, every business cries for good leadership. Everyone either feels the effect of poor leadership or enjoys the result of good leadership.

As a leader, you hold a delicate key to the hearts of their lives, because every process a man goes through is a build-up to the dream height and the time you are with them is a PROCESS – if badly utilized will either make your followers good leaders or make them bad leaders.

When leaders are good communicators, encouragers and motivators, their members will not only enjoy the work and produce more, they will be loyal to the leadership.

Good leadership is not just important, it is indispensable. The better the leaders, the better the group.

If as a leader, all you think is how to get the ORGANIZATION better, without getting the PEOPLE better, the people you are looking away from will soon destroy the organization you are trying to build.

Your people must be your priority – your greatest legacy is the people. Beautify a life and the life will beautify the organization..... the greatest investment of life is the investment in lives.

You cannot be neutral: you either building the people or depleting them. Treat people well, that you lead them does not mean you created them. They still have choices, learn to respect their choices but give them direction so they can make informed decisions.

Your leadership ability is a compass to the growth of your staff/team members. They have dreams and aspirations buried on the inside of them. Every team member seems to has a secret cry: “how well you lead me is what determines how well I will function in that area….”

As a leader, you are either killing their dreams or building their hopes.

To be an exemplary leader, you need these 3 qualities:
1. A good heart
2. A good mouth
3. A good eye.

A good heart: You must love your members. Joseph was the only son that Jacob loved so dearly, and scripture records that he was also the only one able to dream. Think about this! It isn't a coincidence! Love release dreams and hopes. Show me you love me and I will put in my best into life and your work. Love awakens the confidence to believe in yourself. If you can make your people believe in themselves, they will produce terrific results. 1st John 4:18: “perfect love cast out fear…” Love your people. Don’t let them see or think of you and hate being a leaders.

Be interested in their development. Hear the cry of all your team members: If you can make me feel good, I will make you proud! Proverbs 27:23: “know the state of your flocks and put your heart into caring for them…” Swallow your pride - but for them, you won’t be a leader! The mental and emotional state of the people you lead is what gives colour to your leadershipstatus. It is better to be a leader of warriors than a leader of slaves. The difference is in how you've trained them.

A good Mouth: Your words matter. Words are powerful. Proverbs 18:21: “death and life are in the power of the tongue….”
Never ever curse or abuse your people out of anger. Don’t be tempted to do it and believe an apology may be all that will make your people pacified. As the saying goes, prevention is better and cheaper than cure. Else, your team members who always misbehave and decide to apologize later. This won't be healthy for your organization.

There is a force in our words that can transform or deform a life. The world is looking for leaders who know how to talk, leaders who understand the power and magic of words. People should hear you talk and pray for your kind of spirit and ability.

When they do well, appreciate them. Do not be known as one who rebukes people only, but never appreciates. People are desperate for love. They are desperate to feel valued. They long to be appreciated. Nobody is your dustbin, mind what you say.

When you conceal your love, you starve them of what they need most. Just imagine that everybody in your organization has a slate on his neck that reads: “PLEASE, HELP ME FEEL IMPORTANT TODAY…”
They come from different places, they have faced rejection, they feel pains, they have talked down on – they should find comfort in your organization.

A good Eye: people change. That they can’t currently talk sophisticatedly or convincingly to clients, dress stylishly or they sound uncultured doesn’t mean they will be like that forever. Every man has a great future, God never created a useless being. See your people like the stars their created them to be. Work to polish them, be part of their success story. Respect them. Do everything to see them succeed, be a part of their testimonies, not regrets.

There is a hidden paradise in everybody. The potentials in them can only be seen by uncommon eyes.
They have been around many people who never saw it - look deep! Be prepared to do all you can to prepare them for their future. Ask them questions to know what they intend to be and do. You must be interested in them!

You must happen!

ARE YOU RE-BRANDED?

I don’t think anyone who has stayed in Nigeria or with Nigerians will disagree with this opinion: Nigerians are the easiest people to govern, any where in the world! They respond to leadership, they move in whatever direction their leaders bid. In clear and simple words: they take after whatever they see their leaders do, im most cases, they amplify it! While I am a Nigerian, I deliberately used the term ‘they’ instead of ‘we’. Why, you may ask? This is because I have time after time studied this country, the trend of things, the Nigerian people and how they all inter-relate. In all these, I deliberately looked away from my feelings and hid my personal frustrations. My conclusion? Our people are very easy to govern. I have been to a few countries outside Nigeria and have interacted with other nationals – Nigerians are outstanding!

We adapt to any condition. I mean any condition. We always find our way around the harshest of conditions. I have not heard of the effects of the current global recession in Nigeria like I have in other parts of the world I have been to. Just right now, the fuel condition is biting real hard. Whereas before now a litre of fuel sold for N65 per litre, right now it goes for as high as N250 per litre! Our people are still kicking strong; there’s been no riot, protest or anything unruly. When situation like this come up what do we do? We complain to those who are in position to do something, and when they don’t? We do nothing but stay alive! No doubt, we are configured to adapt!

While I believe the responsibility for the development of any nation must be a shared responsibility of the government and the citizenry, I also know that direction ideally comes from the top, and not the other way round. People only create directions for themselves when there is none provided by leadership or when the one provided by the ‘top’ is not ‘bottom-oriented’. The later is the situation our people are faced with.

That our people 'fear' leadership isn't something that should be celebrated or even exploited. Fact is, this so-called 'fear' for leadership has grown to become 'hatred'. I can’t but ask my brothers in leadership, why have alienated ourselves from the ideals of sincerity in leadership? Why do we distance ourselves from policies that we know will positively affect the average man on the street? Why do we exploit the vulnerabilities of people and yet seek to be seen as some national ‘heroes’? These questions I pose to our brothers and sisters who find themselves in various leadership positions. Irrespective of whether you are in the public or private sector, let's ponder on these!

By the way, the current buzz now is the ‘Project Rebrand Nigeria! I really don’t understand how on earth our leadership expects to successfully instill the concept of 'Rebranding' in the people it leads or how they expect to rebrand the image of this country with their current insensate approach to recent happenings in our nation.

It is no news that gas stations now witnesses the presence of long queues of cars daily, with helpless motorists fighting their way to get any quantity they can just to keep their cars moving; innocent citizens are being killed in Delta State (and the government is constantly in our face screaming: 'REBRAND, REBRAND, REBRAND….' without necessarily bothering how the current trend of things frustrates the idea of ‘rebranding’); our children have been sent home because secondary school teachers have gone on strike as a result of failure for government to heed to their plea for an upward review of their salaries; our university students have been sent home because the academic staff union of universities have gone home………. Our leadership seem to have so much on its hand at the moment like the killing of 'militants' in the oil rich Delta state. I don't think resorting to killing our brothers and sisters is the last option. It is not every youth in the Niger Delta that is a militant. They mustn’t all be treated as such. Government never seems to be as serious as it is when tackling issues concerning the development of the youths like it is when it comes to 'wiping' them out! Our military personals are supposed to be skilled in the art of fishing out criminals, but the current spate of killings in Warri leaves so much to worry about. The people are forced to see the present happenings in their area as a show of hatred for the entire people of the region! Meanwhile, this a community that has been badly raped, exploited and deprived.

Anyway, the easiest way the Nigerian people can buy into the 'Re-branding' project for the greater good of our nation is if and only if they see a re-branded leadership. We must stop deceiving ourselves. The people have noticed the double-facedness of their government, they know that trust seem not be a commodity their leadership cares about. For a most pleasant future for this country, it is important that we stop all the empty sloganeering and white-washing we have reduced the 'Rebranding Nigeria' campaign to! Our government must act RESPONSIBLE! No government exists for itself; it is always for the people!

More than ever, there’s a yearning for a government with feelings; a government with a human face. Our people want to see a government that values human lives, not a government that turns his face away whenever a Nigerian is killed in any part of the world.

If you must know, any act of hostility from leadership always snowballs. The irresponsibility we see today from the larger populace is a product of government’s various degree of insensitivity to their plights.

I believe if we really desire a better nation, we must stand face to face with the pressing need for an internally rebranded leadership. Let’s not just throw the whole 're-branding' concept in the face of the citizens, alone.

The whole world knows we are a great, a good nation…………but we’ve got irresponsible leadership! It is time we let our leaders know that they still have in them the capacity for positive change, they must pay heed to the all-important need to embrace this path of change for the greater good of the Nigerian nation!

EXPECT WHAT YOU PROJECT!

A great man once said we don't see the world as it is but we see the world as we are. Have you noticed that no matter how poor a village is, there is always at least one very rich person! Guess you may see in the city of the blind........ The point here is this, while every city boasts of some rich and comfortable individuals, there are also folks who live in abject poverty and squalor! Fact is, success has never been about a place, it is about the individual. My pastor would always say: "Any place can produce for a man..."

One important ingredient that success requires is a positive outlook to life. The holy book says a cheerful countenance works magic like medicine.

I tell you a simple story that sheds more lght on this.........

Long ago in a small, far away village, there was place known as the House of 1000 Mirrors. A small, happy little dog learned of this place and decided to visit. When he arrived, he bounced happily up the stairs to the doorway of the house. He looked through the doorway with his ears lifted high and his tail wagging as fast as it could. To his great surprise, he found himself staring at 1000 other happy little dogs with their tails wagging just as fast as his. He smiled a great smile, and was answered with 1000 great smiles just as warm and friendly. As he left the House, he thought to himself, "This is a wonderful place. I will come back and visit it often."

In this same village, another little dog, who was not quite as happy as the first one, decided to visit the house. He slowly climbed the stairs and hung his head low as he looked into the door. When he saw the 1000 unfriendly looking dogs staring back at him, he growled at them and was horrified to see 1000 little dogs growling back at him. As he left, he thought to himself, "That is a horrible place, and I will never go back there again."

Dear friend, all the faces in the world are mirrors. We would always attract the personalities we project. Be positive about life and you will attract positive people. If only you will change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change.

Keep happening!

SO YOU CALL YOURSELF AN ENTREPRENEUR?

Being an entrepreneur is serious business. It demands a lot of mental maturity. You cannot be cajoled into it; it is a conscious choice you make. As a matter of fact, entrepreneurship is a life in itself; it has a way of affecting every other area of your life. The question you may want to ask is: what are the key demands? There are three dominant ones: it requires intelligence, focus, and passion. This simply means the reason most businesses fail in the first year is because the entrepreneur either doesn't have these qualities, or he has been reduced to ground level by any one of the following mistakes... Listen to his lamentations...

I DON’T HAVE A BUSINESS PLAN:
The Holy book advices: “Write the vision... Make it plain, so that he that reads it can run...” It also says in another portion: “will any man embark on a journey without first counting the cost...?”

I WANT TO BUILD AN EMPIRE OVERNIGHT:
Real success wouldn’t come as a result of the quantity of deals you are able to secure, but by the excellent outcome of every deal that comes, they all add up. Good name is everything that matters in business; nothing substitutes for integrity and uprightness. I have great respect for entrepreneurs who are rich in contacts and are in good relationship with them. Folks, you don’t get contacts because of your skill proficiency, you get them by means of your integrity consciousness. A satisfied customer wouldn’t mind being a personal friend, no matter how well-off he or she is.

I AM WASTING RESOURCES

One other common mistake many young companies and entrepreneurs make is trying to appear bigger than they are by hiring too many [and unnecessary] employees, and getting a lavish office. A young entrepreneur who is yet to build his business’s foundation hires a personal assistance, a receptionist and a cleaner. One thing is clear: this fellow is just being insensitive and numb to the future of his business.

I AM RUNNING OUT OF CASH:
I have always said that failure is predictable. The Holy book says: “Seeth thou a man diligent in all his ways, he shall stand before great men?” I like to rephrase that portion for the benefit of all my patients in this business clinic: “Seeth thou a man without have a business plan, without good sales projections, without good budget for expense, he shall be a failure in business...”

I DON’T HAVE A CONCRETE MARKETING PLAN:
How did you ever think you will succeed without it! How are you going to reach your customers and target market? One thing I have learnt in business is that customers don’t look for you, you look for them, especially if you are just starting – you hunt for them!

I AM NOT CREATING A DISTINCT BRAND:

One of the greatest injuries you can inflict on your business is to effortlessly and passionately build a company that is exactly like somebody else’s. I dare ask you: “Who are you? Why should I buy from you and not from someone else? What makes you unique?” Friends, you must make sure you have a brand that reflects these traits, and you will be a winner. Your message must be in the heads of your customers.

I DON’T HAVE PASSION FOR THIS:
Passion is the fuel in your entrepreneurial car. A passionless man is a motionless man. Passion is everything! Host of TV series: The Apprentice, Donald Trump, one said: “If you are not passionate about what you are doing, do something else.”

I QUIT:
To begin with, I hate quitters! Nothing irritates me like a ‘quitter’. There is nothing great that comes cheap. You don’t stroll into success; you fight your way in. How dare you quit because of a few rejections and brick walls?