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Opinion: The Trials of Leadership
By Tolulope A. Adegoke
“Value your fellow man greatly. They are the major ‘tools’ and strong forces that can stand by your side anytime any day to relieve you of the stress and denounce the foxes, as they will be the ones to continue your leadership processes and proceed in the future for the benefits of all as a result of your tremendous impact on them today. The assignment of leaders is not to raise mere followers, but leaders beyond the eye-sights, through a consistent, effective, and reflective lifestyle of living ‘what’ you preach; also, never forget to help them with Emotional Intelligence (EI), which is the key factor for leadership inputs and outputs, so that they understand and appreciate the essence of their trials and the certainty of their triumphs as they follow suit without fail.” – Tolulope A. Adegoke
Character is developed by ‘trials’. Testing is the development of ETHICS. Character is built or developed through pressure, temptation (trials), and resolve. The credibility of leadership is character. The force of leadership is character. The trust of leadership is character. The legitimacy of leadership is character. The integrity of leadership is character. The reason why people still celebrate Nelson Mandela and Koffi Annan, among others, is because they were tested and trusted. The reason why Nelson Mandela had so much credibility all over the world is because, while he was alive, he went through a test of years in prison. Because of a conviction he had, he was just like a ‘statue’ with this notion:
I can not bend; I am going to jail just like this;
I believe in what I see. I believe in a dream.
I believe in my convictions, because they are right,
I will not compromise; I will not change!
Nelson Mandela stayed faithful. He went through the tests and trials, and people trusted him. In prison, he was the same. He was severely tortured. He was the same. When he had to cut rocks with a chisel, he was the same. When he came out of prison, he was still the same, and was eventually made the President of South Africa just because he was the same. People could trust him.
Even the late Dr. Myles Monroe once said: ‘People often look at me as if I was born the way I look, but I have been through a lot of things; pressures, scars on my back, tribulations, criticism, attacks, but I decided to believe what I believe! I stayed steady! The world reads my books. I have been invited to over a hundred and fifty-two nations across the world and they wonder: ‘Who is this young man? But I have developed my character through tough times.’
Anybody could begin something. A few people finish it! How many things have you begun? How many things have you started managing? How many have you finished? Where is your character? Are you steady under pressure? Can you be faithful while being disappointed? Can you still believe it when no one is with you? When you have character, you are ready to go alone! Everybody is evil, but not me! Everybody is corrupt, but not me! Everybody is failing, but not me!
You have to work by yourself to develop your character! Your innate gifts are at the mercy of your character! Your character is more important than your gifts, because without character, you can lose your gifts. That is why God gave man CHARACTER (His IMAGE) before He gave him DOMINION (Control):
Genesis 1:27-28 (KJV)
27So God created man in his own image. In the image of God created him; male and female created him.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Most people lose their provisions because they have lost their character. That is why it is important for you to protect yourself with your character (IMAGE), and that is why character (IMAGE) is God’s utmost priority!
Character is necessary for DOMINION (Control); it guarantees tamed-freedom. Most people lose their provisions because they have lost their character. That is why it is important for you to protect yourself with your character (IMAGE), and that is why character (IMAGE) is God’s utmost priority! Character is necessary for DOMINION (Control); it guarantees tamed-freedom.
Character breeds decent followers; it builds them into enviable leaders that can ‘MANAGE’ the natural resources as given to them by God, and then, put them into appropriate and decent use for the good of all mankind. Leadership is simply service to humanity. It is not selfishness, not greed, not abusive… Only character determines and promotes service. Service is followership, help; it is the authentic exhibition of our innate being. Character builds a nation; it builds kingdoms, empires, families, and the world at large. Character tames freedom so as not to abuse absolute power; it promotes sustainable peace and global development that guarantees the handing over of a better world to the next generation. It is a baton that must be passed on and on forever.
Life is a mysterious gift given to man by God Almighty, embedded with so many hidden treasures… its usage is up to man, but only the deeds of men pollute it! Character, therefore, should not be mistaken for REPUTATION. Reputation has become much more important in the world today than character, and that is a tragedy because positions or status have become more important than disposition. As a matter of fact, we need leaders with character, not leaders with personality! Some people have a well-packaged personality but lack character, yet they are the most celebrated in our world today.
Many people are well branded as dignified figures vying for leadership positions. Unfortunately, ignorant people rush up to them, vote them in, then the economy and political structure of their countries crash! Instead of voting for the man with CHARACTER (i.e the right image), which compliments leadership to the position of reliable leadership.
Nigeria and other developing nations must first confront their domestic problems by consolidating their democracy. Democracy is not just the question of holding periodic elections. As important as this is, it means developing a democratic culture underpinned by the rule of law. We must build an egalitarian society with careers open to all talents. It should be possible for any (Nigerian) talent to rise to any position that these talents entitle him or her to. We must face the question of the economy squarely. Sixty (60) years after independence, we still operate a dependent economy based on the export of raw materials and industries of import substitution.
We must reverse the process by building industries, particularly agro-based industries, in which we have a comparative advantage. Nigeria (my country) can support huge textile and garment industries based on local production of cotton. This is also an industry which the current regime of the World Trade Organization favours developing countries. The so-called Tiger economies of South East Asia, China and India, virtually dominate the textile and garment industries of the world. We ought to be able to compete with Israel and the United States in providing the world with properly packaged tropical fruits. We should cut our taste for unnecessary luxury goods and use what we can produce. We need to open our market to investments from the outside world. One hopes present policies in this regard will be determinedly pursued.
The economy is a major factor in earning respect in the international system, and we must do everything to develop our economy. There is no strategy for economic development better than those that have been tried and that have worked in the Western liberal democracies. Any attempt to graft economic development onto an authoritarian regime will fail. Character is a key factor! We need to take a look at the examples of Botswana (a few years ago) and Rwanda, where honest and liberal government and proper management of national resources and patrimony have led to development. Character sees people as their greatest ASSETS and not properties.
Therefore, it is wise to value your fellow man greatly. They are the major ‘tools’ and strong forces that can stand by your side anytime any day to relieve you of the stress and denounce the foxes, as they will be the ones to continue your leadership processes and proceed in the future for the benefit of all as a result of your tremendous impact on them today. The assignment of leaders is not to raise mere followers, but leaders beyond the eye-sights, through a consistent, effective, and reflective lifestyle of living ‘what’ you preach; also, never forget to help them with Emotional Intelligence (EI), which is the key factor for leadership inputs and outputs, so that they understand and appreciate the essence of their trials and the certainty of their triumphs as they follow suit without fail.
Thank you all for reading.
Watch out for the book titled: “The Power of an Empowered Zero” (Awakening The Giant Within You!) by Tolulope A. Adegoke. Foreword by Dr Yomi Garnett (CEO/Chancellor, Royal Biographical Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., U.K., Abuja, Nigeria.) Edited by Ola Aboderin.
By Henry Ukazu
Dear Destiny Friends,
The importance of timing cannot be overemphasized. Timing is everything in life. It is critical to one’s success. You can lose your money and get it back in many folds. You can even lose your health and get it back all things being equal, but when you lose time, you can hardly get it back again.
The importance of timing can be seen in crops. Every crop has a season, a good farmer won’t plant maize when it’s time for oranges, nor will he plant pears when it’s the season for mangoes.
Time is very instrumental to the success and failure of anyone. Imagine having a meeting or interview at 9:00am and you arrive at 10:10am, it will take the grace of God to be interviewed. As an employee, apart from one not being able to diligently do his job, one of the fastest ways for an employee to lose his job is by being late to work.
When I was in New York Law School studying Taxation law, I did a course titled, the Problem of Timing. During the semester, I learnt about cash and accrued income. Let me do some academic exercise here. In cash income, just like the name entails, one is paid in cash as soon as the work is completed. It’s just like going to the market to make a purchase. One can either pay directly with cash or with debit or credit card. But Accrued income refers to revenue a company has earned by providing goods or services, but for which payment has not yet been received, one will have to do the work first before getting paid. This is applicable when one works in either a public or private organization where one is paid either weekly, bi-weekly or at the end of the month depending on the stipulated mode of payment.
It’s important to note that before the money is paid either in cash or accrued, one would have earned it. It’s just like one learning g before earning, and one will have to update to upgrade. These are just the practical principles that will work with life.
In the same way, in life there’s a seed time and harvest time. It’s a universal principle of life. Whether as a parent, entrepreneur, student or employee. As a parent, if you don’t train your kids very well, they will grow up to reflect the opposite of what you desire. As an entrepreneur when you invest in your business, you will get the reward in due time. As a student, if you take your studies seriously, your grades will improve, and as an employee, you stand to get promotions and opportunities when you add value to your work. In summary, one will have to put in the work before recognition comes on.
To understand how seedtime and harvest work, imagine where parents tend to like one child more than others just because they see potential in him, or he’s smart, hardworking or even creative. They fail to understand that every child is different and as such their timing can be different. Some kinds take time to develop.
I personally believe there’s something so unique about each individual which God has deposited in everyone of us. It’s just a matter of time for it to manifest. Your timing of manifestation is different from your siblings and colleagues.
Personally, I didn’t mature fast with my contemporaries. Overtime, I have seen much improvement in my personal and professional life. Maybe because I have added value to my work with the assistance of mentors and good friends, or God had to humble my colleagues and mentors . Why do I say this? During my formative years, I had little or nothing to show for it. I was looking at my contemporaries as mentor and seeing my mentors as small gods whose feat is unattainable, but now, the reverse seems to be case as I have developed capacity some of my colleagues are yet to attain, while I have even surpassed the achievement of my some of my mentors in some quarters.
In all these, they are all surprised how it happened. Some are yet to comprehend or articulate the feat. It’s just like watching a film where everyone slept and woke up to see the game and tides have changed. The secret behind it is the seed time and harvest time. I was probably learning the trade while in the wilderness, and when the training season matured and ripe enough to be harvested, I became attractive to almost everyone who loved the seed I was producing.
There are litany of examples of people, who have been in the wilderness during the seed planting season. Let’s take a case study of Joseph in the Bible, his journey to stardom took a little twist. Despite the travails he experienced in the hands of his siblings who sold him, his experience while in the jail, and with Portiphar’s wife, who tried to seduce him; they were all set ups for success. The moral here is Joseph seed time and harvest time was quite different, it wasn’t a smooth journey. Ordinarily, one would have cursed his siblings or his friends who were with him in prison and forgot him after they were released. But at the end of time, everything worked out for his favor. Joseph’s seed days were his dark days while in the wilderness.
Another inspiring story of note was that of Pastor Ibukun Awosika, the former board Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria. She once shared a pathetic story during her formative years of being in business. According to her, she sojourned for about 15 years. She cried because lines were not adding up for her and she wouldn’t do what her contemporaries were doing to get opportunities. At a point in her business, it appeared like she was in a race of own life because everything seemed to be against her, but at the appropriate time, lines began to fall in place for her. Appointments, business opportunities, favours and goodwill began to fall in place for her. Again, she had a fair share of seed time.
An interesting question I would like to ask you is, what’s your seed time? Have you ever been in the wilderness when you appeared to be fixed? It’s unfortunate many people are not willing to pass through the storms or experience seeds and harvest time. Amidst all these, one must do some work before they get opportunities. However, before such opportunities will come up, one will have to plant the seed.
In conclusion, seed time and harvest time is critical in the journey of life. Take a seat and determine what seed you would like to sow and what you’ll like to harvest.
Henry Ukazu writes from New York. He works with the New York City Department of Correction as the Legal Coordinator. He’s the founder of Gloemi. He’s a Transformative Human Capacity and Mindset coach. He is also a public speaker, youth advocate, creative writer and author of Design Your Destiny Design Your and Unleash Your Destiny . He can be reached via info@gloemi.com
By Eric Elezuo
The Senate has suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghen for six months over her sexual harassment accusation and other disputes against the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio.
The Senate also withdrew her salaries for the period of the suspension, as well as her security details.
The chamber however, soft-pedaled on the salaries and allowances of her aides, who it was argued would not have any source of livelihood within the period.
Globacom is welcoming new customers on its network with the introduction of the e-SIM. The e-SIM activated in any Gloworld shop or Dealer outlet comes with an introductory free 5GB data when the customer buys a data plan of N1,500 or more.
Customers already on other networks can now join the Glo network with e-SIM as an additional SIM. Existing Glo customers can also enjoy this “SIM-less” freedom.
With the e-SIM, customers no longer have to worry about space for a physical SIM on their phones. The e-SIM is a software-based digital chip built directly into smartphones or wearable devices, thus eliminating the need for a physical SIM card for customers.
The use of e-SIM enables customers to have seamless switching between phone numbers without a physical SIM. It is ideal for upwardly mobile people who travel frequently. The e-SIM also guarantees security, as unlike physical SIM, it is harder to remove from devices. It is also eco-friendly and reduces plastic waste.
Globacom’s launch of the e-SIM enables enables it to cater to high-net-worth individuals and enterprise customers, and it also reinforces the company’s commitment to providing seamless and future-ready services to its customers.
A customer seeking to activate the Glo e-SIM needs to check the compatibility of the mobile handset by dialling *#06# on his or her phone. If an EID number reflects on the mobile screen, the device is e-SIM compatible.
“The customer can then proceed to the nearest Gloworld shop or Glo Dealer outlet to migrate to e-SIM. The process takes only a few minutes and the customer can thereafter begin to enjoy the use of an e-SIM”, the Marketing Department disclosed.
