Insights for Leading

“ Life is difficult .” This is the opening line of M. Scott Peck’s classic ‘The Road Less Travelled’ that has sold over 15 million copies worldwide in over forty years. The author clarifies his pungent remark by saying, “ It is a great truth because once we truly see this truth, we transcend it ... once it is accepted, the fact that life is difficult no longer matters. ” One of the ways that we transcend the difficulty of life is through gratitude and this is one of the chiefest of human virtues because it can usher in other virtues to cut through life’s most difficult challenges. Yes, we need patience, we need faith, we need courage but we must begin with gratitude if we must unleash these. When we recognize that life is truly difficult, we begin to realize that to have survived all that we have been through is really a great feat. Little wonder, our life’s stories hold answers to the questions of many others. Unfortunately, we often get so carried away wi

Yesterday, I was at EVOLE 2019 where Nigeria’s foremost ‘Leadership Apostle,’ Dr. Sam Adeyemi, shared some amazing truths about leadership, especially as it relates to self-transformation and national development, using three striking illustrations. First, he illustrated leadership by a man standing in front of another. Then he goes on to note that if they both remain at the same spot for a long time, it would be wrong to say that the man at the front was leading the one at the back. The leadership of the man in front would only be validated if he had walked a distance forward, leading the man at the back to take some steps forward too. From that illustration, Dr Adeyemi established that the essence of leadership is the management of the change process. Next, he recalled a humorous story told by the renowned Ghanaian preacher, Dr Mensah Otabil. Years ago, while driving in Accra, Dr Otabil got stuck in a terrible traffic. Overwhelmed by the appalling situation, he decided to fol

Previously, I have mentioned that fear is disempowering and self-limiting; hence, we proceeded to examine our fears in order to deal with them one at a time as we prepare for accelerated progress in the second half of 2019. Here are some other fears that might be limiting you: MEGALOPHOBIA - fear of large things : If you are afraid of achieving great things, you just can’t conceive them not to talk of achieving them in reality. You will only think small, use small benchmarks, and limit your growth. MICROPHOBIA - fear of small things : There are hardly any big things that start big. Based on natural principles, things start small and then grow bigger through the investment of time, energy and other resources. If you fear small things, you might hardly start anything authentic and you might be too afraid to associate with the small things in your life that need to grow. PHILOPHOBIA - fear of love : Sounds funny, right? But truly speaking, there are many people who find

I recently read an Indian fable that goes thus: A mouse was constantly in fear of a cat. So, one day, a magician changed the mouse into a cat. But then the cat was afraid of a dog. So, the magician changed the cat into a dog. But the dog was afraid of a tiger. So, the magician changed the dog into a tiger. But then the tiger was afraid of a hunter. Finally, in exasperation, the magician said, "Be a mouse again, you have only the heart of a mouse and I cannot help you." Many people are like that mouse whose focus in always on its fears and threats but wouldn’t give a thought to the vast opportunities that lay before it. So, they never get comfortable in their own skin, can’t wait to switch jobs or business line, can’t wait to marry someone else, and can’t wait to become someone else. Too much focus on fear disempowers people, making them incapable of transforming themselves and their situations. The second part of the year 2019 is here and it is a good tim