Insights for Leading

You have probably heard of the awe-inspiring story of the Bata company. At the close of the nineteenth century, when Africa was just opening as a market, all the manufacturers of shoes in Victorian England sent their representatives to conduct market research to see the possibility of selling their wares here in Africa. The awful realization that Africans didn’t wear shoes led to the poor conclusion that there was no market for shoe products in Africa. But one salesman stood out. “Nobody in Africa wears shoes. So, there is a huge market for our products there.” Boom! That out-of-the-box reasoning did the magic and today, Bata shoes have come to be known as the shoes of Africa and have reached some of the remotest parts of Africa. Bata boasts of its presence in over 5,300 shops in more than 70 countries and production facilities in 18 countries. Bata’s story reveals that creativity and innovation are functions of vision and perspective: how you see determines what you se

Some years ago, I saw a picture post on WhatsApp about a question in a Math test: Bob has 36 candy bars. He eats 29. What does he have now? “Diabetes,” answered the pupil, “Bob has diabetes.” Whereas the number of candy bars consumed is not as important as the dangerous effect that might result, if it is true, the child is likely to fail that question based on his or her teacher’s marking scheme. Now, that’s the danger of the proverbial box – it has been damaging human thinking and crippling potentials since Adam and Eve ate the apple. This phenomenon is very common in Africa where superstitions and taboos are imposed on our minds right from childhood and we are harshly rebuked for querying them when we attempt to engage our elders in a harmless discussion. So, we grow up learning not to query anything and rather live like robots relying on existing instructions. This is one of the foremost reasons why most African states are underdeveloped. The childhood conflict w

Earlier this year, I was completely blown off as I read M. Scott Peck’s classic The Road Less Traveled. Soon I found and devoured another of his masterpiece, The Road Less Traveled and Beyond, which gave me another wow! experience that I am yet to recover from. I have recommended both books to readers who follow our posts and I still recommend them to you reading this article today! In the second book I mentioned, Dr Peck identified and discussed one important problem which ripple effect has crippled our society in many ways – simplistic thinking and the failure to think at all. First, we must realize that, as Albert Einstein puts it, “ The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking .” However, we must also note Thomas Edison’s observation: “ Five percent of the people think; ten percent of the people think they think, and the other eighty-five percent would rather die than think .”

Growing up, we were humorously told that Africans, especially in Nigeria, answer questions with questions. For example, if you asked, “ Are you mad? ” You are likely to get the response, “ Who told you? ” Funny right? Well, if you agree with that, then you might think that God took the position of an African when He answered Moses’ question on public approval with a question: “ What is that in your hand? ” “ A rod ,” Moses said, perhaps reluctantly. Moses’ disposition revealed what he thought about the rod in his hand – it was a mere rod, an insignificant object. It was hewn out of a tree and had become dry. In fact, it had lost its vitality and could no longer serve as a branch to produce fruits. It wasn’t beautiful to behold and there was nothing new to notice about it. It was simply redundant and unproductive. At best, it was suitable for leading sheep, but not for leading men. However, God saw differently. And in some acts of grace, God showed Moses how that the rod which

Among the numerous figures that have shaped the history of mankind and the civilization of the modern world, one man I greatly admire is Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, the famous Prime Minister of Britain, who led the victory over Adolf Hitler in World War II. Churchill was a man of passion, courage and responsibility. He saw himself as one without whom history would never be complete. More than anyone else, he understood and epitomized Robert Schuller’s popular maxim , “ If it’s gonna be, it’s up to me! ” Churchill once remarked, “ History will be kind to me for I intend to write it .” And yes! he was an architect of history. In 1940, as the battle of Britain loomed, Churchill charged his people thus: “ Let us, therefore, brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour .” I must admit that I have not recovered from that statement myself