Insights for Leading

Last week, I facilitated an online conference with a focus on strategic personal development for global relevance as we plan and prepare for the year 2020. I shared with the audience on the topic “BECOMING A BETTER YOU.” As always, it was a phenomenal experience and the feedback so far has been nothing short of awesome. I want to share a thought from that discussion with you. Growth is the foundation of all forms of prosperity . Success is not to be pursued but attracted. In the real equation of success, who you become determines what you have, not vice-versa. Whatever you want, grow capacity for it because growth attracts all forms of wealth. It is popularly known that what makes you relevant to society is the problem that you solve . At your present level, you can only solve some problems. A better you will solve bigger problems. And when you solve bigger problems, you will be invited to bigger platforms. That is why wise king Solomon remarked, “A man's gift makes r

You don’t need to be a theologian to know the story of Samson and Delilah. It is too popular to be ignored. At one point or the other, whether in a children Bible Class or training on leadership and power management, you will encounter that story which was a defining moment of the life of the strongest man that the world ever saw. A great leader he was who began the deliverance of Israel from Philistine oppression, but Samson’s life was ruined by lust as it blinded him to the purpose that he was supposed to fulfil and weakened his will in that direction. Nevertheless, it was careless speech that ultimately gave him away to his enemies – as it initially did with the first woman he wanted to marry. The point here is not to debate whether intending couples in pre-marital counselling should be advised to be 100 percent open to each other or not as they go into marriage – the inglorious fall of Adam and Eve from grace balances that question. However, we know that people are no

As children, our parents told us not to fight with anyone but when we came back crying that one of our peers beat us, they lashed us further. Many people did not thresh out the message in that experience on time, perhaps, because it was a hard one. Basically, there are two significant lessons: first, being righteous and gentle is not tantamount to foolishness and powerlessness; we are to use power offensively to achieve our aims without hurting others, but where others attempt to use their power against us, we are to act defensively to protect ourselves. In fact, we are to be “ wise as serpents and harmless as doves. ” The second lesson is rather a basic interpretation of the first than being independent of it: we are to take responsibility for our lives and never surrender our lives to the control of others. Accepting responsibility is the second important and indeed powerful way to apply discipline in order to prevent and solve our problems. (You can find the first one

I don’t know about you, but anytime I hear that Nigerian delegates won few or no medals at an Olympic event, I just recall Atlanta ’96 and find solace in it. That year, Nigeria stunned the world by defeating Brazil and Argentina at the semi-final and final respectively to win the gold medal in football, making history as the first black nation to do so. It is even more interesting to know that we won the Olympic gold medal before Brazil – where the ‘gods’ of football come from. (Brazil won it for the first time in 2016). While growing up, I observed that many Nigerians thought that the final was played against Brazil instead of Argentina. The reason is that the victory against Brazil in the semi-final was much more remarkable. Brazil had defeated Nigeria 1-0 in the group stage. Again, in the semi-final match, Brazil led from the very first minute of the game. And in the very final minute, Nigeria’s then hero, Kanu Nwankwo, slotted in an equalizer. The match then moved into