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By Dr Akin Ogunbiyi
An enduring trait that has coloured my life and career is the zeal to add value to others and also most times, painstakingly take steps of value on their behalf.
I have realized that by taking steps of value for others, you are inadvertently taking several thousands of steps for yourself. Beneficial steps of value deliver immense advantages to the recipient, the doer and the society at large.
By the grace of God, I founded Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, now a conglomerate (spanning Nigeria and the West African sub-region), at the age of 31 (thirty-one). Today, in its retail activities alone, it has taken over 5,000 (five thousand) graduates from the streets in Nigeria alone. These 5,000 have in turn, employed several thousands of fellow Nigerians.
Being a leader is not only about you. You deliver results and manage outputs through others. An organisation is a reflection of the leadership. The leader creates the environment for success through his own behaviour or habits. Purpose is self-fulfilling. No wonder Nelson Mandela said: “I could not change others until I changed myself.”
I am always very audacious in my goal, purpose and vision. This is why I believe in hard work and I am never discouraged. I believe that problems are opportunities in disguise. Problems are potentials in a latent form and opportunities to do better.
People must believe that they are assets and not liabilities. You must defeat negative thoughts. Learn to take steps to turn opportunities into exceptional and incredible results. Dedicated practice indeed births perfection.
What is foundational to success is acquiring beneficial knowledge and great insights. Be a fountain of knowledge and do not relent in your determination to tap fully and exploit the power of ideas. Develop a winner’s attitude: focus, productivity, quality and excellence.
I believe in the principle or strategy of simplicity or doing one thing at a time. It is indeed a pathway to excellence because you can invest resources more deeply and this will definitely culminate in excellence. Simplicity as a strategy, reduces the scope and size of the problems you solve.
A leader is a coach and must therefore have empathy and kindness. This is a notable way of achieving results because employees or associates will be genuinely cooperative and also voluntarily give useful feedbacks.
The coach touches and engages not just the hands and legs but also the hearts. He is an honest and accountable “steward” of the employees and therefore leads them to become the best versions of themselves. He leads with influence and not popularity. Outcomes are not only the organization’s benefits but also, employees’ benefits. His communication strategy is also embedded in clarity and honesty. The leader leads and engages the team to deliver remarkable results.
My style of organisation’s design or organisation construct is “the people business” or “people operation”. My determination is always “to go for what we can do best” with the employees fully engaged.
Leaders are responsible for people who are responsible for the job or business. My model of organizational culture is the one that values employees. Associates are recognised not only for skills but also for their attitude. They are fully and positively engaged in every area and everything we do. No wonder feedbacks are received regularly and consistently. Employees are indeed ambassadors of the organisation and are therefore truly supportive of the organisation.
I believe in leading people creatively and have therefore fully adopted the see-feel-change dynamic of getting buy-ins by motivating internal customers. They are dependable and value-adding associates. My model is the people model not just emphasis on data, analytics, process maps, decision trees and financial models.
When our people are happy, energetic, fired-up by great ideas; when they clearly and fully understand their worth and purpose, we succeed in bridging the gap between where we are and where we want to be. They must exemplify trust and ownership.
Human Resources arm is a critical component of the people model. Employees are the customers of this department and the HR manager must strive always, all things being equal, to get a yes for them.
Craig Groeschel in his book “Leaders that have it” pointed out that in managing employees, kindness must not be a push back. Empathetic leaders can achieve higher job satisfaction by encouraging fruitful report and feedbacks.
We should be kind and get all the good results. If you are uncaring and unkind, you can get some results but not for long. When you listen to them, you agree clear direction, clear expectations and get useful feedbacks.
Direct communication has also played a useful role in my leadership style. As a matter of fact, employees have direct access to me through my WhatsApp messenger. They can reach me through this medium and get immediate response.
Leaders must close the gap between clarity and confusion through direct communication. This style of communication is effective, credible, and leaves little to chance.
On welfare and rewards, I believe strongly in showing appreciation, carefully correcting mistakes and caring for the physical as well as emotional health of employees. No amount is too big to be spent on employees’ health. Most times, we even extend the welfare package to their families in order to ensure emotional stability of employees.
I am irrevocably committed to offering and delivering things of value always. I therefore constantly lead towards building and achieving momentum in standard metrics as well as accomplishments. I always strive through incentivisation to boost team morale in order to ensure steady growth, high performance and trust.
The Leader, at all times, must be inspiring in order to achieve the positive presence of employees. You must infuse energy to, in a value-adding manner, pull the people along.
Mirror and window model is what I will prescribe for leaders. The Leader must give lots of sacrifices to get the environment right and engender trust, cooperation and collaboration. You must build and empower people to do extraordinary things.
The necessary emphasis must be applied on dedication, loyalty and trust. We must constantly build and improve on the processes and behaviours. Group innovation must drive performance. Interlocking faculty must be our goal so that there is always, group alignment and harmony.
Emotions must be put aside and discipline as well as ethical behaviour enhanced. One neglect leads to another and before you know it, that neglect holds you by the throat. Every let-down affects performance. An individual’s lack affects the rest. Observe strategic self-esteem and encourage employees not to be lacking in effectively putting in and doing their best. Do not diminish your self-worth. Always go for a better win and work hard at it.
Lead the way with your brand. Let others want to be like you. Let others want to compete with you. Empower and trust your people to such an extent, that they always desire to come to work every day.
Amazing and incredible people like their jobs. Do not waste your valuable time. Time competes against success. Imbibe this popular saying by Nelson Mandela: “Everything is impossible until somebody does it”.
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