Pride Leads A Leader Before.......

By A. Abeku Haywood-Dadzie

Why are leaders praised and blamed when the success or failure of a team is in the discussion? Why do we often point accusing fingers at leaders when it’s the "collective responsibility" of all to strive hard to attain a team’s goal? Over the years, I have "debated" myself as to who should be held accountable or praised for the failure or success of a team’s output, especially when teams and leaders perform in the context of a system and reflect that system. I have wondered why we blame leadership when, naturally, teams get the leaders they deserve and vice-versa. This debate that has been waging in my mind, abated not long ago with the words of John Maxwell "everything rises and falls on leadership".?

Ironically, another debate that was running parallel to the earlier debate was whether leaders are born or made. However, this particular debate will not abate soon. History has it that it’s the oldest debate in psychology, and proponents of the "nature-nurture" debate have advocated cogent reasons with empirical evidence to corroborate their theories as to why they are both right. The outcome of these debates has rendered it impossible for people like me to determine whether our leadership traits are predisposed in our deoxyribonucleic acid [DNA] or influenced by our experiences with our environment.

Be it as it may, leadership is essential to a functioning society, so be it nature or nurture, or the combination of the two, as expounded by Geert Hofstede and Gert Jan Hofstede in their theory of "three levels of uniqueness in mental programming." The role of leadership is supreme in every social construct. As a result, it is not surprising that the adage "the fish rots or stinks from the head" applies to all human society; that is, leadership is the root cause of a society's failure and demise.When it comes to leadership, it’s all about the principles of cause and effect. Leadership is the cause, and everything else is an effect. "Nothing happens for nothing; everything happens because of something." Leadership is what brings one society down to its knees and pulls another up on its feet. Observe any group of people excelling, and you will find a leader behind it, and vice-versa.

Again, leadership is power! It is imperative to note that leaders everywhere accrue power in their capacity as owners of a resource or as agents acting on behalf of owners of the resource. Leaders determine who gets what resources, at what time and quantity; they decide who gets a job, a raise, or a sack; they wield the muscle to appoint all, including square pegs to round holes; and they have the power to create businesses, stifle others, and destroy others at will.In extreme cases, decisions made by some leaders can change the course of a team or a group of people; the course of history and hence the way we live our lives.?

Additionally, with their proverbial prerogative of mercy, they commute sentences, change the mode of execution, or even pardon offenders of rules in any field of endeavour at will. This is the power leaders wield. Unfortunately, power corrupts and can be very intoxicating. So the question is, how did the words of John Maxwell, "everything rises and falls on leadership" come alive?

Once upon a time in a galaxy far away, a powerful nation in the galaxy elected a "me-centric" leader who was a staunch believer in the "unholy trinity"; "me, myself, and I." As a leader of the first world with a third world leader's character trait, he was never disappointed in living the values of this trait. This elected leader of the powerful galaxy nation rolled out and exhibited the "me-centric" leadership approach and philosophy to the letter. He was "full of himself" and exhibited behaviours synonymous with a petulant child who is aggravated and disappointed with the least resistance. He was ill-tempered, contemptuous, and?threw tantrums when things didn’t go his way. "Being a typical "me-centric leader," it was all about him, always sneering and highly critical of others, using demeaning and condescending tones, expressing contempt and disgust for the incompetence and inadequacy of others."?

As expected, a leader's pride leads the leader and the people to a fall, so as expected, this leader's pride led that powerful nation to a fall. He succumbed to short-term pressures and blamed his predecessor anytime his nation was faced with adversity, failing to appreciate that adversity is the crossroad that makes a leader choose one of two paths, character or compromise. Every time the leader chooses a character, the leader becomes stronger, even if that choice brings negative consequences and makes the leader unpopular. Every time the leader chooses a compromise, the leader becomes less assertive and, though the leader's choice may be popular with followers in the short term, in the long-term the leader’s name will be blotted out of the leadership hall of fame. "

At the end of his team, as his grip on power was slipping out of his hand, the powerful nation in that galaxy has taken a knee and the words of John Maxwell "everything rises and falls on leadership has come alive.

?The proverb in my society; the fish?starts to?rot from the head, is truly a trustworthy saying, and worthy?of all acceptation