Visionary Leadership

Bad Leadership is the bane of our country's drive to becoming the true giant of Africa, visionary leaders are the missing link between going from a country full of potentials to a country living it's full potentials. Leader, great  leader are born and also made. How have we fair as a country in producing great visionary leaders that has moved our country forward. I know a lot of people would be like come on! we have some leaders in the country,  maybe yes,  but visionary Leaders, still searching .

According to the Oxford Dictionary Leadership is defined as the ability to guide or conduct, as by accompanying, going before, showing, influencing, directing with authority, etc.; to have precedence or preeminence; to be first or chief. I think most leaders in Nigeria fall in the later instead of the  former Part of that definition. In Nigeria Leadership is  seen as being first or the chief person or getting in to a place of power and authority , but I always ask first for what? chiefly for what? and power for what? Don't get me wrong am not saying Leadership is not about being first or being chiefly or getting power but how have that translated to giving happiness to the greatest number of people that you lead.

Visionary Leaders are hard to come by, looking at the political development of Nigeria from the First Republic even to now am yet to find one. Leadership is not always about being in the front or coming first, It's about first having a vision, having the passion to bring to fruition that vision conceived, making people take ownership of that vision;we must add here democratically taking ownership and driving that vision to reality. Visionary Leaders are selfless, compassionate and ready to sacrifice for the betterment of their followers. We have Great visionary leaders like Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr, Mohandas Gandhi; they all left great legacies that today  we all celebrate and remember them for,  but the question is when would a Nigerian enter the league of these  personalities.  Like Nelson Mandela said "Lead from the back and let others believe they are in front" this is very difficult when of Our leaders are all living a comfortable if not luxurious lifestyle style when the people they lead die from extreme poverty and hunger daily. Most of them,  their  take home pay are far more astronomical than the minimum wage. A visionary leader suffers the pain encountered by their followers and not exploite and impoverish them, leaving them better than they met them.

There is so much greed in the land and a dearth of a purposeful value system, if we must create a viable, prosperous and value driven Nation then we must start producing visionaries than strong leaders that most times rationalizes the general interest for their own self-centered private interest.

Finally there are 3 major traits about Great visionary leaders and these are:

They are Teachers and Learners : Visionary leaders must be able to teach, teach and, then, teach some more and are open to learning too even from their least follower. If a visionary Leader is spending more time doing than teaching, then their vision becomes myopic. Their followers cannot learn and understand the processes to help make that vision a reality. But in Nigeria they are the Lord of the Manor.

They have passion: Visionary leaders who display passion are able to energize their team and create a culture of community. Passion becomes infectious. If the team displays that same passion, it fuels a love for the work they do and that is being done to achieve the vision. Passion is the fuel that ignites employee engagement. But in Nigeria the only passion they have is that which will fill their pockets with money.

They operate with integrity: Visionary leaders must do the right things, while also doing things right. They need to be trustworthy and realistic of what needs to be accomplished and how. Simply put, a visionary leader needs to tell it as it is and be aware of his or her actions and “walk the walk.” But in Nigeria corruption is the order of the day.

It is very important for  all Nigerian Youths to start Developing themselves to be visionaries to change the status quo and take Nigeria to greater Heights because as Woodrow Wilson said "You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and to impoverish yourself if you forget the errand."