7 burning questions on leadership taken by Tony Elumelu

Tony Elumelu needs no introduction.  His wealth of experience in the corporate industry makes him a well defined expert to aptly define and enunciate all the facets of leadership.

Enjoy the read as he takes us into his world of knowledge and expertise:

1 What is true leadership? Leadership is about how we lead people to deliver results. Leadership is about bringing consistency between the internal and the external. Leadership is about instilling confidence in your people, because as a leader, you hardly ever operate on your own. Great leaders deliver through people.

 2)The Relationship between Leadership and Purpose: Leadership is more successful when it is purpose-driven, when it is accompanied by vision. Leadership is impactful when there is a high sense of urgency.
We need purposeful leaders in Africa to lead us, we need African countries to become much more successful than we are today.This requires visionary leadership.
To raise the standard of living of our people in Africa, we need accountable and purposeful leadership! Also Read: Leadership is the Demarcation Between Success & Failure By Tony Elumelu

 3) Leadership and Legacy: Leadership is not by accident, leaders are made and those who think legacy, those who are concerned about how history will judge them, most times turn out to be outstanding leaders. In Africa, both private and public sectors, we need such leaders. As a continent, we are endowed with so much, the truth is that we should not be where we are.

4) What has been the secret of my own success? I would say that people make all the difference. In my opinion, strategy is less than 10% of what leads to success. What leads to success is execution, and execution does not occur if you do not have the right people. But even if you have the right people and you are not able to mobilise them, you will not get the best out of them. I would also say amongst many other things, the most critical success factor is the people equation – getting the right people, incentivising them, creating a feeling of friendship, making people stand up to go to work for a generational purpose, and making them feel valued and important. At times, what people want is not so much; they just want recognition, respect and a leader who points them in the right direction. To inspire confidence in your people, you must create, as much as possible, a merit driven organisation and environment. What I always say to leaders seeking advice is: focus on the people equation, they make the most difference. There are a lot of other factors, but this is most important.


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