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Kenya: Oh Boy, Where Can I Find Those Astute Leaders?
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Business Daily (Nairobi)
OPINION
14 May 2008
Posted to the web 14 May 2008
Richard Gitonga
The concept of leadership is the rave these days primarily because it is closely associated with the success of families, businesses, corporates and countries alike.
Kenyans are therefore deeply interest whenever top CEOs are splashed across the papers for public scrutiny.
It is also of interest to Kenyans when announcements are made of newly appointed cabinet ministers who have been tasked with the responsibility of taking this great country to the next level.
Although we like calling such appointees "leaders", it is interesting to note that a significant number do not necessarily have the requisite skills to deliver.
It is a well know fact that their main skill, which is quite apparently collective in nature, is their expertise in the art of self preservation.
For the majority, the primary focus is the gratification of their needs and desires first, and the fulfilment of their constituents and employees needs second.
When we look at our country within the global context, it is quite apparent that we are not in a position to sit on our hands.
This is because we are far behind in terms of development and wealth creation. We therefore have to work harder as a country just to keep with the global pace.
We can only look with admiration at our neighbour Rwanda where President Paul Kagame decreed that everyone should work for an extra hour everyday for the country to regain the ground lost during the genocide.
Essentially, the work day in Rwanda starts at 7 am and ends at 5 pm.
This leader definitely has his act together.
The interesting thing about our political and business leaders is that most of them do not seem to know which leadership styles to adopt with changing circumstances.
For instance, some seem to embrace the concept of facilitative leadership which entails introducing a sense of autonomy and independence among constituents and employees.
This is aimed at engagement and motivation as a platform for delivering laid down strategic and tactical agendas.
On the other hand, others prefer to use a more directive form of leadership which is characterised by greater control, defining what needs to be done, allocating resources and establishing clear expectations.
The facilitative style tends to work well in high growth environments where revenues are rolling in and employees are usually given a free hand to use their creativity to keep the good times going on.
Employees are usually heavily rewarded with many perks and fringe benefits. A case in point is that of some banks and blue chip companies who over the last few years have rewarded their employees handsomely and somehow created a compensation inflationary effect in the market. This has been adopted by politicians who are rewarding themselves as if the country is undergoing an economic boom and the government can afford to position itself as a welfare agency.
The directive leadership style takes a more pragmatic approach to handling affairs and is characteristically utilised in corporate turn-around situations or in cases of national crisis.
A good example of the application of this leadership style is in the case of the United States government which formed a department of homeland security to protect citizens from what was referred to as external aggression.
The environment prior to the 9/11 was characterized by facilitative leadership where every government department was autonomous, independent and free to adopt unique methods and devices for handling internal security matters.
This leadership style has a more conservative approach to reward as it always anticipates the need to adjust during lean times.
Looking at Kenya, it would be worthwhile for our politicians and business leaders alike to put into serious consideration what leadership approach would best suit our country and local enterprises. Taking Singapore as an example, we may need to consider using a more directive approach in managing our affairs.
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It will involve embracing and favouring pragmatism while postponing lavish rewards to a later date when a facilitative leadership style will be more appropriate.
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