TRUSTWORTHINESS AND CREDIBILITY IN LEADERSHIP When the head is rotten, every other part of the body is useless, when the source failed, who is the Messiah to revive it. Nigerians all talk of failed state of the nation today but there are some rhetorical questions bordering my mind; • Who causes the fail in state? Can we blame it on leaders; Can we say it is from the followers? Or can we say it is an act of punishment from God for sins committed by our forefathers? If we blame it on leaders, who is the Messiah that will take us out of this mess? If it is cause by followers (common men among Nigerians) how can we wake them from their slumber and if we finally base our problem on punishment from God, who is the Moses that will lead us through our RED SEA? Before I go further in my speech, I will like to define some key point in my speech; LEADERSHIP The act of leading a group of people or an organization, the state or position of being a leader. Leadership is a vital role in any organization. It involves defining the direction of a team and communicating it to people, motivating, inspiring and empowering them to contribute to achieving organizational success. Leadership requires being strategically focused and applying behavioral techniques to build commitment and attain the best work from your people. The ingredient of effective leadership is complex and are widely agreed to depend on the specific leadership situation, considering the difficulty of tasks, the degree of a leader’s authority, the maturity and capabilities of subordinates. Leadership skill often takes time to learn, because they are multi-faceted, behavioral and context dependent. Successful leaders in business often demonstrate the following attributes; Positiveness, reliability and pro-activeness Clear vision of business goal Commitment to their team and to their organization The ability to engage with views and needs of team members An ability to inspire employees to meet goals Commitment to the happiness and wellbeing of their team Honesty and openness with their team CREDIBILTY Credibility refers to the objective and subjective components of the believability of a source or message. Traditionally, credibility has two components; trustworthiness and expertise. The quality, capability or power to elicit belief. Henry A. Kissinger once said and I quote “America’s credibility must not be squandered especially by its leaders”. TRUSTWORTHINESS Trustworthiness is a moral value considered to be a virtue. A trustworthy person is someone in whom we can place our trust and rest assured that the trust will not be betrayed. A person can prove his trustworthiness by fulfilling an assigned responsibility- and as extension of that, to not let down our expectation. A number of values are associated with the outcome of trust and include cohesion, participation, transparency, satisfaction, impartiality, efficiency. There are two party involved in the act Trustor- a creator of trust Trustee- an individual or organization which held and manages an investment for the benefit of others. After making an insight to some of the key words, may I proceed to liken the present situation in Nigeria to a state characterized by corruption, security insurgence and poverty? When I looked back to the kind of leaders Nigeria parades since independence, tears always roll down my cheek, I almost rely on the present generation to produce a leader that has all it takes to revive Nigeria from her failed state but when I see the kind of corrupt youths who are the supposed leaders of tomorrow, a question come from my mind- WHO AND WHEN IS THE MESSIAH LIKELY TO COME? This take me back to HENRY A. KISSINGER’S QUOTE on America. “America’s credibility must not be squandered, especially by its leaders” Nigerians, it’s time we call ourselves in order to brainstorm on how to produce a good leader that will exculpate us from the shackle of unreasonable and unpredictable condition. Above all, I pray that my clamor and declamation will yield a better understanding among the present and future leaders. Compiled by: TAI ADE-AYENI
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 16:15:46 +0000