This episode concludes the two-part podcast on The Price of Leadership, with this one looking at Self-Discipline. In it we understand why self-discipline is imperative for leaders, and how it is a reflection of the depth of one’s character. Leadership requires behaviour that is consistent irrespective of one’s circumstances, and this episode shows how we can be more self-disciplined and ultimately more effective leaders. 

From 3 reasons why self-discipline is important for leaders to 3 things that will help us become more self-disciplined, this episode gives listeners reasons to invest more in self-discipline and the tools to do so. Fusi also cautions on the need to find a balance between discipline and creativity so we do not pursue one at the expense of the other.  

Nations too can be disciplined, and we hear the examples of two countries that have shown discipline in their national life and the difference it has made.   

The regular Leadership in Action section helps listeners apply the episode's lessons to themselves. 

This episode will further reinforce for listeners, the true price of leadership. 

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In this first part of The Price of Leadership, Fusi makes the case why sacrifice is important for leaders and why it is required to attain great things. Unfortunately, in the world we live today, we are bombarded with images and messages to the contrary. But can we really influence people without making any sacrifice? 

Leading others requires our accepting that sacrifice is a price of leadership, and how committed we are to the cause or purpose we are pursuing determines how much we are ready to sacrifice for it. Using examples from opposite ends of the leadership spectrum, we hear about two leaders who sacrificed to achieve goals that impacted others.  

The episode highlights 3 reasons why people can be unwilling to make leadership sacrifices, while the Leadership in Action section helps listeners apply the lessons of the episode to themselves. 

This episode will help listeners understand what the price of leadership truly is.    

For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com 

Crisis can occur anywhere and without warning. Listen to this episode in which Fusi teaches how leaders should deal with crisis. Using the example of British explorer Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922), Fusi shows how leaders can lead their teams successfully even in crisis. 

With a vivid account of Shackleton’s failed mission to Antarctica in 1914 which ended up lasting two years in hostile conditions, we see how the purpose of a team can change as a result of crisis and how leaders should respond. Identifying five lessons from Shackleton’s leadership in crisis, listeners will learn how they too can successfully respond to crisis. In Shackleton’s case, though he could no longer fulfil his original mission because of the circumstances he and his team found themselves in, he was in spite of this able to come through the crisis without losing a single member of his team which was a feat given all that they faced. 

Listeners will learn what it takes to lead successfully in crisis, and what the priorities of a leader should be when crisis occurs. The Leadership in Action section helps listeners apply the lessons of the episode to themselves, helping them prepare to deal with crisis whenever it occurs. 

For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com 

This episode concludes our four-part series on Power and Influence. It opens by telling us what it means to be respected and how respect helps build influence. We learn four specific ways in which we can earn respect. These are things we can apply individually to become better leaders no matter where we are . 

Fusi shows how we often have to make a choice between being popular by doing things that please in the short term or earning respect in the long-term by doing things that are more difficult, but which are ultimately for the greater good. Earning respect can sometimes require hard choices, and this episode emphasises this.

The episode also teaches that effective leadership is not accidental, but rather it is the result of deliberate, tangible investments made by anyone seeking to earn the respect of others. In the customary Leadership in Action section, listeners are asked questions that challenge them to evaluate themselves in the light of points raised in the episode, and through these improve their leadership effectiveness. 

This episode brings the Power and Influence series to a fitting close. 

For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com 

This episode takes a look at leadership through the lens of a recent event – the funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and how the event was a lesson about how those who have privilege in society should act. Fusi shows how through the conduct of the funeral, the Royal Family despite their privilege showed leadership. Most of us are not royal, but in every society, there are those who have privilege for one reason or the other – their birth, education, social and political status etc. They often addressed as the elite. 

Using this powerful example from the Royal Family’s handling of the funeral of their Patriarch, Fusi shows how those who have privilege must show leadership whether or not they have formal positions of leadership. Through their adherence to the Coronavirus restrictions limiting mourners to 30 (even though the funeral had originally been planned to be for 800), to everyone wearing masks and the Queen having to sit alone and not with any of her children because they were not from the same household, listeners will see how privilege comes with responsibility. 

This episode challenges those who consider themselves privileged in every society to see the reality of the responsibility their status demands from them. If they don’t live up to this, then there is no incentive from those who do not have privilege to act properly and lawfully. This is how leadership by those who have privilege matters. The episode is also a preparation for those who aspire to and will in future also become privileged in some way, as it shows them beforehand, what will be required of them. 

While the episode shows us the power of the example we set, it also clearly lets us know that this comes with a cost, which in this case was having a funeral that was not quite the way the family wanted nor had originally planned. But they knew their position and the example they needed to set, so placing the law above their Royal status was not a difficult choice. Institutions can only be sustained when those to whom they have been entrusted embrace not just the privilege of their position but also the responsibility and cost of having such privilege. 

The episode ends with the customary Leadership in Action section. Here, listeners are encouraged to look inwards to make necessary changes in line with the lessons learned in the episode. This episode reinforces the theme of leading from where you are, as it should set everyone thinking about their role in and contribution to the society in which they live.   

For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com 

This is the second episode of the four-part series on Power and Influence. In this episode, Fusi looks at 5 Realities of Power. He helps his listeners understand the true nature of power,  and how these realities impact leadership when we do not accept and embrace them. He starts by explaining that leaders must be accountable for the power they have been given, even though many leaders unfortunately act as if their power is self-originated.  

He tells his audience that power must have purpose, and uses a powerful example to illustrate the futility of power not having a purpose beyond benefiting the holder of such power or the interests he or she represents. In the rest of the podcast Fusi speaks about three other realities of power and how they too can impact our leadership. 

With a leadership position comes power, but what matters is how we use it as this can enhance or undermine us as leaders. Like other episodes, listeners will find this episode practical and immediately applicable to whatever context they are in. 

Knowing, understanding and accepting the realities of power are essential for every leader and aspiring leader wherever they are. 

For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com 

This episode is the first of a four-part series titled Power and Influence, and it addresses Authority and Power – two things that are highly sought after. What do they really mean? Fusi explains what they mean and how they impact leadership.

Listeners will understand why someone in a position of leadership is not necessarily a leader. They will also understand why they should invest in influence and not depend on the power and authority of a leadership position. Fusi explains what it means to have Power without Influence, and advises how to avoid it.  

Fusi tells his listeners how they can become authentic leaders, whether or not they are in a position of leadership. By the end of the episode, listeners will understand how authority and power impact leadership and what our attitude towards them should be. 

The episode concludes with the customary Leadership in Action segment in which listeners are challenged to apply the message of the podcast to themselves. Happy listening!

For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com 

Lessons in Leadership does something different in this episode as it reviews - from a leadership perspective, something that was trending recently on Twitter. Someone conducted what he called a "social experiment" and concluded that we the people are the problem in Nigeria. But are we really the problem? 

This episode shows how leadership matters at every stage and in every sphere starting from the home, and why it is important for leaders to lead by example. Fusi picks up on the topic concluded in Episode 5 – How Leaders Lead, and says that leaders must inspire, influence and enable people if we are going to have a better society.  He agrees that we have many challenges as a nation, but drawing from the words of a well known American Presidential Historian, he says the reality of leadership is that leaders do not know what challenges they will face when the opportunity to lead comes, but they must be ready to face the challenges whatever they are, because they are opportunities for them to demonstrate their leadership ability.   

Fusi examines the events of the "social experiment" through the lens of leadership and asks his listeners to decide where the problem lies.  

The episode ends with the Leadership in Action segment in which listeners are challenged to apply the message of the episode to their own lives.  

For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com 

This episode concludes the topic How Leaders Lead and it looks at two more things that leaders do to lead effectively: leaders influence, and leaders enable.  

Fusi shares what influence is and how it works. He stresses the importance of being able to truly lead by influencing others, highlighting how this should be done. We are assured that we all qualify to exercise influence because we each have a sphere of influence, whether or not we are in a formal leadership position. 

The third thing that leaders do to lead effectively, is they enable others. This means they must provide the means and opportunities for those they lead to achieve the purpose of the organisation. But leaders sometimes have problems in this area. What are they? Please listen to the episode to learn more.    

The episode concludes with the Leadership in Action section, where listeners are challenged to apply the topic of the episode to their own personal circumstances and situations. 

For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com 

How do leaders lead? Most of us want to be effective leaders but don’t know how. This episode helps address this, telling us the things that leaders do to lead effectively. In the episode, we look at one of them, which is that leaders inspire others.  

Fusi explains what it means to inspire others and why it is so important for leaders. He says we must first set out a vision or set new standards if we are going to inspire people, and then looks at the things that are important if we are going to successfully inspire others. There are examples of leaders who through inspiration were able to successfully lead their people through different difficult circumstances.  

In the Leadership in Action section which is where we apply what we have spoken about to our personal circumstances and situations, listeners are asked to examine if they are inspiring those they currently lead or not, and then they are charged to change the status quo. Inspiring others is a necessary first step in effectively leading others towards achieving the overall purpose.     

For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com