An Excerpt from Mastering Leadership: An Integrated Framework for Breakthrough Performance and Extraordinary Business Results, by Robert J. Anderson and William A. Adams (Wiley, 2015)

The word creative can be described as original, imaginative, inspired, inventive, artistic, ingenious, innovative, and productive. The creative type of leadership is needed to handle the complexities, uncertainties, volatility, ambiguity, and the global challenges. Creative leadership is a leadership practice that involves using creativity to solve complex problems to achieve organizational result.

Creative leadership is the ability to create and realize innovative solutions in the face of structurally complex or changing situations.

Creative leadership is a philosophy and an act that develops and realizes innovative ideas through the shared ambition of improving the world through the lens of enterprise formation.

Creative leadership creates an environment that promotes creativity, innovation, and mission-driven entrepreneurship. It also embraces change as the only constant while exploring opportunities.

Creative leadership rides on the courage, collaboration, and creativity of contributors. It gives rise to a superior consciousness that goes beyond individual gratification.

Creative leadership is about developing innovative strategies, creativity, critical analysis, experimentation, vision, collaboration, bold action, calculated risk-taking, agility, hard and smart work to achieve participative collective value.

It’s time you start relating as a creative leader. There is a lot to be gained from relating authentically. When we relate with our team members, celebrate our successes as a collective and work through our failures, the team experiences psychological safety. When there is psychological safety in a team, the “magic” begins to happen.

Find and make the time to relate with your direct reports and team. Results happen when teams relate authentically. Have a great week and begin the relating journey.

An Excerpt from Mastering Leadership: An Integrated Framework for Breakthrough Performance and Extraordinary Business Results, by Robert J. Anderson and William A. Adams (Wiley, 2015)

The word creative can be described as original, imaginative, inspired, inventive, artistic, ingenious, innovative, and productive. The creative type of leadership is needed to handle the complexities, uncertainties, volatility, ambiguity, and the global challenges. Creative leadership is a leadership practice that involves using creativity to solve complex problems to achieve organizational result.

Creative leadership is the ability to create and realize innovative solutions in the face of structurally complex or changing situations. Creative leadership is a philosophy and an act that develops and realizes innovative ideas through the shared ambition of improving the world through the lens of enterprise formation.

Creative leadership creates an environment that promotes creativity, innovation, and mission-driven entrepreneurship. It also embraces change as the only constant while exploring opportunities. Creative leadership rides on the courage, collaboration, and creativity of contributors. It gives rise to a superior consciousness that goes beyond individual gratification.

Creative leadership is about developing innovative strategies, creativity, critical analysis, experimentation, vision, collaboration, bold action, calculated risk-taking, agility, hard and smart work to achieve participative collective value.

Join me as we explore this phenomenal program through this podcast series. Have a fantastic week and see you at the summit of creative leaders.

A winner is a person who has determination, who is disciplined, who is motivated, has the desire in improving his/her life, willing to acquire new skills, willing to overcome obstacles and challenges, and wants to rise to the top in their field of expertise.

Your mindset is everything when it comes to achieving your goals and mission. When you view life as happening for you instead of to you and can believe that you have the potential and drive to succeed, you can truly accomplish whatever you set your mind to. Winning is therefore a state of Mind, and we all can be winners if we start thinking and making decisions like a winner.

Your journey to be a winner begins with winning thoughts. The term ‘Winning’ may sound insincere to you. Too materialistic perhaps. According to Merriam-Webster, to win means: “to get possession of by effort or fortune; to obtain by work: earn” It also means, “to gain in or as if in battle or contest.”

True winning, however, is no more than your own personal pursuit of excellence. You don’t have to trample or step on other people toes to win. You don’t have to gain at the expense of others. ‘Winning’ is taking the talent and potential you were born with, and have developed, and use it fully toward a goal or a purpose that makes you happy and fulfilled.

There are common set of beliefs and mindsets shared by all winners and achievers. These beliefs and mindsets set them apart from the others. These beliefs and mindsets allow them to look at obstacles as opportunities and steppingstones to unlock the potential within. Winners focus on winning, losers focus on winners. Winners focus on what they are going to while losers focus on what they are going through. Winning isn’t an action, it’s a lifestyle. Losers let things happen, winners make things happen. Winners win in every aspect of life and not only in one aspect. Winning ripples through a winner’s entire life.

Have a Fantastic Week and see you at the summit of winners.

The word to focus is to give emphasis, attention, effort to something single-mindedly. It is also to spotlight, give your heart wholeheartedly, center your mind on what you really want to achieve. Focusing on the right project, thing, or whatever you give your attention to with time brings results. The reason why so many people are not achieving the results they want is because of broken focus. These people don’t stay with whatever they are working on long enough to realize its benefits.

The microwave mentality, overnight success, or instant gratification has produced people who no longer believe that to achieve anything requires focus, time, consistent action, patience, and determination.

The Cost of Broken Focus

• Broken focus taints your purpose and causes you to do things not in alignment with your life’s purpose

• You lose time, energy, financials resources, relationships with loss of focus

• You will be filled with anxiety because there is not congruence between what you believe you should be doing and what you are currently focused on

• You begin to relinquish your dreams to the vicissitudes of life and the dictates of the environment

• Your growth is stunted, and you do not realize your full potential

• Your quest for success appears unachievable because of broken focus

• Your physical health may be impacted because of vacillating emotions

• You do not fully enjoy your life because of emotional conflicts

When you refocus, you will thrive especially when you take consistent action on your goals. Have a fantastic week and see you at the summit of champions.

What do you remember about your journey through life? your formative years, high school, when you graduated, when you got your first job, started your first business, your first major vacation and so on. A lot of times we focus on what we are going through rather than on what we are going to. We tend to focus on the negative rather than the positive or the possibilities. There is a lot of great things happening within us, around us, in our relationships, in our workplace and in our world that needs celebrating. Detox yourself from social media and focus on your journey.

I was reflecting on how far I have come the other day and went through memory lane where I recollected the good, the bad and the ugly experiences of life. Life is a fascinating journey filled with different seasons. Some seasons are great while other season are not so great. What I know is that every season has a purpose in our lives when we look at things within the context of the bigger picture or the grand scheme of things. I don’t know what season you are in right now, but what I can say is to remember not to waste the season you are in. During seasons of disruption, we forget to focus on where we are going and rather focus on what we are going through. Too much focus on what we are going through distorts our vision, taints our focus, and sucks our energy.

I suggest you spend this week remembering how far you have come, the amazing journey ahead, the sights and sounds as you continue the journey called life. Have an amazing week and don’t forget to encourage the people you meet to keep on moving forward. See you on my next podcast.

There’s no greater gift than to honor your life’s calling. It’s why you were born. And how you become most truly alive. - – Oprah Winfrey

Defining your purpose gives you clarity about what’s important. When you then use it to guide your choices and decisions, it gives your life greater meaning and a deep sense of fulfilment. Your purpose is a pathway, not the destination. When external influences or your own internal voices try to take you off course, your purpose gives you a clear sense of direction and guides you back on track.

British author and motivational speaker, Simon Sinek, explained “why statement” as “The compelling higher purpose that inspires us and acts as the source of all we do.”

Our individual Why’s defines what drives us, fulfills us, and gives us purpose for doing what we wake up each morning to do. Life is full of twists and turns, and we must be hungry and well prepared for the trip called life.

To clarify your why, here are a few questions for reflection:

• When are you at your best?

• When are you at your worst?

• What are you passionate about?

• When do you feel most energized?

• What is the core purpose of your role?

• Why does it matter?

Your personal why is your calling, conviction, mission statement, a vision of your life and work, the thread of your career story, your core source of inspiration and motivation, the reference point for all your decisions and actions, it defines who you are and what makes you highly productive and the reason for your life’s work.

WHAT IS YOUR WHY? Have a great week.

Open your mind to the possibilities lurking around you, the possibilities ahead of you, and what you can become if…

Come on an amazing journey with me and explore the possibilities in answering the question WHAT COULD YOU BE IF…

Have a great week and see you at the summit of achievers!

The word to unclog is free, release, clear or unblock. For things to flow smoothly through a pipeline, it must be cleaned out. When you look at your life, are things working well or smoothly. When you look at the performance of your business, is it working as planned. As a business leader, are you getting the results of the department or section you are in control off? If the answer is No, there must be something or someone blocking the results. Are your relationships working well? Whatever it is in your life, business, relationship, or work, if it is not working, you must identify the causes and resolve it. I have seen so many brilliant people who are not living their true potential because the pipeline is clogged up.

Life isn't about waiting for the storms to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain!

Have a fantastic week and see you at the summit of achievers.

For years Eagles have fascinated and inspired us with many stories highlighting the behavior and wisdom of how the eagle operates. I have personally been fascinated with these stories that when I was hired to start a university in Africa several years ago, I used the eagle as the logo for this university and developed a philosophy around the eagle to help students reach the highest level of success in academia. The stories about eagles continue to inspire me, challenge, and captivate my thinking, and fascinate my curiosity.

To achieve anything in life, you must have a focused vision and clarity of what you want to achieve or become. Focus 1million percent on your vision to protect it. Eagles have strong vision. A focused vision backed by consistent action produces results.

Your vision will be tested through the storms of life. Some run away from the storms, give up when the storms show up while others go through the eye of the storm until they experience safety and stability.

Use the storms of life to tenaciously protect your vision and soar with the storms that show up on your radar. To rise to greater heights in life, you must face the storms of life, confront the challenges head on without running away from it.

Have a fantastic week and see you at the summit of the visionaries.

A process involves a sequence of steps or activities that lead to a particular outcome or result. Are you interested in climbing the corporate ladder? Building a successful business, being the leader that others would like to follow? Are you on a journey of becoming? Whatever you have going on for you, trust the process.

Millions around the world are interested in achievement and progress but not ready to go through the process of becoming. Do you trust the current process?

Many years ago, a wise old man told me to learn to climb the tree from the bottom. That was his way of saying learn to start small and grow from there. The microwave generation want everything now and fast. To be successful and maintain it, you must go through the process.

In this short podcast, I want to remind my listeners to trust the process, be patient through the process, and not give up in the process. They that wait and go through the process, are successful in the end.

Have a fantastic week and enjoy the process.