Why Lead?

In this episode, we are talking about what separates the greats from the mediocre. The top from the bottom, the certified winners from the one-hit wonders, the tested and proven from the exceptions. This is a quality the likes of Drake, Apple, Diamond Platnumz, Cocacola, Ford, Mercedez, T.D Jakes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi all have. CONSISTENCY. Today we are talking about consistency, and more importantly, how to cultivate this virtue in yourself.

The work of leadership will require you to dig deep within yourself and stretch yourself in significant ways. And the best place to start your growth journey is learning what you didn't know before. But unfortunately, many stop here, and a few practice what they know, and even fewer people become what they know and practice.

In today's episode, we're exploring how to close the knowing-doing-becoming gap and much more. I am joined by Dr. Patricia Murugami of Rise, a leadership academy based in Nairobi, Kenya.

Warren Buffett said this about Shoe Dog, "The best book I read last year was Shoe Dog, by Nike's Phil Knight. Phil is a very wise, intelligent, and competitive fellow who is also a gifted storyteller" In this episode, we're reviewing some key leadership ideas from one of the best leadership books in the past 10 years. 

Leadership has become more complex in the 21st century than it has ever been. The world is connected, which means it’s no longer just global leaders who are dealing with multi-cultural teams. Technology is evolving at a faster rate than we’ve ever seen, which means what you’re building today might not have any utility tomorrow. Diversity has grown from male-female to leftist-rightist-LGBTQIA… Therefore to lead, one needs the right combination of skills. To lead on the global stage, one needs to have infinity skills.

Failure is one of the things that fascinate me (Ben Owden) personally. Part of the fascination is the inevitability of failure, none of us seem to escape it. Part of the fascination is due to the enormous number of successful people crediting failure as one of their reasons for success. Part of the fascination is due to the enormous number of people who have quit their different conquests crediting failure as one of the main reasons for quitting. It seems to me, there are people who have learned to fail in a more progressive way that leads them closer to their goals. And there are others who simply fail catastrophically enough to not try again. 

Some of us have heard of phrases like, “You become who you’re surrounded with” “You’re the average of five people you spend the most time with” All this amalgamates to one big idea that, your network will determine your net worth, be it financially, career-wise, personal growth, and so forth. Who you’re connected to will either add speed to your progress or slow you down. And this idea is even more relevant in leadership, as a leader you need to make sure that your net worth in all areas of your leadership is high, this way you have more to work with. And so to explore this idea Your Network Will Determine Your Net Worth. 

Today we will be looking at the role leadership plays in building a successful start-up. Startup success is a result of a number of factors; Idea - Team - Timing - Biz Model - Funding. But these factors are not equally important. In our Tanzanian context, which factor should be the most important?

There are many leadership philosophies out there. But the one style that seems to work in every context is servant leadership. Whether you work are leading a public organization, a non-profit or you answer to shareholders in a for-profit organization. 

We must first change how we look at the world, in order to have a real chance of successfully changing the world.

How do we effectively lead through major changes in our companies, changes in leadership, changes in operational philosophies, changes in vision, changes brought about by mergers, and acquisitions, changes brought by major rebranding, changes in company culture, and even the transformation of products and services?