THE LEADERSHIP VOID

THE LEADERSHIP VOID

BY

SAMUEL LARTEY, PROJECT MANAGER.
www.inspiredleaders.com. Email: sammy@inspiredleaders.com


Whilst the UK, USA and the Western worlds took for granted decades of almost uninterrupted economic plenty up until the unprecedented credit crunch and downturn of last year, few realised at the time that it was the confidence of strong and visible leadership that was underpinning their vibrant economy.

There were many things to hold against the leadership of Tony Blair during his years as Prime Minister but leadership was not, in my view, one of them. Whether we agreed with or liked what he had to say or not, he could lead.

Many say that it was the only thing he was brilliant at. Personally I believe it was due in no small measure to his optimism, vision and deft communication that the nation enjoyed this decade of prosperity.

The story is not different from the political history of Ghana when tracing leadership from the very first Republic lead by Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

He energised a nation away from inward-looking dependencies, social strife and dependency on the colonial leadership to a nation of independence, self-rule, self-sufficiency and social policies.

Reverting to my earlier discussions on the developed economies, it would be emphasised that it was vital to Blair's vision to make London the financial capital of the world and the results were there for everyone to see. The money never stopped pouring in as deals, deals and more deals were conducted at breathtaking speed with ‘light-touch regulation'.

Put quite simply, it was easier buying a business in Britain than in the US, Europe or any other Western economy.

This was wealth creation at its finest and even when there were hiccups along the way, Tony Blair was there to reassure all and tell all that everything would be fine.

And the ugly truth of the matter is that even when they didn't agree with what was going on, they would look in their wallets or check their bank balances and everything would seem fine once again.

When the media were screaming for his head over the invasion of Iraq, the business community kept their heads down and said little; it marked the beginning of the tension between ideology and prosperity that we are feeling even more markedly now.

Can we compare this development to the developments in Ghana today? We now have a brand new government. A government which is just nearly 6-7 months old. Can we say the new leadership is providing the vision to make Ghana the financial capital of Africa? Or will once again say there
is a leadership void?

With Barack Obama filling that void and offering a new vision of the future for the US, it is imperative that Ghana and Africa do the same. There is a leadership crisis and whenever there is an issue surrounding leadership you must go back to the last time it was right to fix it again for the future. In Ghana, it wasn't that long ago at all.


Leadership: which comprises of a national or corporate vision, culture, team spirit, people passion and morale can be traced back to history. You will recall the regimes we benefited from the dream team; the visionary, optimistic and clear communications from the top of our dear nation. If this will be difficult to identify then there is the leadership void in the administration of the country currently.

Times have changed considerably. We must be seen as a nation being steered by leaders and not managers. Our leadership should be caught worshipping at the alter of leadership and not management.

We should shy away from becoming victims of a lack of democracy, as are many of our businesses. If you are ever in any doubt as to someone's leadership qualities then put it to the workforce or nation; they will know what they need.

The lifeblood of any economy comes in the form of SMEs and entrepreneurs, and without suitable lending and overdrafts from the banks these companies and individuals simply freeze. Our governments and for that matter the Banks have failed to act with any form of leadership or authority to get this situation to change and still the effects of the credit crunch loom over us.

Darwinian forces always apply in business and we need entrepreneurs to not only create wealth, but take the bull by the horns and act whilst the government continues to blunder.

Perhaps it's time for entrepreneurs to help entrepreneurs? We had a memorable experience at our own business forum - Inspired Leaders Network in London - last year when Brad Rosser, former right-hand man to Sir Richard Branson and renowned business builder, was interviewed at one of our sessions.

At the end of the evening four or five budding entrepreneurs swamped Brad with their ideas. He has since gone on to become Chairman and shareholder for at least one of them and they are blossoming with his help; having shunned more conventional methods to expand in the downturn.

I have not seen this yet in Ghana. Small entrepreneurs are left to wither. They are easily crowded out of the economy.

Brads experience should become a model we must adapt. The ‘big hitters' should be laying down this framework for posterity.

And the best part of all? The actual money invested should just be one part of the process. The expertise and confidence that ‘big hitters' bring to those with the new ideas means these embryonic businesses are given the insights and wisdom that investment alone never brings.

Money is invested to create more money and more jobs and success stories inspire others to follow the lead.

After all, success breeds success. Perhaps it's a lesson our governments and business leaders should heed.