The value of leadership is its relevance. A leader’s view is sought, his presence is cherished, his counsel his treasured and his instructions are obeyed because he is deemed relevant. A relevant leader is not in want of followers; neither does he lack activities because ceaseless demands are made on his time and intellectual resources. However, if a leader loses his relevance, even when he has yet to lose his position, he neither commands the people’s respect nor are they pulled to his presence. He soon becomes like Siberia, everyone knows where it is but nobody wants to go visiting. Even when he is not totally abandoned because of the positional influence, he is avoided as much as possible by those who once courted him.
Leaders and value
Leaders are honoured, celebrated and rewarded because of the value they create or add to their nations or organizations and the people. Leaders are not only change agents, they are also game changers. They act as change agents and game changers through the instrumentality of the value they bring to the people. Through their insight and foresight, they bring the much needed change. Therefore, the worth of a leader is a coefficient of the value he delivers to those he leads. His relevance is tied to the value he creates. If he continues to deliver value, his relevance will be on the increase because value is magnetic; it draws people, power and affluence to whoever possesses it. But when a leader fails to deliver value, his worth plummets and his relevance nosedives. Therefore, creating value is critical to the continuous relevance of a leader.
How leaders sustain relevance
A number of factors are responsible for the sustenance of leadership relevance. Some of them are discussed hereunder.
A leader must understand the times
The world changes at an alarming rate. The environment and the people do not remain static for long. For a leader to remain relevant, not only must he understand that both the people and the environment change, he must also know in what direction the change is taking them so that he can continue to create values along this line. If a leader is oblivious of either the form of the change or its direction, he would be proffering wrong solutions to the problem. If the people do not get the right answer from their leader, they will look for another leader. Therefore, the leader must always be a step ahead of those he leads with respect to the changes going on around them. He is a leader because he is ahead of others. If he is as confused as those he leads about the situation at hand, he loses his leadership edge and the people will turn elsewhere for the solution to their challenges.
Understanding the times presupposes that a leader must be a consistent learner. By being a learner, he gets to know the trend and the disruptive changes going on and looks for how to turn them in favour of his people. But he must also consistently ask probing questions. Asking probing questions will unveil new vistas and make new discoveries possible. When new discoveries are made, new opportunities unfold. With new opportunities, energies are un-tethered. When energies are unleashed, high goals will become attainable. So, a leader that takes time to understand the times never loses relevance.
Transparency facilitates trust among workers and builds bonds among people. When a workforce trusts its leader, they will go out on a limb for the leader. They will work their hearts out for the leader. They will endure difficulties and hardships for the leader because the leader puts all his cards on the table. Even when things go awry they will opt to stand by their leader.
The truth is, followers are not looking for infallible leaders. They know that the best of human beings is at best human. So, when a leader commits errors of judgment, the people are not out to fry or flay him, provided he is honest enough to admit it. What infuriates most followers is pretence and duplicity on the part of the leadership. But when a leader is open and walks his talk, the followers would rally round him and help him when he runs into troubled waters. But a leader perceived as lacking in transparency does not enjoy such privileges, the people take his best intentions and actions with a pinch of salt and is made to stew in his own juice when he runs into problem.
Positive attitude
A leader is a thermostat in that he regulates the temperature within his sphere of influence. People look up to the leader for direction and action. If the leader looks deflated, his people will take a cue from him, look dejected and lose their hunger for success. But if he looks gung ho about a task, even those who had hitherto believed that the mission was impossible will line up behind him and change their perspective about the task at hand.
Leaders should never allow themselves to be intimidated by any situation. Even when a problem is seemingly intractable, the leader should go about it with an attitude that elicits hope in the people. If people go about a problem with a positive attitude their mental faculties go to work to get a solution to the problem. But when the attitude is that of surrender, the brains shut down and the problem gets complicated. There is no problem that is beyond human capacity to solve. If the solution to a problem appears to be beyond a people, it is because the thinking required to get it solved has not been applied. When the thinking is right, the solution to the problem will come to the fore.
A leader who puts on a negative attitude when he encounters a challenge cannot command the respect of those he leads because people naturally respect those they perceive as superior to them. When a leader loses the respect of those he leads, he also loses his relevance with them.
Be a team player
Aside being able to work well with people across divides, a leader must also be able to leverage on the strength of every member of the team. Every member of the team has his area of strength. The onus is on the leader to find out what this is and use it to advance the cause of the team. When team members are made to realize that they are valuable and their contributions are appreciated, they are motivated to give their best. They can go to any length to justify that trust. But what knocks the limit off the team members’ productivity is public acknowledgement of their role in the success of a task. Leaders motivate their team members no end and are able to bond very well with them when they give credit to them for their individual achievements within a team.
Build bridges, not walls
Great leaders are people-centric. They want to connect with the people, not cut off from them. Therefore, they build bridges, platforms that connect them with others across board. Great leaders deliberately cultivate relationships that will enhance their leadership. They mentor younger ones and allow themselves to be mentored by those who have gone ahead of them. They make friends across sectors, regions and nations. In spite of their busy schedules, they do not make it extremely difficult for those who need to see them to do so. They give a part of themselves to the people because they know that when push comes to shove, it is the people that will determine who is relevant and who is not.
See leadership as an unending journey
To remain relevant, a leader must see leadership as a journey that has no end. In leadership, you never arrive, you must continuously challenge yourself. Great leaders never have the sense of having arrived. The day a leader feels he has arrived, he embarks on an unending slide that will end his leadership career eventually. A leader’s joy over an accomplishment is very fleeting. While others are still celebrating the leader’s success, he has moved on to other things; he has started trying his hands on new things with a view to improving the lives of others. That is why great leaders never lose their relevance; they are always working on what is important to the people. Hence, they remain go to people.
Last line
The secret of constant relevance is consistent value creation.
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