The Leader and His Followers
If a
leader must succeed, be should be the type of person that is sensitive to the
feelings of his followers. He has to be
wiling to take to good advice and adapt them to his situation.
However,
we have situations where some leaders become too important in their own eyes
that they do not consider their followers important anymore. It does not take long before such readers
begin to read discontentment in the faces of his followers and if sensitive, he
will arrest the situation but if not, he eventually loses his seat.
However
the dilemma of many leaders is that many followers will want to dictate the
tune! They offer advice but the cast
such advice in stone for the leader to accept without editing! If one is truly a visionary leader, it will
not take long before one will be at collision course with the source of such
(GOOD OR BAD) advisor. A leader ought to
have his own idea on any issue he is dealing with. The purpose of the advice
from others is to compare and contrast such ideas being offered with his own
and see whether there is need to blend, adapt, panel beat, polish or embed some
new discoveries into his own already perceived ideas or better still to validate
his own stand or disproof them altogether.
One of
Nigeria’s President once advised his newly appointed Advisers that they should
consider their job done at the point of giving ideas or suggestions but never be
so certain of the superiority of their own ideas over the President’s final
decision on the matter. He sounded
arrogant be he stated the obvious.
Because some advisers can be really something else. One fact that must
be realized is that a leader is accountable for his actions. He should be able to defend his decisions
based upon his own judgment. Even if a
leader is wrong going wrong, all his loyal followers can do is to advise him on
the right way – not to impose his correction upon his leader. Once that advice is given, he, like an agent
in a contractual transaction, drops out and the leader is allowed the freedom
to decide as he deems fit.
If you are
a follower, a deputy, please limit yourself to your ‘advisory’ role. Your
leader will be glad to have you around him.
Good morning.
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