A
handful of prospective graduands of an Organisation’s Academy were all
resplendently dressed, set to face a panel of five – core leaders of the
Organisation. In defending their projects, these students came in one after the
other, observing all formal interview’s protocols as they stepped into the room
with their slides’ projection and vocal explanations. On the panel was a detailed
man - very supportive, humble and respected - whom every student became
watchful of. Why? He could spot, at a quick skim, the varying negligence in
some of these guys’ project work/report. Privileged to chair this panel, I kept
track of how this trusted Associate would show the students their blunders ranging
from deviation from the traditional
language standards {using sms/chat languages in a literature review} to incomplete phrases/sentences, misspelt
headings or inconsistent paragraphing; irregular font patterns etc. Well,
bravo to these prospective graduands as third-quarter of them are Year One
Students who might not have been previously exposed to project defense of this
setting.
This
excellence-driven leader, Daniel Awodele, oversaw the administration of our
Organisation and served meritoriously well. Many organisations need an
eagled-eyed leader like Daniel. Beyond titles, leadership is
more of functions. More than talks, leaders
acts. Leaders see beyond appearances. They utilize their hindsight {properly evaluating
past events for worthwhile futuristic decisions}; maximize their insight {having the right perspective on present issues}; and leverage on
their foresight {accurately discerning the future}. Some leaders don’t just get it
when it comes to the aspect of paying attention to details. Regrettably, many a
leader blames their temperaments for this inefficiency. Irrespective the
portfolio and personality, every leader should exhibit a measure of administrative
and organisational ability.
Eagle-eyed
leaders are very useful during planning and execution of programmes. They know
how to do the routine checks. They know when that proposal or invitation letter
is not well-punctuated or roughly addressed. On entering an auditorium, within
seconds, they can tell something is wrong with the setups – they know the
lectern or centre stage was not properly cleaned or not centrically placed, the
decorating pattern not in sync with the theme and style of the occasion; the
host/hostesses not well positioned at the designated places; the aisle not well-spaced
and so on. You can develop your sharp-sighted leadership by internalizing the
following truths.
1. Start with Personal Order
Organisational
order would most likely begin with personal order. Order is the first step
towards productivity. So get deliberate about some things. Choose your outfits
on purpose – that you are helping to get the acoustic/multimedia set for a
three-day conference shouldn’t make you look tatty. Have a schedule ~ endowed
with an exceptional planning ability, I could recall how having a personal
design of my daily, weekly & monthly plans helped me tremendously while on
campus. I could see vividly the time I had left for my ministry and leisure
after deducting lectures and academic study time. We tried to augment our
leaders’ personal effectiveness too by designing a Semester plan for them so
every leader is far aware of any upcoming programme {duration, day and month}
and necessary preparations made beforehand except for few alterations. {You can
contact me if interested in having your personal or organisational plan in an
annual/monthly/weekly outlook}. This
schedule was and is {‘cos I still use it} interesting in that my activities
became imprinted on my heart by default so I know when I was/am just
squandering time like Benjamin Franklin put it. Good, you have an office. Not
too bad if you don’t, get a desk, a chair and a good lighting system in that apartment
if you really mean productivity. Go for that shopping with a list of the items
you really intended to buy. There’s no harm in multitasking in as much as you
give a particular activity the whole of your attention before jumping to the
next. A place for everything and
everything in its place: drop your car keys or other frequently-used items dat
the same spot daily. A lot of people are actually guilty of not returning
things at the exact spots they are taken from. I’m sure I do have a witness!
*Lips Are Sealed*.
2. Simplify Complexes
An
analysis has shown people to be two types: the
big picture or detail-oriented person.
I defer to say that you can be both. And great leaders live out both. Before he
became the point man, he’d been executing his superior’s instruction to the
letter. So he couldn’t have emerged the Arrowhead
without an embodiment of those traits. So the sharp-eyed leader doesn’t just
cross his leg in the office displaying the big picture to his subordinates. He
can actually pinpoint the minutest details and help them avoid loopholes. When
simplifying complexes such as a project, launching of a product etc – study to be quiet! Get engaged in a real
deep thought. Really, it’s a fast-paced world with noisy notifications here
there but you must learn to deliberately shut the doors behind you at least
30mins or an hour daily. Sometimes I switch off the light and ensure a
temporary darkness with my eyes open so I can really feel the vibes within and
pen my thoughts in a blank white A4 paper no matter how haphazard my scribbling
is. At other times, I close my eyes. As you practise meditation from time to
time, you’d develop the capacity to blank
out distractions and focus on the real issue notwithstanding the place you
are. Great leaders meditate. Thoroughness is a function of depth. An excellent
individual excel-in-length because he
puts a measure of thoughtfulness in his work. Eagle-eyed leaders think
big-picture, broadly, deeply, ahead, positively, proactively, possibility so
they are never clueless of how simpler or better a result could have been
achieved.
Michael
E Gerber described a resort hotel he’d patronised for almost seventeen years as
at when he wrote The E-Myth Revisited. Venetia,
as he portrayed it, is a thoroughly systemized hotel with a topnotch service
scheme. Gerber discovered, after a privileged discourse with the Manager of
this exquisite hotel, that everything works perfectly in the guesthouse by virtue
of the personnel’s compliance with
the checklist and fixing what needs to be. Then a double-check by a supervisor. I’m sometimes amazed when the point
man gives instructions or set of objectives to be achieved and the team members
fold hands and watch. What an anger it invokes when people come to business meetings
with unimplemented action plans agreed
upon from previous meeting. Be deliberate for a little while: show up in that
meeting with a writing pad and don’t forget to hold your pen too. Ditto a
one-on-one appointment with your boss, mentor or superior. Don’t deceive
yourself if your mobile gadget can’t help you achieve this feature ‘cos some
people’s mobile devices are the root of their ineffectiveness. That’s a topic
for another day! More importantly, have a list of your expectations/functions,
tick as you perform your assignments.
4. Design
a System
The
Eagle-Eyed Leader is a problem-solver. He anticipates problem. Really, if you
observe closely, most organisation’s problems are predictably trajectory except
for few occasional ones {which actually is advantageous that we experience them
too}. Hence, eagle-eyed leaders work with a SYSTEM ~ simply a process that Saves You Stress, Time, Energy
and Money as Nelson Searcy,
the Lead Pastor of The Journey Church defines
it. I remember how Daniel designed a coded system for our leaders to get every
member of the fellowship into a discipleship plan/structure. Yes, you can reach
your clients systematically and periodically so you need not wait till festive
seasons or public holidays before sending that SMS. You can design a stakeholders’
reporting system or a Memo/Invite/Query/Minutes’ template if your organisation
entails such. Yes, having a steady leaders’ training scheme or a succession
plan is no big deal if only you can be deliberate about it.
The
preceding highlights do not in anyway translate to reducing your leadership to
a stereotype. However, seek to reinvent the patterns. Be dynamic. Always up
your game while tweaking the norm. Walk the talk and see how your progress
would be evident to all. Be the next
Daniel that three successive administrations yearn to work with. Aye, you ~
the next Eagle-Eyed Leader!
Raise the edge! Take the LEAD!
Femi TIAMIYU
#LEAD360
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