THE LEADER (6): A Business Mindset of Filling Needs.

by Matthew Ujah-Peter

The Thresholds of Opportunities

A man named Walter once invited his friend Arthur to go for a ride through some undeveloped land in Southern California. They drove through some groves of trees and passed some ramshackle buildings before they arrived at what looked to Arthur like a barren wasteland. Walter began telling his friend about the exciting plans he had for his uninviting parcel of land. Walter’s express purpose of the drive was to give Arthur the opportunity to become an investor in his dream. Arthur was not impressed, and declined the opportunity. And so Art Linkletter turned down the opportunity to buy up all the land that now surrounds Disneyland, the dream-turned-reality of his friend Walt Disney. (As told by David Jeremiah, MasterWork, Fall 2012).

Opportunities rarely appear in labels. What you’re not looking for, you may not be able to make sense of or connect with when it is even tugging at your shirt. When you’re passionate about anything, you see it everywhere. Your passion is a light to your path to opportunities. What inconveniences other people may be exciting to you.  A leader is a business oriented person with a strong sense of foresight, vision...and yes, passion! Passion is the highest form of human desire. It is a desire rooted in the heart and soul. Passion is an undying fervour and enthusiasm. Much had being said about the word enthusiasm. It originated, we are told, from two Greek words: en and theos. En means in, while theos means God. The actual greak meaning is God inside or to be entered into by God or God’s power. So, enthusiasm which is a synonym of the word passion is an energy that a person has from within him which is, in reality, a divine force.

As said elsewhere [see Passion and Purpose], passion is the product of, or an indication of your life’s calling. Passion is not just any desire [see 5 levels of Desire]. Passion, though a desire, is not a cheap desire. It is, in my observations and opinion, the highest form of desire. Passion is the level of desire that helps you recognize and connect with your life’s duty post with unmistakably accuracy. With passion, a person makes connection with a problem that he and his gifts, skills and experiences are meant to solve. It is passion that gets you going in the face of hunger, lacks, pains and ridicules. But we are not going to linger too much on passion and purpose today. For more on that, please, see Passion and Purpose, and 5 Levels of Desire.

The Entrepreneurial Spirit

Being a businessman or an entrepreneur is not like holding a job. Holding a job in an organisation means that you are given a post with responsibilities or job descriptions attached. Everyday’s task in the line of your duty is delineated by your boss. You do your duties and wait for salaries or wages at month end. But an entrepreneur is the visionary, idea generator, structure designer, fund raiser, chief marketing officer, etc. At the beginning, he could be the cleaner, messenger, office clerk, etc at the same time.  What carries him through all these is the energy within – enthusiasm.  But enthusiasm needs an organized environment and atmosphere to thrive and excel. Models, structures and systems must be designed to serve as machinery that can work without him being everywhere for the business. He will surely need intellectual, administrative and financial muscles to accomplish this. While I must not spare words in encouraging you, I must tell you that where those things are lacking, enterprise suffers.

The only genuine source of strength in doing business is passion – red hot passion – that is behind your motive for the enterprise. Genuine and lasting motivation that can weather storms that often comes against business ventures comes from passion. The hotter the passion, the stronger the motivation. I have always believed that motivation is motive for action, while passion is power for action. It is very common and easy to give up in business. There are different types or levels of desires that takes people into business. Passion is a drive and a driver that supplies daily energy for the venture you are undertaking.  In the case of Walt Disney’s example (and stories of Disney’s passion about his dream-turned-reality Disneyland abounds), he saw things that made his family and friends thought he was hallucinating. Eventually, even after he’s gone his dream is still alive and thriving. A leader must re-evaluate his quest and the drive behind it.

As Rev. Tope Popoola puts it in his book, Living Intentionally, ‘’You are either driving something or something is driving you’’. So, what is that thing that is driving you as a leader? Certain level of motivation will wane in the face of challenges that surface in business ventures (or any venture for that matter). The quality and / or quantity of passion driving the enterprise must be, at least up to the challenge coming against it. What keeps your motivations going is the energy called passion.  The quality of passion that motivates you will determine how long and how well you stick with the venture. People venture into businesses because they are propelled by one or more of the following: Desire to make ends meet, Desire for Security, Desire for social relevance, Desire for monetary or financial rewards and Desire to make a difference. These are the energies that carry an entrepreneur through storms and trials that arise in businesses. These 5 drives correspond with 5 levels of needs in the popular Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs.

1. Desire to Make Ends Meet:  This drive is engendered by the basic physiological needs of man such as food, clothes, air and sleep. At the base of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, are the physiological needs which are the needs or desires to meet life’s basic needs. If there is no alternative means of employment, people go into business just to make a living and most businesses started this way. When this needs are met, usually most people begins to look forwards to addressing other needs that naturally exist but hidden from the surface by the immediate physiological needs. When the desire to meet basic need is met, some may choose to be satisfied with this subsistence level of operation in business due to a number of factors such as fear of losing the business if expansion( that is a natural result of business growth) is introduced.

2. Desire for Security: human needs are in layers like an onion. Pill the first layer and the next surfaces. When the needs for air, food, cloth, shelter and sleep are met, the next usually is for security. Security is a big deal for man. He want to be secure from natural and man-made dangers and as well be sure that what he acquired from level one (food, cloths, shelter, etc) are not lost.  Drives to make end meets and for security hardly expand beyond its founder. Out of the desire or a need to create security around the business, the owner may leave it and maintain it at a subsistence, small or at most, medium scale. Business of such nature usually remains in small scale so that the owner can have control over it.

3. Desire for social acceptance: in Abraham Maslow’s theory of needs, the next need on the pyramid is the need for social relevance, love and belonging. We are all social being and want to belong in the society. Sometimes what may drive an enterprise could be this need to be socially relevant and loved. But a business that continues on these bases may not grow as a business ought to. The selfish tendencies of man could hijack the impact of such business. Since it is built around the owner, structures and systems that should give others the platform and opportunity for growth will surely be lacking. Everything is done to feed the yearnings and ego of the owner. Workers in such an organisation, if any at all, rather than being seen as partners and given power and freedom to operate and excel, will be seen as threats or competitors to the owner.

4. Motive for power and monetary rewards: Next is power, or according to Maslow, self-esteem and respect.  They want to be appreciated, rewarded or awarded for their achievements. Many want to gain higher positions; hence they need more power, more money and resources to advance that ambition. Many businesses are born or built to make the owner a dominant force in his terrain. A common feature of such business, if this desire is not checked, is a tendency to be manipulative, fraudulent, and greedy for gains; deceptive in dealings and ruthless. It is not uncommon to see such business pushing fake and substandard products into the market.

5. Desire to make a difference: Finally, this is usually the yearning of the human soul. Everyone has a secret but sacred longing for self actualisation. Self actualisation, according to Maslow, is the peak of human drive that most humans, though eager for and desire to, never get to achieve. But a few individuals, if not many, have being able to. Many go into philanthropy or ‘’social responsibility’’ (community service) while at the esteem needs level, to achieve this, but by and large the quest for self actualisation eludes most. But setting up business models around making a difference from the beginning is a key to attaining this noble quest. In reality this level of desire or need is what is really qualified to be called passion.

With the foregoing in mind, every one going into business must determine from the start why he /she is going into business. The foundational structure of the business will be designed and built for the purpose. Of course, the last purpose for business above, which is the pinnacle of human needs, usually at the end takes care of the first four purposes, needs or desires. It need be emphasised that while this last drive is more or less a spiritual passion, the first four are mostly physiological and psychological or emotional needs. The lines from the Scriptures credited to Christ, sum it all up:

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness and all other things will be added to you. Matthew 6:33.

MAXIMUM RESPECT!

THE LEADER (5): Following the Process of Genuine Progress

By Matthew Ujah-Peter

''To every thing there is a season,

 and a time to every purpose under the heaven''

- Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV)

If the author of the lines above were living in our days and time, I  wonder if he would have written those lines a bit differently, having it in mind that technology and science have made instant gratification synonymous with modern day living. Though technology and science have removed unnecessary long processes, process as a principle that controls life on this planet, cannot be totally removed or sidelined. Life moves along the chain of process and progress is the result of process. Even science follows empirical formula and empiricism means process. But there are components of natural processes that has been removed by technologies so as to streamline life’s transactions. Genetic engineering, for example, is a case in point and a good example of science’s attempt at making life easy by bypassing natural process. The results are not all beautiful, neither are the side effects.

In the quest to bypass long process we have successfully placed our own sojourn on the earth on a really fast lane. But this is not to discredit science and technology. It would be foolhardy and hypocritical of me to discount science. My point is that basic natural process is the pivot of life and sidetracking it in any way is a breach on life principle. We can remove hassles and impediments, but not the laid down rules of life itself. It is we that must follow process. Process doesn’t follow us. We are to keep the laws, not make them. Today young people are in a hurry to become adults and adults are ''regretting'' getting older so soon. We have processed foods, instant this and instant that. There are also the fast foods that are putting people on life's fast lane and driving people really fast.

Young people are the major fans of the entertainment icons and celebrities who made their first millions at a very young age. Their musical videos and the media in general, present them in such light as though these celebrities became rich and famous without breaking a sweat. We are daily bombarded with loads of lists of ‘’world’s richest people of the year’' and all such stuffs and the youths drink all these in without any means of censorship. And whether we like it or not, the message is already passed: you don't need long process to '’make it.’' This translates into breeding a generation of young people that refused to grow up before doing adults' stuffs and a generation that mocks and scoffs at genuine and honest labour. Young people now bend rules, cut corners and play unfairly just to meet up or '’make it'’.

We hardly allow other people the chance and opportunity to gain experience. We don't like to lend our supports to people who are not yet perfect. We boo amateurs, mock beginners and jeer at green horns. We only celebrate professionals, forgetting that these so-called pros were once people we never gave chance to perfect themselves. We refuse to realize that these ‘’gurus’’ we applaud today were people we booed yesterday. They were the once that toiled in the night while we snored away. They were the ones that braved the cold weather while we were wrapped up in our blankets in our comfortable beds. They were the ones that, in spite of injustice, injuries and inadequate facilities and amenities still got out there to work and train while others complained of hard economic conditions and harsh weathers. They were the ones that were scolded harshly just for making mistakes but never gave up.

We treat people as if we learned all we now know from the womb. If all we are good at today were learned from the womb, it will be only fair to be harsh on those who refused or failed to learn theirs from their mother’s wombs. The skills that people pride themselves as having today were acquired over a long period of time and from years of making mistakes, yet hardly will the same person takes it easy with a subordinate who made the same mistake under him / her today. Even though our mistakes were made on other people's jobs we do not want others to make mistakes on ours.  '’Perfect people’’ hardly are patient with others when they made mistake genuinely. But who is perfect, anyways? We rule others with our head while we rule ourselves with our hearts. We can understand when we make mistakes and can give genuine excuses but others have no right to give excuses.

These and other factors conspired to make many young people today place a very low degree of value on hard work and process. When we punish mistakes we do so not with the intention to correct but with the desire and the tendency to condemn. But nobody likes mistakes. We must be kind enough to give people the chance to gain experience. Mistakes in themselves are punishments enough to the person who made them, especially, one who is eager to learn. We should punish acts of neglects and carelessness especially when made repeatedly. Mistakes can results from a number of things. We must first seek to remove the cause before thinking of removing the mistake. But lest this discussion be accused of advocating mediocrity or under performance, I want to make it unequivocally clear that my message is to leaders who know what it is not to be given chance to grow and who want to help others grow.

We would, of cause, be doing injustice to an issue such as this if we neglect to mention that the sickly government policies or lack of good policies in this part of the world contribute immensely to this anomaly. Where else in the world do you have such teaming population of young, energetic, hardworking and success-hungry young people as we have in Nigeria? Yet our government failed to see how such energy can be productively harnessed for national progress. The onus is now on the new crop of leaders that, though not politically empowered, are matching on in the direction of mental revolution. If this generation doesn’t get it right, it might share in the blames when tomorrow comes; and tomorrow is around the corner.

MAXIMUM RESPECT!

THE LEADER (4): Leading from the Background (or the Unseen Leader)

By Matthew Ujah-Peter

History bears unforgettable records of  (and will always honour) men and women who put their lives, comforts and reputations in jeopardy in order to fight for a course that should bring about changes that will benefit others and not themselves, directly. Among these heroes is the man, William Wilberforce. He stood and fought gallantly and his voice rang through the entire British Empire with an energy and impetus that stood him several feet taller than his contemporaries in the Parliament. David Jeremiah, in the MasterWork of Fall, 2012 edition, says this of Wilberforce:

William Wilberforce, the statesman who almost single-handedly championed the abolition of slave trade in the British Empire, was dwarfed by disease. He didn’t appear to be a person who could accomplish much. But here’s what biographer James Boswell wrote after listening to one of his speeches: ‘’I saw a shrimp mount the table; but as I listened, he grew and grew until the shrimp became a whale.’’

In the third book of the trilogy: GEORGE CHARLES SMITH OF PENZANCE, author Roald Kverndal captures the adventures of Williams Wilberforce in relations to the background role of an equally Gallant historic figure in a much succinct way:

Among the many church and lay people who came to visit Newton in the matter of faith at St. Mary Woolnoth was a confused young Member of Parliament for Yorkshire, William Wilberforce. One cold December night in 1785, he came to seek the guidance of the only one he believed could help him decide what to do with his life. Newton’s unhesitating advice was to stand firm where he was – in the parliament, serving God there as both Christian and statesman.

Had Newton advised otherwise, the loss to the nation, and especially to the cause of abolition of slavery, could have been devastating. Small wonder some have referred to this meeting as ‘’Newton’s finest hour as a pastor.’’ Wilberforce wrote in his diary that he saw that visit with the transformed slave ship captain as ‘’a turning point in my life.’’

The slave trade was at that time seen as a national economic necessity. Even a person of Admiral Nelson’s stature could say that never would ‘’the just right’’ of his nation’s West Indian possessions be infringed upon while he had an arm to fight in their defense  or a tongue to launch his voice against the damnable doctrine of Wilberforce and his hypocritical allies.’’ During the two decades that followed the start of Wilberforce’s campaign to end the slave trade, there were no less than eleven failed attempts to pass a bill to that effect. Still, as Wilberforce endured the continuing loss of parliamentary battles, Newton did as much as anyone to win the crucial war of public opinion. He gave personal evidence in hearings before the House of Commons about series of ‘’butcheries and atrocities’’ so graphic that they could no longer be ignored.

At the same time, Newton did his best to maintain the morale of his parliamentary protégé. After the narrow defeat of yet another vote in 1795, Wilberforce was devastated to the point where he actually talked about giving up the campaign and retiring from parliament. Newton countered that Wilberforce reelection as MP the following year showed that God had further work for him. As Newton Put it with great emphasises: ‘’You have not laboured in vain!’’ The outcome was that Wilberforce carried on. Finally, on March 25, 1807, a bill for the abolition of slave trade passed in the House of Commons – and did so with an impressive majority. Meanwhile, Newton had, in 1790, experienced the grief of losing the unique companionship of his wife Mary. However, it gave him great joy t live to long enough to hear about the passage of a bill that Mary, too, had so long looked forward to

Shortly before he breathed his last – on December 21, 1807– Newton prayed that Wilberforce would live to see the abolition of slavery itself. Otherwise, Newton was convinced, it would become ‘’a milestone sufficient to sink such an enlightened and highly favour’d nation as ours to the bottom of the sea.’’ On July 29, 1833, three days before William Wilberforce died, he did, in fact, experience this victory. Neither Newton nor Wilberforce had, after all, ‘’laboured in vain.’’

William Wilberforce was and still is the face of the Slave Trade Abolition Movement. But without such figures like The Reverend John Newton, the struggle may never have seen the light of the day and if it did, it may have ended in defeat for Newton, for all of Britain and may be, for all of mankind. One man was willing to stand behind a young man who dared to think he can change the course of history. Wilberforce was but one soul, but the many supports he was given by unknown souls gave him a size larger than the size of one man.

As human nature most times exhibits, if what someone else - a colleague, a co-student, a friend, or even a sibling - can do better than you puts him or her in a better light than you, or puts him or her in the spotlight and relegates you to the backstage, it won’t make you feel great. Granted, that there are a few highly confident individuals who are usually not in the least threatened by the success of their peers or colleagues, even if that success shoves them off the stage quietly or in a full view of all. Homo Sapiens of that kind are not easy to come by, no, not in this age of Lights! Camera! Action! But as one who sees himself or herself as a leader, irrespective of position and / or station in life, this grain of hard feeling must be put to death in us, else the oil that powers our leadership engine will be polluted, thereby impeding the entire journey.

The reason we each have our own unique gifting is that each one of us is meant to be a leader in an area and capacity and for a particular purpose.  Though everyone is a leader in one form or the other, all leadership roles are not visible. There are lots and lots of people leading in the background whose works and tasks are keys and form major backbone for the ones that are visible. But as it is with human desires and nature, we all crave the spotlight as those often seen in the lines of their duties - especially those who are the targets of media spotlights -  are the ones often regarded as the more important people. But you and I know that without the roles of those in the background, the works of those in the limelight cannot be seen. For instance, not many people take notice of the studio cameraman, the sound engineer, and other studio crew members that help beam the pictures of TV personalities to the world. Yet, this unseen crew is the backbone of broadcasting.This holds true for most areas of life as far as role playing and leadership is concerned. Leadership is not about the man that is often seen. Leadership is being faithful to your calling, irrespective of publicity or popularity.

MAXIMUM RESPECT!

THE LEADER (3): Fear, Causes and Cures

By Matthew Ujah-Peter

First, I’ll tell you a story that I don’t mind telling a thousand times over. I was only then a boy of about nine and was in a company of boys about my age. Some were about two or three years older. We all headed to one of the most popular streams in my little town. It was that season of the year when water levels were high. Everyone removed his cloth and jumped right into the stream. It looked so easy. After all, there can only be a few things they could do that I couldn’t. I joined in. No sooner did my body hit that water than I began to struggle for survival. I was drowning. But thank God for one or two of them who quickly noticed that I didn’t know how to swim. In a few minutes they all joined hands and rescued me. I felt bad and ashamed of myself. Though, I can’t now remember any of them making any serious fun of me for my inability to swim. A few weeks and months later, I was swimming like everybody, having learned the tricks afterwards.

Over the years, I have become a bit suspicious of what everyone refers to as common sense. Common sense is acquired from the use of the five senses: smell taste, touch, sight and sound and passed from generations to generations, many of which may be just myths. Some are offshoots of superstitions. This is not to discount cultures and values. But I agree with Malcolm Gladwell, when he says in his book, Outliers, that ‘’the culture we belong to and the legacy passed down by our forebears shape the patterns of our achievement in ways we cannot begin to imagine.’’

Only a few dictionaries would define common sense without using the phrase ‘'sound judgement'’. But the degree of soundness of any judgement is predicated upon the depth and quality of the culture and values behind it. As common as common sense is believed to be, look at what we do every day to ourselves, to others and to our environments. Our daily life's transactions with fellow humans, environments and circumstances of life are all largely based on (or are supposed to be based on) common sense and it is the base on which core values and cultures are formed , even as core values and cultures, also in turn, form the base for common sense, and herein lies my suspicions.
Common sense becomes limiting with a phenomenon I wish I could call '‘the knowledge of evil'’ or ’'the evil of knowledge,'’ whichever way you decide to look at it from. I often wonder if this is not the same thing the Scriptures refer to in Genesis chapter 3. But be it as it may, fear and its power come from what we know and also, from what we don’t know and this is what I call the knowledge of evil or the evil of knowledge.

The Paralysing Power of Fear. Back to my story. Why did I sink? I sank because of the force with which I hit the water with my entire body weight. But why did I almost drown?  It was because I didn’t know that my body could float on water. So the moment I found out that my legs weren’t touching the ground as it was used to and because I didn’t have a clue as to how to stay above the water, fright and panic took over my judgements. Did I know better? My ordeal that day were the results of both what I know, namely, that I was in trouble (and who told me that I was in trouble, anyway?) and also what I didn’t know, which is that I can float on water if only I was fearless.

So, while learning how to ride bicycle and also while learning how to swim later on, my confidence and fearless dispositions came gradually from the knowledge as to how to do it. But how I have often wondered: how or why is it that animals don’t have to learn how to swim? But human being must learn how to swim? As children, we played with puppies and each time we throw them inside the stream, they swam effortlessly. Even mice swim without hitches. So does dead bodies of human beings. Could this be what the knowledge of evil (or the evil of knowledge) is, and does to mankind?

Over the years, I have read quiet a number of books that address fear. In the same token, I have also listened both live and on tapes/CDs, to great teachers and speakers who had offered great insights that have helped me cut that monster called fear to size. While I cannot claim, as at the time of writing this, that I have fully conquered all known fears, my present victory over  my secret fears plus insights gathered over the years gives me some level of qualification to teach others a thing or two on how to conquer this monster. No one is exempt from fears. But with appropriate knowledge, we can get a good handle of it. Please, note that fear an impulse just like anger. Excessive anger can damage things just as excessive fear. (We will discuss anger Under Emotional Intelligence for Leaders in a different post).

Many definitions of fear have being given. One is the acronym: F-false E-evidence A-against R-reality. Another very similar one is (still with the use of acronym): F-false E-evidence A-appearing R-real. This use of acronym is a brilliant way of making it stick to the memory and though I have known this definition since my early twenties, I do not want to take them for granted, for they are true. Fear is fed by wrong cultural beliefs, others’ mistakes and misfortunes, rumours, bad news, personal failures, pains, etc. These are knowledge that we have acquired over the years on life’s journey. But is fear bad on its own? Doesn’t fear also help us a good number of times to avoid dangers?

The Power of Knowledge.  On my primary school badge was the inscription as our motto: ’’Knowledge is power’’. But what did I know about ‘’power.’’ Well, as a grown man, I now know of no other weapon with which to crush fear as I have known of knowledge. As a boy, I used to fear dogs with certain colours of brown-black stripes, thinking they are mad dogs. The first time I was told of a mad dog, it was a dog with same colour. In fact, that particular colour is not even homely for a dog, in my judgement. Till date I still dislike dogs of such colours. But the fear that they are mad is gone with the knowledge that it is not madness that gave them such colour.

Courage is Not a Denial of Fear. But it denies fear of its power to rub you. Also, courage is not an absent of fear. It is having a more superior reason to confront what you fear. If a man wants to save his child from a fire outbreak, the value of his child surely will supersede the fear of fire and give him such courage that will dwarf the feeling of fear. Ironically, greater fear also does supply courage to over current one. A major propelling force in a leader is the force of courage. Courage in the face of fear. The man who leads is the man who‘s bold and audacious enough to step out of the crowd, and this takes courage. Courage, even when fear seems to be breathing down his throat.

But What Really Is Fear? Fear, in reality and in general, is an alarm. Just like the feelings of hunger, anger, bodily pains, emotional shame, etc. These things are there to help us be alert, alive and about things that are our ‘’response –abilities.’’ Without the feeling of shame who will dress up, dress well or behave well? Without the feeling of pains, who will know when fire is burning up his body part he didn’t see? Without the feeling of anger, how would one show strong disapproval? Without feeling hungry, who will eat? And without feeling of fear, how can one be alert and prepared against threats or danger? Needless to bore you with the scientific explanations about which experts had said that the adrenaline which the feeling of fear helps send through our systems is very useful to give the entire body the ‘wake-up call to action’. Since I’m not an expert in that field, I will go no further there.

This alarm that goes off signalling an approaching threat or ’'danger'’ is normal. This is the process that sends the needed messages to our bodies and mental faculties. We know danger only because the feeling of fear is in us. Again, take pains for example. Without the feeling of pains, we would bleed or be sick to death without knowing something is wrong with our bodies, wouldn’t we?  Pains and feelings are signals, so is fear. Beyond that, it becomes obsession or phobia which is an irrational fear. If what causes the signal – which is usually picked by either one or more of the five senses - is worth a fight or a flight then one must do accordingly. But, how do you distinguish between the two if adequate knowledge is lacking?

The more wrong information or adequate knowledge one has, the more paralysing the feeling of fear becomes. Whether or not a person will function on the bases of the alarm on the full stretch; whether the so-called danger remains a danger or not, is dependent on the person’s knowledge about that thing. When we pick up a sound of approaching footsteps in the darkness and/or in a lonely place, our brains can only interpret it based on our frames of reference. What do you interpret that sound to mean in connections with the environment and the situation of the moment? And what do you know about that sound before now? The more the ignorance or the wrong idea you already have, the stronger and tighter the grip of fear. Fear is fed and grows into a monster by wrong mindset and the wrong information as well as lack of good or full information.

Again, to understand fear one must understand that fear, at its primary level, is only a fright. Fright is an impulse. While a baby may not have fear in the real sense of the word, for they have no knowledge, they have frights and so do animals. They shudder at the instance of sudden loud sound such as dropping objects or an adult yelling suddenly around them. This is natural alarm. But with adequate knowledge babies overcome it as they grow. As for the animals, though they have frights, wrong information have no access to them or rather, they have no access to wrong information and so, they swim without going through swimming classes.

The Cure? All we have discussed already is a good cure of fear, excessive fear I mean. For fear itself, as we have learned, is one of the many types of equipment in us. Fear can’t be removed entirely, for it helps us detect an approaching threat or danger. It‘s excessive fear that paralyses us that must be removed and that by adequate knowledge and reasons to be more courageous. The Feeling of fear, like feelings of anger, pains, shame, weakness, fever, etc., is an announcement of approaching something. But, how come even what we hear, truth or falsehood, also sends fear down our spines?  It is still a signal, nonetheless. Whether that falsehood influences our actions afterwards or not is a function of adequate knowledge. One of a leader’s top characteristics is bravery. Bravery is not blind courage, but a confidence that comes right from the reservoir of knowledge within and superior reasons.

MAXIMUM RESPECT!

THE LEADER (2): Be Not Afraid of Their Faces

By Matthew Ujah-Peter

I have taken part in officially organised plays only twice in my entire life till date. The first one was in my primary school, in which I played a very, very minor role, during our send-off party after our First School Leaving Certificate Exams. I still wonder why I had to be a part of that play. I don’t remember saying any important line that day.  The second one was a French language play in my junior years in high school and I played the lead role. I wasn’t picked for the role because of any particular acting talent I had, but only that I was a better French language student. 'Monsieur Adesanya', our French teacher, whose classes I indeed enjoyed in those days, happened to be the writer/director of the play. But for his constant and tireless drilling, shyness would have had the better part of me. Even though rehearsals went on for days, I couldn’t reach the peak of my confidence. But on the day of the Lagos state French education event in which we were to participate, several schools, including ours, weren’t called up due to lack of time. Thank God for that ‘miracle’, because while I counted down to our turn to perform, I was still working on myself convincing myself that I could act on that stage in front of the crowd.

Whether it is a drama presentation, speech making or recitation before an audience, facing an audience to deliver or make a presentation is still a daunting task today for even professionals. Especially, if the audience is not one you are used to, say your church, club, class, etc. But of course, one’s level of confidence soars with the passage of time.There's still butterflies in most public speakers’ bellies each time they face new audiences. A common advice, for those starting out in public speaking, is to look over the head of the people, possibly at the wall opposite you which is behind them. Additional helpful tip is to quickly scan the audience in search of a person whose face look friendly and/or interested and connect with him or her temporarily as if you are discussing with him/her and then switch over to another till you can make more friends in the audience.

While this may not come very, very easy at the beginning, it is a good way to go because, I tell you, there are certain faces in some audiences that are very intimidating. So terrifying are some of the faces that it sometimes might seems as though they came just to terrify you. They hardly smile, laugh or even nod their heads slightly, no matter how funny, interesting or profound you might think you are sounding. You think you did your research and prepare very well nights and nights to climb that stage to speak till you encounters those faces. Sometimes you would want to quickly finish your speech and run away that if you aren’t careful, you will skip so many lines in your power points.

This is one reason why professional speakers usually start their speeches with an interesting story or a joke to break the ice. A few tricks work to win total stranger and bring apathetic members of audience to your side than this one. 

But thank God, I started out my public speaking from church setting where we were coached to take cover under the help of the Holy Spirit. Yeah, I know. This is not every one’s cup of tea, but it works, big time. You might have other explanation as to how or why it works, but thank God, it works. As I once described it to a friend, it was as if we were injected with steroid and let loose. After my life in the Spirit Seminar in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal group and hands were laid on me, I lost all fears of facing the crowd. As a young man in my late teen and early twenties then, I used to tell those whose listening ears I could secure that I can speak to any audience, including the United Nations general assembly. And they were kind enough not to argue, at least not to my face.

Why did I go this length and what am I talking about? I have heard people told me not to care or worry about what people say in matters that required taking an unpopular stand. They would say, ‘’so, you are bothered by what people say?’’ or ‘’why do you care about what people say about you?’’ How many who say that really stand their ground when the push of societal and family pressures comes to shoves? How many can defy ‘’cultural law of gravity’’? How many can truly stick to their guns in the face of stormy oppositions? Even God recognises the devastating effects of standing alone apart from or against the majority; hence He had once admonished one of His prophets thus:

'' Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.'' - Jeremiah 1:8 (KJV)

And it is from this advice that I took the title to this message under this leadership series. By using the example of the speaker and his new audience, I mean not to imply that the speaker is opposed to the audience or vice versa. But it is similar to the initial tension and lack of connection that exist between those who  challenge the status quo and dare to offer new  ideologies and ways of thinking and proposing that people abandon what they know to be age-old heritage in favour of their new ways of thinking and living. This is especially so in Africa. The pressure that a public speaker faces - especially one starting out newly or facing a strangely new audience and / or culture - is only but a snippet of that which a person suffers in life who takes an unpopular position in life issues. He stands alone. Even friend who have some degree of belief in his ideologies would hardly dare to stand with him openly. They may stand aloof to see if he will break, bend or stand to the end. If he proves his mettle to the end, of course, supporters will emerge from their hidings, first, in drops and trickles and then in torrents, if he refuses to stand down or back down.

This is the core of the principle of leadership. If you will challenge the crowd, in my opinion, you must have an iron for backbone. People will wonder at the beginning: ‘’who is he? What has this individual got to say? What are his qualifications? What are his past achievements?’’, etc, etc. But as you continue standing your ground, refusing to back down, you get to change apathy to empathy, hostility to friendship and casual observers to ardent partners, over time.Truth is enduring, so must those who proclaim it. You, like the truth you stand for, must stand the test of time. Even, if what you say was rejected along with your person. Even if you are spited along with your ideologies, discouragement, though an easy option, must not be given in to. I have made the mistakes of being intimidated by faces of those in high office, but when after summoning the courage to speak to them the truth that I believe they must hear, I find the facades of rugged facial expressing cracked before my very eyes. Truth is not the products of man. It preexisted all of us – from the first Homo sapiens that thronged the surface of this planet to the modernist. Since truth is superior to us all, those who hold it must not feel inferior for it. Truth doesn’t belong to anyone and it is not made up or fabricated. Only lies are fabricated.

It is not easy to always speak and stand by the truth in this sentiment-infested world of ours any more than it had being in the past. Therefore, everyone is getting more and more economical with it. Worst still is the fact that those who want to hear the truth are even very few. And the voices on our streets are crying: ’truth is dead,’ ’no one speaks the truth anymore,’ ‘it is not easy to find truthful people anymore,’ and so on. The sure reason for this scarcity of truth is that people are afraid of faces – the consequence of telling it as it is. It is the leaders that are custodians of truth, and so, must boldly declare it - truth that will benefit and even save all. Any leader who is low on the supply of truth is lacking a great deal in his leadership roles. The followers can only demand for truth if they know what truth looks or sounds like. There is a new crop of leaders, though, that do not have official post or position but who lead, anyway. They lead from the background. They don’t need official post to recognise themselves as leaders. Their number one instrument and weapon is TRUTH. They are the leaders who tell the truth, irrespective of consequences. They are not afraid of faces. Anybody whose heart yearns for the truth can subscribe to this.

MAXIMUM RESPECT!