Hone your leadership skills, leaders challenged
Deputy Minister of State, President’s Office-Public Service and Good Governance, Dr Mary Mwanjelwa
What you need to know:
- Leaders who just completed their training under UONGOZI Institute in the city were challenged to hone their skills and think out properly solutions to problems facing their people.
Dar es Salaam. In order to effectively manage both human and financial resources so as to spur economic development, leaders have been challenged to hone their leadership skills.
The challenge was made by the Deputy Minister of State, President’s Office-Public Service and Good Governance, Dr Mary Mwanjelwa on Tuesday, April 9, when gracing the graduation ceremony for the second cohort of the UONGOZI Institute’s postgraduate Diploma in leadership programme held in Dar es Salaam.
Dr Mwanjelwa noted that the programme was a government plan to ensure that it raised public leaders who will respect rule of law, human rights and commit to ending corruption and other malpractices that only delay the country’s development.
“Assuming a position of power can make you a boss but not necessarily an effective leader. It is not the position of power but your leadership skills that can make you unique and think out-of-box,” she said.
She asked the graduands to use the skills gained to make a difference in the society.
“The training is over; we want to see you using your skills to contribute in our venture to industrial growth. You have to encourage others to enroll for improvement,” she said.
The programme, which is jointly run by UONGOZI Institute and Aalto University Executive Education of Finland, and which saw a total of 33 senior leaders from various ministries and public agencies graduating, aims to equip senior leaders with necessary skills and competencies to achieve sustainable development through competent leadership.
“The focus themes of the programme are leadership, with an emphasis on strategic and ethical leadership, sustainable development, communications, human resource management and leading change,” said UONGOZI Institute chief executive director Prof Joseph Semboja.
He said the programme was designed to encourage participants to challenge their thinking as they broaden their competencies in visioning, planning and inspiring others through advanced strategic leadership.
“The programme, which is undertaken on an annual basis with a total of 10 modules, is a result of a unique co-operation programme that enhances our philosophy on achieving sustainable development,” he said.
For his part, Mwanza Regional Commissioner John Mongella, one of the graduands, said that the programme had challenged their efficiency, particularly in developing innovative and sustainable solutions, and building winning teams.
“Understanding leadership is utterly important. In my view, anyone can be a leader but not all can be effective leaders. Effective leaders must exhibit specific skills and attributes to achieve sustainable results,” he said.
