Developing great leaders for Africa’s next generation

What you need to know:

In full: Education, Science and Technology minister Prof Joyce Ndalichako’s delivered at the 2018 Esami graduation ceremony at Njiro Hills on Saturday, 24th November, 2018.
The key element of her speech is the need for a leadership paradigm shift in a world that is increasingly complex:

But what kind of leaders is required to transform our landscape and take us on a new economic trajectory? This is what I want to spend a few momenWhen I look at the future, I see the need for a different type of leader. Gone are the days when experience or constantly looking in the rear-view-mirror type of leadership sufficed. This is my message to you: You must be different from your past peers. Among other things, you must develop resilience; You must balance short and long-term optics; You must keep a horizontal and vertical outlook; You should have a global perspective yet holding a strong grounding in local insights; You will need to be leaders who are always ready for any situation thrown at you. Not just ready to lead, but ready-able to lead; Your purpose will now be more important than just performance. You will be called upon to build leadership muscle through coaching and mentorship; You will need to network across industries and countries more than ever; You will need to engage in more collective leadership than hero; and as future leaders you are tasked with becoming different and being better than your past peers. We need pioneers. Be those pioneers!

I dare saying, when a building appears lop-sided at construction, a wise owner would immediately order demolition and rebuilding. I submit to you here and now, that our institutions, our organizations and yes even our countries find themselves lop-sided in the face of global changes. The call to revert to default factory settings, reconstruct the African leadership and societal blueprint is long overdue. That serious and difficult call falls on your shoulders. The cane is yours. Do not drop it. The flame is being passed to you. Do not extinguish it. Let patriotic passion rise in your hearts and lead this blessed continent to its rightful place in the community of nations. With the right leadership ethos, one that is anchored on the right moral compass, impassioned with long term outlook and a self-less drive to serve, the saying of Africa as the new economic frontier will leap from literature to life, from wishes to willing action; and from dreaming to daring.

Developing great leaders for Africa’s next generation

What you need to know:

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