What kind of leadership legacy will you leave behind?

Wednesday, May 05, 2021 - 4 min read

PRESIDENT MAGUFULI WISHES DR SHEIN A HAPPY BIRTHDAY DURING MEETING: President Magufuli and Zanzibar President Ali Mohammed Shein at the Chamwino State Lodge where they met yesterday to discuss various issues, according to the State House. PHOTO | STATE HOUSE

By Mark Ocitti

Serengeti Breweries Limited

What you need to know:

Leaders that leave great legacies are driven by ‘Mission’ and remain true to delivering the mission goals throughout their leadership. Moses, the legendary leader who led the Hebrews out of bondage to the promised land of Canaan, teaches us a great lesson in passion and mission led leadership.

You either have it and demonstrate it, or don’t have it at all. Leaders who lack integrity are very quickly ‘caught out’ by their followers who quickly lose their trust in them.
Passion for mission is another of those that cannot be faked. Leaders that leave great legacies are driven by ‘Mission’ and remain true to delivering the mission goals throughout their leadership. Moses, the legendary leader who led the Hebrews out of bondage to the promised land of Canaan, teaches us a great lesson in passion and mission led leadership. Though his passion was tested time and time again by the leaders of Egypt, he never lost sight of the mission and delivered it against all odds.
“Do as I say but not as I do” is not the best attitude for nurturing great legacy. History constantly reminds us of great military leaders of the past who built their legacies by leading from the front and ‘showing’ rather than ‘telling’. Great leaders are highly inspirational by nature. Unfortunately, history also reminds us of some highly inspirational leaders who used their inspirational skills to create havoc rather than build society. One therefore needs to proactively use this tenet to channel societal energy in the right direction.
Leaders who are inclusive stand a higher chance of leadership success than those who are not. For one, it is not possible for one person to know everything, and secondly, it is a well-known fact that diversity of thought builds quality of outcome. Without courage it is difficult to be inclusive because inclusiveness requires a certain level of vulnerability in exposing areas where one needs support. Courage must however be followed by humility to allow this to happen. I would therefore venture to say that inclusivity and humility are more of those traits that leaders who build great legacy possess.
Finally, all the above adds to naught if a leader is not able to create value for the people he or she leads. In whichever way a leader’s purpose is spelt, unless there is an element of value creation, hopefully real rather than perceived, he or she stands to be relegated to the land of those one would rather forget about. Remember that legacy is about the value that you leave behind once you are gone. All that you do as a leader must therefore be about nothing but building value.
As I pen off allow me to challenge you to reflect on the above and ask yourself how you measure against each tenet, for your leadership legacy depends on it.

What kind of leadership legacy will you leave behind?

What you need to know:

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