Lessons in Leadership Podcast: Recent Episodes
Fusi Akinkugbe
The series provides knowledge and insight about leadership, and shows how you can be a leader even right where you are. It examines the practical issues that impact our leadership, and provides actionable steps and tools to help put what you learn into practice. Learn from this podcast how to build your leadership effectiveness and how you can be be a positive influence in your immediate environment and beyond, and play a part in changing your world. For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
What are the hallmarks of an effective leader? In this episode we turn to the world of soccer to look at one example of leadership: Jay Jay Okocha who played in the English Premier league and made his mark as Captain of Bolton Wanderers Football Club.
So good was his leadership, that his former manager at Bolton Wanderers encouraged Wayne Rooney as England Captain to follow Okocha’s leadership blueprint. So, what did Jay Jay do right? These are the things that we examine in this episode. What does it take to lead effectively wherever we are? These are some of the lessons we learn from Jay Jay’s example.
A study of Jay Jay’s leadership shows us how character prevails over ability in effective leadership. The lessons in this episode can be easily applied, and his example is one profile in leadership that will challenge us to lead wherever we are.
How important is trust between leaders and followers especially in politics and governance? With the political season upon us once again, Fusi looks at the crucial role trust plays in effective leadership in governance and the political space. We see how to lead effectively leaders need the trust of those they serve or seek to serve because they need their followers as necessary partners in the execution of policies and plans. Without trust, followers will not give the required cooperation and collaboration. Without trust, we cannot truly lead.
We learn how a leader’s conduct and decisions build or destroy trust and how this in turn impacts peoples’ trust in the institutions of government. Every action of yours as a leader or aspiring leader in government or in the political space determines how much trust people will have not only in you but also in the institutions that you represent.
For leaders and aspiring leaders in government, the political space and beyond, this podcast will help you understand what is required of you to build trust.
In a world seemingly obsessed with image and self-branding, does humility matter for leaders? In this episode, we see how humility is a crucial quality effective leaders ought to have. Fusi looks at the success of Indian-born CEOs of major international companies to see why they have become so successful. Two things are identified as being responsible for their success, and humility is one of them.
This episode looks at humility and the role it plays in making leaders successful. In addition to the example of humility of the Indian-born CEOs, a former US President and a corporate leader are also quoted, giving additional justification for humility by leaders in every sphere.
But what happens when leaders lack humility? A practical example shows us the effects of a lack of humility and how it hinders leaders in diverse ways.
The episode closes by challenging each of us to begin the journey to effective leadership through humility.
Problems abound in every sphere of life, and they can be said to set the agenda for leaders at all levels and in all spheres of life. In this episode, Fusi looks at the need for leaders to be problem solvers since they will face problems wherever they are.
Most people see problems as problems; but in this episode we are helped to see things differently - which is that problems are leadership opportunities. Someone who solves a problem creates a leadership opportunity for him or herself because the solution which he provides and which impacts someone’s life positively will result in greater influence. Since problems abound everywhere and, in every sphere, leadership can start right where we are.
Fusi explains that a leadership position is a platform to solve problems and address challenges. When leadership positions are not used for these, it becomes a waste of such platforms. Leadership is therefore about performance, and excuses for non-performance should not be part of a leader’s modus operandi.
The collaborative nature of problem solving is also highlighted as we see how solving problems often involves others and is not about someone taking the credit.
Overall, this episode should challenge listeners to see problems from a new perspective and rise to the leadership opportunities that problems present wherever they are.
This episode looks at character - the second fundamental requirement for effective leadership. Is character important in leadership? If it is, in what ways is it important? This episode answers these questions as it shows why character is essential for leadership.
Fusi explains what character is, how it is seen through our conduct and attitudes and how character directs our ability through the choices we make. Listeners will understand the role of character in leadership as they learn that our ability may give us the proficiency at something, but it is our character that determines our motives and in turn how we use our ability.
Our character in effect, determines our outcomes in situations and in life generally. We also see how character sustains personal success, because talent that rests on a foundation of wrong values and unethical choices does not end well.
In the Leadership in Action section, Fusi throws a challenge as he asks if our circumstances should determine our choices. The episode ends with wise counsel that in a world of shifting values, character is never out of fashion.
This episode should set us thinking about the investment we should be ready to make in our character for us to be more effective leaders who enjoy enduring success wherever we are.
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
Today we live in a world in which a person’s exploits and even daily activities can be projected around the world. Social media has made this possible, and with it fuelling the desire to be famous and become a celebrity. This episode examines the world of celebrity against what it means to be a leader. Are they the same thing?
In an age in which image is valued above substance, and illusion above reality we see the extent to which some go, to become known or better known on social media. Celebrities indeed impact and define much of today’s popular culture, but Fusi establishes that there is a difference between leadership and the world of celebrity. The purpose for this distinction is not to denigrate what it means to be a celebrity, but rather to provide clarity in a world in which celebrities fill the media, and leadership risks being construed through the lens of celebrity.
Though there are differences between leadership and the world of celebrity, some celebrities can be said to have successfully made the transition to leadership because they have been able to use the platforms that their work has given them to influence change in a particular area to impact others positively.
The usual Leadership in Action segment reemphasises for listeners what it means to be a leader.
This episode will hopefully help you see leadership and celebrity culture in a new light.
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
There are two fundamental requirements for effective leadership: Capacity and Character. Leaders must have both capacity and character if they want anyone to willingly follow them. In this episode, Fusi looks at what leadership capacity means and why it is so important for leaders. Listeners will learn how leadership is principally built on capacity, and how leadership effectiveness correlates with leadership capacity.
What are the components of leadership capacity? This episode addresses this, showing how some aspects of capacity are imperative no matter the sphere we operate in, while others are contextual, depending on our specific circumstances.
The episode sets out three reasons why leadership capacity is important to us as leaders. These reasons justify the importance of leadership capacity in leadership effectiveness. The usual Leadership in Action section helps personal application of the episode contents.
This episode will help leaders and aspiring leaders improve their leadership capacity.
ANNOUNCEMENTLessons in Leadership Podcast will be on break for the month of July, but we will return God willing, in August. When we return, our schedule will be twice a month (on the first and third Thursday of the month) and no longer every week.
Thank you.
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
With a provocative title like this, this episode shows how important it is for leaders to be able to deal with criticism and opposition. Both opposition and criticism are part of the reality of leadership – they come with the territory. How should leaders deal with them? Fusi shares four things that leaders should do to effectively deal with opposition and criticism.
He shares how leaders must have inner strength and conviction about what they want to do, because they must be able to remain undeterred by criticism and opposition. Not all criticism is negative, and some are actually constructive so leaders must be able to take criticism in perspective.
The episode emphasises the importance of humility in listening to feedback from others – including that which comes from down the organisational ladder. Leaders are also advised to turn their critics and opposers into allies. The necessity for leaders to ensure they create environments in which people are able to speak truthfully so they can hear what needs to be heard to achieve the organisation’s goal or purpose is also stressed.
The regular Leadership in Action section reinforces the lessons in the episode. Overall, this episode will help build every leader’s arsenal in effectively dealing with criticism and opposition.
ANNOUNCEMENTLessons in Leadership Podcast will be on break for the month of July, but we will return God willing, in August. When we return, our schedule will be twice a month (on the first and third Thursday of the month) and no longer every week.
Thank you.
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
Which matters more when it comes to leadership: age or preparation? Many societies especially in Africa, have been said not to give enough leadership opportunities to young people. But is age enough to qualify for leadership? This episode looks at the contentious issue of age in leadership.
Because leaders generally do not know the circumstances in which they will be required to lead, they must be prepared to deal with whatever challenges they find when they get there. Using the examples of two internationally acknowledged leaders, Fusi shows how preparation and not age, is what matters with regards to leadership.
Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was 67 years old when she became President of post-conflict Liberia and had to deal with numerous problems in her quest to turn the country around. Jacinta Arden on the other hand became Prime Minister of New Zealand at the age of just 37. By the time she was 40 she had had to deal with a terror attack and the coronavirus pandemic for which her country has been acknowledged as having one of the best responses in the world. Both leaders were prepared for leadership. Their preparation and readiness for leadership was what qualified them both and not that one was old or young. Leadership is not about excuses, but about performance. Anyone who makes excuses is clearly not prepared nor ready for leadership.
The Leadership in Action section challenges listeners to prepare, whether they are pursuing leadership in any capacity, or they just simply want to be a positive influence right where they are.
No matter our age, preparation for leadership is what matters.
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
Leadership constantly requires leaders to make choices, some of which can be hard. But leaders need to do hard things because some of the choices they need to make are not easy. This episode challenges leaders to do the hard things required of them, by looking at four hard things leaders do. Some of these things include being able to say no when it is necessary, and being able to hear and accept the truth even when it is unpleasant.
Ultimately, leadership requires one to make choices, some of which can be very hard. The challenge is if you are in a position of leadership today, are you able to live up to the responsibility of leadership by doing the hard things required of a leader?
As is customary, the Leadership in Action segment helps us to apply the lessons from the episode to ourselves.
This episode will challenge you to think about what it means to be a leader.
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
This episode concludes the two-part podcast on The Price of Leadership, with this one looking at Self-Discipline. In it we understand why self-discipline is imperative for leaders, and how it is a reflection of the depth of one’s character. Leadership requires behaviour that is consistent irrespective of one’s circumstances, and this episode shows how we can be more self-disciplined and ultimately more effective leaders.
From 3 reasons why self-discipline is important for leaders to 3 things that will help us become more self-disciplined, this episode gives listeners reasons to invest more in self-discipline and the tools to do so. Fusi also cautions on the need to find a balance between discipline and creativity so we do not pursue one at the expense of the other.
Nations too can be disciplined, and we hear the examples of two countries that have shown discipline in their national life and the difference it has made.
The regular Leadership in Action section helps listeners apply the episode's lessons to themselves.
This episode will further reinforce for listeners, the true price of leadership.
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
In this first part of The Price of Leadership, Fusi makes the case why sacrifice is important for leaders and why it is required to attain great things. Unfortunately, in the world we live today, we are bombarded with images and messages to the contrary. But can we really influence people without making any sacrifice?
Leading others requires our accepting that sacrifice is a price of leadership, and how committed we are to the cause or purpose we are pursuing determines how much we are ready to sacrifice for it. Using examples from opposite ends of the leadership spectrum, we hear about two leaders who sacrificed to achieve goals that impacted others.
The episode highlights 3 reasons why people can be unwilling to make leadership sacrifices, while the Leadership in Action section helps listeners apply the lessons of the episode to themselves.
This episode will help listeners understand what the price of leadership truly is.
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
Crisis can occur anywhere and without warning. Listen to this episode in which Fusi teaches how leaders should deal with crisis. Using the example of British explorer Ernest Shackleton (1874-1922), Fusi shows how leaders can lead their teams successfully even in crisis.
With a vivid account of Shackleton’s failed mission to Antarctica in 1914 which ended up lasting two years in hostile conditions, we see how the purpose of a team can change as a result of crisis and how leaders should respond. Identifying five lessons from Shackleton’s leadership in crisis, listeners will learn how they too can successfully respond to crisis. In Shackleton’s case, though he could no longer fulfil his original mission because of the circumstances he and his team found themselves in, he was in spite of this able to come through the crisis without losing a single member of his team which was a feat given all that they faced.
Listeners will learn what it takes to lead successfully in crisis, and what the priorities of a leader should be when crisis occurs. The Leadership in Action section helps listeners apply the lessons of the episode to themselves, helping them prepare to deal with crisis whenever it occurs.
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
This episode concludes our four-part series on Power and Influence. It opens by telling us what it means to be respected and how respect helps build influence. We learn four specific ways in which we can earn respect. These are things we can apply individually to become better leaders no matter where we are .
Fusi shows how we often have to make a choice between being popular by doing things that please in the short term or earning respect in the long-term by doing things that are more difficult, but which are ultimately for the greater good. Earning respect can sometimes require hard choices, and this episode emphasises this.
The episode also teaches that effective leadership is not accidental, but rather it is the result of deliberate, tangible investments made by anyone seeking to earn the respect of others. In the customary Leadership in Action section, listeners are asked questions that challenge them to evaluate themselves in the light of points raised in the episode, and through these improve their leadership effectiveness.
This episode brings the Power and Influence series to a fitting close.
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
This episode takes a look at leadership through the lens of a recent event – the funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and how the event was a lesson about how those who have privilege in society should act. Fusi shows how through the conduct of the funeral, the Royal Family despite their privilege showed leadership. Most of us are not royal, but in every society, there are those who have privilege for one reason or the other – their birth, education, social and political status etc. They often addressed as the elite.
Using this powerful example from the Royal Family’s handling of the funeral of their Patriarch, Fusi shows how those who have privilege must show leadership whether or not they have formal positions of leadership. Through their adherence to the Coronavirus restrictions limiting mourners to 30 (even though the funeral had originally been planned to be for 800), to everyone wearing masks and the Queen having to sit alone and not with any of her children because they were not from the same household, listeners will see how privilege comes with responsibility.
This episode challenges those who consider themselves privileged in every society to see the reality of the responsibility their status demands from them. If they don’t live up to this, then there is no incentive from those who do not have privilege to act properly and lawfully. This is how leadership by those who have privilege matters. The episode is also a preparation for those who aspire to and will in future also become privileged in some way, as it shows them beforehand, what will be required of them.
While the episode shows us the power of the example we set, it also clearly lets us know that this comes with a cost, which in this case was having a funeral that was not quite the way the family wanted nor had originally planned. But they knew their position and the example they needed to set, so placing the law above their Royal status was not a difficult choice. Institutions can only be sustained when those to whom they have been entrusted embrace not just the privilege of their position but also the responsibility and cost of having such privilege.
The episode ends with the customary Leadership in Action section. Here, listeners are encouraged to look inwards to make necessary changes in line with the lessons learned in the episode. This episode reinforces the theme of leading from where you are, as it should set everyone thinking about their role in and contribution to the society in which they live.
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
This is the second episode of the four-part series on Power and Influence. In this episode, Fusi looks at 5 Realities of Power. He helps his listeners understand the true nature of power, and how these realities impact leadership when we do not accept and embrace them. He starts by explaining that leaders must be accountable for the power they have been given, even though many leaders unfortunately act as if their power is self-originated.
He tells his audience that power must have purpose, and uses a powerful example to illustrate the futility of power not having a purpose beyond benefiting the holder of such power or the interests he or she represents. In the rest of the podcast Fusi speaks about three other realities of power and how they too can impact our leadership.
With a leadership position comes power, but what matters is how we use it as this can enhance or undermine us as leaders. Like other episodes, listeners will find this episode practical and immediately applicable to whatever context they are in.
Knowing, understanding and accepting the realities of power are essential for every leader and aspiring leader wherever they are.
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
This episode is the first of a four-part series titled Power and Influence, and it addresses Authority and Power – two things that are highly sought after. What do they really mean? Fusi explains what they mean and how they impact leadership.
Listeners will understand why someone in a position of leadership is not necessarily a leader. They will also understand why they should invest in influence and not depend on the power and authority of a leadership position. Fusi explains what it means to have Power without Influence, and advises how to avoid it.
Fusi tells his listeners how they can become authentic leaders, whether or not they are in a position of leadership. By the end of the episode, listeners will understand how authority and power impact leadership and what our attitude towards them should be.
The episode concludes with the customary Leadership in Action segment in which listeners are challenged to apply the message of the podcast to themselves. Happy listening!
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
Lessons in Leadership does something different in this episode as it reviews - from a leadership perspective, something that was trending recently on Twitter. Someone conducted what he called a "social experiment" and concluded that we the people are the problem in Nigeria. But are we really the problem?
This episode shows how leadership matters at every stage and in every sphere starting from the home, and why it is important for leaders to lead by example. Fusi picks up on the topic concluded in Episode 5 – How Leaders Lead, and says that leaders must inspire, influence and enable people if we are going to have a better society. He agrees that we have many challenges as a nation, but drawing from the words of a well known American Presidential Historian, he says the reality of leadership is that leaders do not know what challenges they will face when the opportunity to lead comes, but they must be ready to face the challenges whatever they are, because they are opportunities for them to demonstrate their leadership ability.
Fusi examines the events of the "social experiment" through the lens of leadership and asks his listeners to decide where the problem lies.
The episode ends with the Leadership in Action segment in which listeners are challenged to apply the message of the episode to their own lives.
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
This episode concludes the topic How Leaders Lead and it looks at two more things that leaders do to lead effectively: leaders influence, and leaders enable.
Fusi shares what influence is and how it works. He stresses the importance of being able to truly lead by influencing others, highlighting how this should be done. We are assured that we all qualify to exercise influence because we each have a sphere of influence, whether or not we are in a formal leadership position.
The third thing that leaders do to lead effectively, is they enable others. This means they must provide the means and opportunities for those they lead to achieve the purpose of the organisation. But leaders sometimes have problems in this area. What are they? Please listen to the episode to learn more.
The episode concludes with the Leadership in Action section, where listeners are challenged to apply the topic of the episode to their own personal circumstances and situations.
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
How do leaders lead? Most of us want to be effective leaders but don’t know how. This episode helps address this, telling us the things that leaders do to lead effectively. In the episode, we look at one of them, which is that leaders inspire others.
Fusi explains what it means to inspire others and why it is so important for leaders. He says we must first set out a vision or set new standards if we are going to inspire people, and then looks at the things that are important if we are going to successfully inspire others. There are examples of leaders who through inspiration were able to successfully lead their people through different difficult circumstances.
In the Leadership in Action section which is where we apply what we have spoken about to our personal circumstances and situations, listeners are asked to examine if they are inspiring those they currently lead or not, and then they are charged to change the status quo. Inspiring others is a necessary first step in effectively leading others towards achieving the overall purpose.
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
Anything meaningful starts with purpose, and leadership is no different. In the third episode Fusi establishes why leadership must begin with purpose. We learn why leaders must lead with purpose if they want to lead effectively. The episode sets out three things leaders and aspiring leaders need to understand about purpose and how it impacts leadership.
A new segment called Leadership in Action is introduced at the end of the episode. In this segment, Fusi asks questions to help us apply what we are learning into the context of our lives and circumstances and facilitate our leadership growth. The question in this episode will get us thinking about why we want to pursue leadership in the first place.
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
This episode concludes The Leadership Challenge. Fusi looks at the importance of leadership capability and why organisations and entrepreneurs need to be mindful of it. The episode establishes that every leader’s capacity is tested, though no leader can predict how they will be tested: they only need to be ready whenever the test comes.
Leaders, in whatever capacity they are leading, do so in a less than ideal world often of difficult circumstances, but leadership capability prevails over circumstances.
The episode closes with listeners learning the two things required for effective leadership and includes practical examples and references. There is definitely something for each person to take away.
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
This episode: The Leadership Challenge, gives listeners an understanding of the challenges faced by leaders irrespective of the sphere they operate in, and how this makes the capability of leaders so crucial to effective leadership. Fusi starts by looking at the context in which we live today and how challenges are a fact of life and of leadership. He tells us why organisations must be mindful of leadership capability, and then looks at some of the specific challenges faced by leaders in different sectors – first in the public sector, where he identifies five of the challenges public sector leaders face which they must overcome to be successful as leaders.
The podcast has practical examples as well as references to underscore what is being taught. This episode is the first part of this topic.
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com
This is the introduction to the podcast series: Lessons in Leadership. Learn how to build your leadership effectiveness and how you can be be a positive influence in your immediate environment and beyond, and play a part in changing your world. In this introduction I give an overview of what the podcast series is about and the different things I will be speaking about over the course of the series. Join me!
For more, please visit: howyoucanlead.com