Transformational Leadership in Africa

By Eddy Kubwimana · October 2022 · Leadership Reflection

Transformational Leadership

When I started hearing about the leadership seminar, it was a joke. I never thought that I would benefit from it. However, I found out that, in most cases, we are good at giving advice and bad at following our pieces of advice. We enjoy imposing orders on others but not on ourselves. The critical lesson from the previous seminars is starting by building, policing, and educating myself before I go out there. In this essay, I am trying to picture my leadership style, ideas, actions, integrity, and purpose.

What kind of leader do I aspire to be? Maybe this is a great question that everybody would have to ask himself. Our hands, brain, and the rest of the body can bring us harm and a blessing. Then, how would I avoid bringing destruction upon myself? The answer is simple: learn how to use me to achieve a great purpose. Of course, I am not saying I want to be the second Messiah, but I am invited to resemble him as a Christian. For that reason, I see myself as a transformational leader.

"A leader without the vision to strive to improve things, is no good. Then you'll just stay put, you won't progress." – Lee Kuan Yew (Kwang et al., 1998, p.101)

I was born in Burundi. Poverty, wars, and conflicts are breakfast since we are good at cooking them. We can make more than we can consume. Most of our politicians don't care about what is right because their past misdeeds ensnare them. They were awarded good seats because they killed and saved millions simultaneously.

As Leymah Gbowee complained, politicians claimed to be rewarded for their misdeeds. Believe it or not, those leaders are commonplace in most African countries. As a future hatchling leader, I have to do everything purposefully. I have to change my life and the lives of others. And the only way to do that is first to lead me and transform my life.

A good leader in a typical Burundian context is a soldier who has been able to kill more than enough. Being a soldier is correlated with being a good leader. When someone is running for election, the questions that citizens ask themselves are: "Has he been a rebel?" "Is he good at shooting?" Because it is said that even if they elect you without a military background, you will be dead before you even swear for the term.

Then, how do we change ourselves so we have a broadened understanding of who deserves to lead our country?

"Most politicians are good at making speeches because they are trained to do so. They sell their words but not their actions." – Kwang et al., 1998

As lucky as I am getting that leadership training, what do I have to do after my four years at Ashesi? I must return to my country as the released prisoner in Plato’s allegory of the cave. Not only do I have to tell the truth outside their cave which is my country, but I have to increase my emotional intelligence before doing so.

"Manage your Emotions; Don’t Let Your Emotions Manage You." – Awori (2022, ch. 7, p. 3)

Although I may have seen the light, depending on how I communicate my message, it may not be of good help. I think knowing the truth is as important as how we share it. But I have to train myself to lead and transform my life based on my values before I can start trying to lift up others. That is when I can make the change I want in my people.

Leadership Practice & Purpose

I believe that you cannot sow wheat and harvest beans. We are human beings, and our natural inclination makes most of the time harmful actions easier to commit. Nature and nurture all play a role in our beings, but I better focus on what is under my control: nurture. I can rewrite it and learn new and unlearn old ways of living.

Leadership, in my understanding, is like a sport; it is hard to win any game if you don't practice. I believe that I have to live as a leader to become a leader. Lee states that having a good government led by imperfect leaders is impossible. We don't have to morph into good leaders once it is needed that we lead. We always have to be ready to lead.

Leadership as Action

Leadership is more of acting than talking. As a hatchling leader, I believe that actions have to define who I am more than what I say I am. Using the Omelas city short story, we see how the little child was deprived of her liberty to ensure the rest stayed happy. It is more than unethical. Suppose happiness and suffering are a dichotomy that we all have to experience—why offload our pain and put it on others?

"Being a great leader means that you are clear about what you believe in. It means living those values in big, small, and public acts and behind closed doors." – Awori (2022, ch. 4, p.1)

In Burundi, the country is poor when it comes to doing a public project and rich when it comes to increasing deputy and minister awards and fees. On my account, I believe that preventing suffering, increasing collaborative development, and shared sacrifices depict my good leadership.

Purpose & Integrity

Purpose and integrity are like blood for good leadership. I cannot believe you can have a good impact if you don't have integrity. Awori (2022) mentions the integrity quicksand, which may compromise our values if they are not strong enough. We all meet challenges and have to decide that may weigh heavily on us. But if we have a purpose that guides what is worth doing, it can help us to be far-sighted.

Additionally, we can get tired, but having someone to talk to on the same journey makes it lighter.

"Re-evaluating our social circles is also important for value-based leadership. We operate in a system characterized by interdependence." – Awori (2022)

That is why our purpose has to determine with whom we associate.

References