Ayo Oladejo and I have in recent months had long and exciting conversations on the subject of leadership. Ayo believes it all starts and ends with leadership. I agree. The conversations are exciting, as enlightening. He recently wrote a piece on the role leadership plays in the work place and I thought to share excerpts here. You can read the original piece on his blog here.
Project managers tend not to think of human resources beyond resource sourcing and ensuring same perform their functions on time and to a high level of quality. I am a proponent of pushing leadership as a separate knowledge area because of its importance that cannot be over-emphasized.
Leadership can be viewed from four dimensions – Me, We, Work and World. The “Me” dimension means that leading is not about being a boss at work. It entails practicing personal leadership by holding oneself to high level of performance, leading by example, etc. The “We” part is where an individual shows his interpersonal skills. One cannot claim to be a leader if the simplest form of human relations is missing in that person’s character. The “Work” part is about organizational
leadership. It is about leading teams at work to achieve set objectives. “World” is the dimension that deals with how we help the society and the world at large to progress. Our social responsibility, respect for human rights, committing to a sustainable environment, etc.
