Experts task business managers on leadership skills

Business executives and managers have been given a mandate to rethink leadership and imbibe core values that will transform the business landscape, workforce ecosystem and governance across all boards.

Critical among the leadership values that will transform organizations is the mindset of service and a desire to create environment for workforce to thrive.

Experts who gathered at a two-day mentorship event tagged ‘Niyi Adesanya Leadership BootCamp’ organized by Fifth Gear Consulting, gave these charges in Lagos.

Speakers at the event who joined foremost leadership expert and facilitator, Niyi Adesanya include Richard Mofe-Damijo, Nollywood actor, Chief Executive Officer, Systemspecs, John Obaro, who was represented by Executive Director, Systemspecs, Deremi Atanda, renowned Public Speaker, Ubong King, Human Resource Expert, Iview Martins Ogbonmwan, Emmanuel Utomi and Iwu Akinyoyenu among others.

Speaking at the event, an expert on Leadership, Dr. Sam Adeyemi, said a rethink of the African belief system is critical to a big shift in leadership in all areas.

“There’s a wrong cultural influence on leadership in Africa that starts from our homes and families. That thinking that being a leader makes you superior to followers is something we have held on to for too long and it must change,” Adeyemi said.

Adeyemi also charged Nigerian organizations to position themselves for the coming opportunities that Africa is set to witness as a result of renewed interest in the continent as the next big thing.

In corroboration, Mofe-Damijo, noted that the entire failure of governance in Africa is a reflection of who we are as a people. He draws parallels between how people are responsible for their families but when elected into public office, refused to be irresponsible to the electorates.

While noting that the dynamics of the workspace is changing with the influx of millennials in the system, Ogbonmwan charged employers of labours to embrace new cultures.

She said although millennials are highly misunderstood in the workspace however, employers of labour should make provisions for flexibility of work hours, trainings, mentorship and teamwork.

Underscoring the essence of the event, Adesanya said: “We see the boot camp as the right place for refueling and re-energizing of workforce. We also see it as answering the deficiency of leadership in the workforce, in Africa and the world at large. We see it impacting more life than any other of its kind. We try to touch on intellectual, spiritual, physical, philosophical and psychological aspects of people.”