Toye Sobande introduces new book on leadership and organisational politics

Strategic leadership expert, lawyer and public speaker, Toye Sobande has released a new book to help positional leaders in corporate and non-corporate spaces, employees and managers, navigate through organisational politics.

Titled: Leadership and Organisational Politics: How to Win Office Politics and Thrive in a Competitive Environment, Sobande is poised to equip those who want to lead in their fields with principles of effective leadership with practical examples.

Sobande who is also the Lead Consultant and President of Stephens Leadership Consultancy LLC, said, “Politics plays out in every area of human endeavour. Wherever there are two or more people, there will be politics and as a direct result, conflict is inevitable.

“Differences in personality, leadership style, culture, and value system make this so. Accordingly, personalities will often clash in organisations where this diversity is inevitable. However, individuals, I mean leaders, can manage clashes effectively.

“Like it or not, no office or organisation is free from politics. Man is, by nature, a political being. Thus, he is innately wired to compete, so, naturally, there will be politics, competition, and conflict between two or more people.”

The 254-page book extensively discusses personal leadership, organisational conflicts, workplace politics, and leadership growth. It is intended to be a reference material for people who want to gain valuable insights into improving their leadership effectiveness while effectively managing organisational politics and conflicts.

The author noted that the book fills an important gap in the literature on leadership development programmes in organisations. “Most of the existing literature omits lessons on leadership conceptions of followership; the focus is on educating, training, and developing the leader, not the follower, the superior, not the subordinate.

“Also, most leadership development programmes fail to reckon that leadership is a process of influence that involves an ongoing transaction between a leader and followers. Each of whom was likely to shift from being in the role of a leader to being a follower.”

He further stressed that the key to effective leadership is building a harmonious relationship between leaders and followers. While most attention is given to the leader, leadership depends on more than one person to achieve group goals. “Therefore, the followers and the leader are vital to understanding leadership development as a process. Thus, the book considers leadership development from a follower’s perspective and attempts to provide answers to relatable questions.”

On the style of presentation, Sobande who is also the Executive Director of the African Leadership Journal said, the strategies and principles are delivered practically with a blend of storytelling and case study analysis to deliver its message, taking its readers on an immersive journey through personal leadership and organisational politics.

This book will equip readers with the principles of effective personal leadership while gaining insight into the application of personal leadership principles as a strategy to navigate organisational politics.

Sobande holds a Doctorate in Strategic Leadership from Regent University, Virginia Beach, USA, and is also the author of “The Leadership Myth: Why Leadership Principles Do Not Work in Sub-Saharan Africa.” He is a Certified Management Consultant and a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants. A member of the International Leadership Association (ILA), the Society of International Economic Law, and the Nigerian Bar Association.