UK trainer applauds Akwa Ibom leadership model

United Kingdom, the UK-based trainer on Leadership, Diana Young, has stressed the need for leaders to connect with his followers with the right approach and showing warmth in different ways to make the team members feel smart.

Young listed approaches to good leadership as ability to motivate and persuade team members, ability to provide hope and direction, ability to provide purpose and goal as well as ability to reduce the cost of ambiguities and misunderstanding of vision, mission and objectives.

She identified autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire and transformational leadership styles, stressing that a good leader should adopt a mixed approach which vary depending on environment and personalities.

The trainer submitted that good leadership entails the ability to be flexible in approach enough to connect with all team members at their various levels and psychological disposition for a result-oriented goal and maximum productivity.

The leadership trainer gave the commendation while interacting with a contingent from Akwa Ibom State Government to the London School of Public Relations at Kensington, London in the United Kingdom.

The interaction focused on: “Executive Leadership, Presentation and Pitching Skills”. It coincided with the Akwa Ibom State Ministry of Information and Strategy anniversary. She commended the leadership of the ministry for employing the anniversary approach in reaching the staff and other stakeholders to give them hope and make them feel connected to the collective desire of achieving the common goal of the Ministry.

Saying that it was the first time an organization, which she works with came out with such a laudable initiative, Young implored other establishments to consider the birthday initiative.

In his contribution, the team leader of the state contingent and Permanent Secretary Ministry of Information and Strategy, Akparawa James Edet said although the ministry organises birthdays for staff and allows for socialisation, there is adherence to strict vertical line of communication, which ensures discipline, direction and effective coordination of assigned responsibilities.

Edet advocated transformational leadership style, where staff welfare and inputs are taken into consideration in policy formulations of the organization. He however, warned that disciplinary actions would not be overlooked when erring staff go against the organisation’s overall goal.