Most leaders dream of an ideal society but swim in a pool of corruption

It is apparent that each and every leader wants to leave a good name after he/she leaves office, but only a few of them achieve the intention.

The driving force behind the failure of most leaders is that they’re easily consumed by power and they suddenly turn to act as demi-gods who can never go wrong on every issue.

They neither take criticism in good faith nor respond without vituperation. And they turn to forcibly change history when they realise that their tenure is a step away.

Why? Because they know that they will live to see their bad legacies hunting them whiles they’re out of office. It is happening here in Ghana and the trend will continue to be if leaders remain adamant to the plight of the governed.

In Ghana, most people alleged to have committed offences have already been in jail for months without seeing a judge. Isolated from their families, their lives have fallen apart. If they had a mortgage, a job, a car loan, bank account, or anything else, it is probably gone.

Many times the spouse abandons the poor accused without visits, too. Now he/she is all alone. No money for lawyer. Despite the promise of speedy trial, most accused people are just more dead bugs on the windshield of “law and order.”

I begin to wonder the system that we are creating for the next generation and sometimes I wish that Allah should wipe this current generation of us and bring in new one to have a fresh start. Because the chances of the next generation being tainted with these corrupt mindsets are high. So sad!

As a leader who is desirous of making a long lasting impact on peoples live, you should be an example for everyone else.

No one will respect you if you are unwilling to put forth the effort that you expect of others. This may manifest in relation to what you are doing.

Less upset and rumble, I remind you, your followers should take an example from you, so it would be nice to be positive. Your employees would emulate you to the higher pedigree if you secretly endorse or sign off corrupt agreements to siphon the purse of the land.

Your employees would definitely take a cue and even act beyond where you stop. Be a leader that your employees and followers would be proud off at every event of national life.

In Ghana, I’m now tempted to believe that being identified as corrupt makes one eligible for a political career whereas in other countries, we have seen ministers and heads of institutions resign even on allegations of corruption.

Here, the allegation will turn into a battle of which political party is more corrupt than the other — in fact, a marathon of arguments by supporters of the political parties.

The productivity of the state is now drained to place individuals that are not selected based on ability but on their willingness to bend the rules.

Our leaders have created a vacuum to enable them take more than they have worked for, taking their own share as well as that of others makes them feel not ashamed.

Instead they feel justified, twisting even the most glaring injustice to restore their distorted sense of balance. It is now almost a norm for people not to be bothered whenever they hear of a public official milking the system.

It is no more a news to the ordinary Ghanaian but an everyday life roped into our blood. The funny thing in Ghana is that the people who are aggressively siphoning the state resources are the same people busily organising forums to find better ways of making Ghana work again.

Is just like carrying an elephant on the head — very impossible. Is our problems genetic or upbringing? Your guess is as good as mine. For a society that can’t afford to tell the truth, must be so far from the truth, already.

Leaders should be reminded that the end goal should never be just about what they want, but rather what the followers need. If you are unable to rally your followers around a collective mission, then the direction of progress is likely to be in disarray.

The best leaders will shepherd productivity in a linear direction, and will also instill a desire for a communal goal that requires individual effort to achieve this goal. It requires honesty to drive a successful leadership train for a successful society.

For most leaders, immediately they’re appointed or voted into power they appear very active and aggressive in tackling every challenge in the country. Just give them six months into their leadership and everything turns to be business as usual.

You need to always keep the fire burning by inspiring commitment and performance. Most of our leaders want to bring their nations to prosperity but they end up swimming in a pool of corruption with shadow laws guiding them.

In our part of the world, some are leaders because their fathers or grandfathers paved the way for them. For some, is because their political party or friend is in charge of a particular sector.

Whatever the angle that brought you into a leadership frame, try to believe and work on the philosophy that you need to have a heart to love and serve your people, if not you don’t deserve and qualify to be a leader.

Don’t show love to your followers because you need their votes and don’t love them because you’re persuading them towards exploitation. This is a bad leadership style.

If you are already a Leader, one good way to find out what you are doing right and what you are doing wrong is to ask for feedback, plenty of it!

Remember, feedback won’t always be pleasant. And that’s not a bad thing. You need feedback to improve. If you don’t get criticism, there is nothing you can improve on, so if everyone says you’re doing a fabulous job, chances are they are telling you what you want to hear rather than what’s really true!

Being open to positive and negative feedback is not easy. Most people get defensive or upset when someone attempts to give negative feedback, and once you do that, no one will ever give you candid feedback again.

So now, the system is so corrupt that a lot of people have stopped fighting it. Some have stopped for fear of being killed or for the safety of their families.

A lot of people have gone down the drain for fighting the system to see it working. It is a way of life now. For many at this stage of the rot, they will say: We don’t want to remove it, we just want our sole benefit, that’s all.

 

Source: Abdul Razak Lukman