Leadership and vision

In my last article on 'Leadership Brewed in the African Pot', I stated that vision is inseparable from good leadership. A leader without a vision is like a driver sitting in the driving seat of a vehicle which has no fuel. To have a vision is to have a dream which the mind, body and soul are committed to translating into reality.

Good leaders reach the heights they do because of the will and determination to fulfil a mission. The vision is not nebulous but specific so that its meaning cannot be subjected to different interpretations. Vision can thus be defined as a clear, distinctive and specific view of an objective or a mission; and it's all about solutions to problems of humanity and the future.

Leadership's success always starts with vision. Henry Ford dreamed of a car families could afford, Steve Jobs dreamed of an easy-to-use computer that would unleash creativity, President John F. Kennedy dreamed of putting a man on the moon, Nelson Mandela dreamed of an integrated and prosperous South Africa and Dr Kwame Nkrumah dreamed of an independent Ghana and the total emancipation of the African continent. These weren't the daydreams of lazy people; they were deep-seated passions, magnetic enough to capture the minds of just a few devoted followers at first but ultimately the imaginations of millions of men and women. The vision need not be as grandiose as Mandela's, or Dr Kwame Nkrumah's or John F. Kennedy's, unless the leader has a phenomenal array of talent, experience and resources. But 'the final test of a leader is that he leaves behind him and in other men the conviction and the will to carry on the vision.' - Walter Lippmann, writer, reporter and political commentator.

Leaders do not achieve visions all by themselves but they communicate well to gain support and for followers to understand and be committed to the dreams. To translate the vision into reality demands the selection and management of a competent team. The vision that touches a chord with many people is the vision that provides a solution to problems facing humanity, a community or a nation. To share a vision is a central role of a leader. A vision gives people a bigger picture of what things can be like, raises hopes, expectations of people and inspires the­m to work more seriously than expected.

The vision should not be abstract or wild, but must have some bearing on current events. If for example the vision is to arrest the decline of morality or minimise corruption in our society, there are many Ghanaians who are worried about these trends and will surely lend a helping hand.

Nana Addo's vision of free SHS, which emanates from the importance he attaches to education in national development, was well communicated and well received by many Ghanaians. Nobody can take that initiative or credit from him because he earned it by defending it during the 2012 Presidential Debate when President John Mahama thought it was impossible to implement. President Mahama with his failed promises and trepidation to handle the energy crisis has a lot of convincing to do to implement this vision simply because most Ghanaians don't believe he can do it. Poaching the vision cannot work because 'the poacher' lacks the passion, imagination and commitment of Nana Addo to implement it successfully. The late Professor Mills hurriedly implemented in January 2010, the 2006 President Kufuor's adopted single spine pay policy (SSPP) in order to win some political points without understanding the implications or the minefields to be crossed, with the outcome so disastrous that the NDC wished they had never touched it.

To translate the vision into reality a leader has to appoint competent persons (team) who believe in his dream to assist him to achieve his objective but the selection of the team has many challenges. Firstly, from his political party, the leader is confronted with the issue of compensating those who made it possible for him to win political power.

Consequently, appointments are showered on politicians who assisted and not necessarily those with the capacity to do the job. For those appointed from the party, compensation means acquisition of wealth and not implementation of the vision. They thus pursue their own agenda and ultimately undermine the achievement of the vision.

Secondly, to secure trust the leader's kinsmen are given key appointments with little consideration for experience, knowledge and expertise. The mistrust is so deep seated that cabinet and other important appointment holders from 'unfavourable' tribes have deputies appointed from other favourable tribes to monitor their activities and not to assist the leader in achieving the objective.

Thirdly, due to the volatile nature of our political environment highly skilled professionals are not enthused about political appointments and consequently the leader is compelled to rely on party hands who may not possess the requisite expertise. Thus, a 'Team B' could be selected. If the leader is corrupt, the tendency is that all his appointees will copy him and pursue corrupt practices or 'KPA, KPA, KPA' movements.

The next most important assignment after the selection of the team is the management, which involves supervision, inspiration, direction, evaluation, discipline and above all commitment on the part of those appointed. My thirty years' service in the military taught me that the most important principle of management is SUPERVISION. Without it, the leader is bound to fail irrespective of how brilliant the plan or how great the vision.

This is the stage where the leader shows his true character, determination, integrity, energy and drive to translate his vision into reality. If the leader is weak or corrupt and cannot crack the whip, then the vision is as good as dead.

Let's take a look at some commendable visions of our past leaders that have brought this nation this far. We have been blessed with eleven past Heads of State; and in my opinion, the visionary leaders among them are Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Dr K.A. Busia under President Edward Akufo-Addo and John Agyekum Kufuor. My selection is influenced by the following quotation: 'The greatest art of leadership is what happens in your absence. If everything you have done dies with you, you are a failure.

True leadership is measured by what happens after you have died (or left office). This is why true leaders don't invest in buildings and monuments. Jesus never built a building. They invest in people… Great leaders measure their greatness by their absence. Study Jesus, the greatest leader of all; he proved his greatness by living. After his death his organisation grew in bounds.'' - the late Dr Myles Munroe, a Bahamian Christian evangelist.

A good vision should not die with the leader's exit from office but should have people who believe in it to carry on. Dr Kwame Nkrumah after independence laid a solid foundation to achieve his vision of the total emancipation of the African continent, the educated black man to rub shoulders with the white man, and the industrialisation of Ghana which led to the building of Akosombo Dam. Dr K.A. Busia under President Edward Akufo-Addo's reign had the vision for rural electrification which led to the cultivation of teak trees to provide the millions of electricity poles needed to translate his vision into reality.

President Kufuor's vision of moving Ghana from HIPC was achieved and his economic achievement placed Ghana as the emerging economic 'tiger' of the West African sub-region. His vision of providing cheap medical services to the average Ghanaian led to the introduction of the National Health Insurance and no matter the attempts to bastardise it, it has and will survive.

His school feeding programme tripled school enrolment at the preparatory and primary levels and continues to be sustained. I did not pick President Rawlings even though I accept that integrity, probity and accountability are crucial for our national development. The vision has been defeated by his apostles who needed to keep it alive.

Mr Greenstreet's observation on 'Better Ghana Agenda' has been described as having incurable selective myopia, demon possessed and that Greenstreet must scale an elevator to see the success of the great 'Agenda'. What Sam George failed to realise is that 'the view from the top is always different' and therefore Ghanaians in elevators will see the 'Agenda' differently. We don't need a vision that 'creates, loots and shares' nor makes a deputy minister dream of cashing in one million dollars before quitting politics. We need a vision that will create an enabling environment for the talents of Ghanaians to be unearthed and tapped for national development, a vision that will instil discipline in society, the will to enforce the laws of our dear country and last but not the least a vision that will improve the moral fibre of our society.

Happy New Year to all my readers! By Brig. (Rtd) J. Odei