As we trace our discussion through Africa, evaluating how Leadership has fared in practice, we need to organize our thinking on matters of leadership responsibility and explore leadership as a means of realizing the full value of the corporate potential and social energy of the people of Africa. Africa is not a geographic location. Africa is home. Africa lives in the hearts, history and hope of her people.
Our intention is to show leadership as a social and shared corporate responsibility, to give leadership currency (relevance today) and to enable leadership to positively impact the future. To do this we will review history to highlight the development of leadership in Africa and look at some conditions, contexts and events that have shaped leadership and leadership thinking in Africa. We will also use this reference framework to derive models to influence the way forward for leadership practice in Africa.
We will challenge the central role given to the leader to provide leadership and the assumption that the people are assigned to mere follower-ship. There is harmonized distinction between leaders and leadership in effective and successful leadership practice.
Before you make up your mind we must take you on a thirty six hour journey that starts from a slow, sedate, sheltered beginning through tempestuous, trying territory to very intense times that bring us to the threshold of a third nail biting beginning of a millennium of opportunity on the third day. All we ask is a little patience in unraveling this empowering story of Leadership in Africa.