Leadership

This article would like to tap into the meaning of leadership, and what a better way to do so than using narration to bring out the picture!

Hi there, meet James. James has a very good friend called Frank. They grew up together and knew each other more than anyone. Frank has a birthday coming up soon, and James cannot let that day pass, mainly because it is his 20th birthday. The 20th birthday is always special, he thought so, because you finally drop the 'teen' off your age. "For some reason, you feel more mature.

So James decided to throw a mega birthday party for his best friend and, as the norm, created a WhatsApp group to bring this planning to life. There is this psyche that usually surfaces whenever you form a new group. People respond fast to messages and funny enough, they're not typically profound messages. So people started having fun in the group. The funny message swallowed some critical messages relating to Frank's birthday party, and no one got to monitor and control them. Everyone gave ideas about what to get for him, but nothing was settled. Scrapbook, a watch, socks, kicks, Samsung Galaxy a32; the more the ideas, the faster people forget the earlier ideas. All you could see were frequent 'that's a good idea' or 'wazi mkuu'; nothing was ever agreed upon. What did this spell: D.I.S.A.S.T.E.R.

Now, what is leadership?

“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” — Warren Bennis

I think leadership is the ability to manage the chaos. We live in a world where everything always happens: this is the true definition of chaos. Whether these things are good or bad, when they are not neatly organized, we lose control and have a disaster. James had an excellent idea of surprising his best friend, a very brilliant motive, I'd say, but he could not control the chaos the idea came with.

Leadership is like juggling ten apples. You manage chaos with a certain level of art that needs mastery. With this said, do you think leadership is for some chosen few? Leadership is an skill that can be learned just like any other skill out there. James could surely use some leadership skills to make his surprise party successful.

Some people don't even believe they can lead, but when you look at what they do, all you see is their leadership. It's not about leading huge organizations that make you a leader. It's about effecting change, even at home with your siblings. We shall consider James leaders when he steps up and makes solid decisions on Frank's surprise birthday party.

Leadership cuts across every relationship, and we need it. It is what makes things run properly. It is the reason you enjoy your favourite pizza on Tuesday. It's the reason you enjoy spending time on your phone. It's the reason you move from one location to the next.

As the youth, let's purposefully understand leadership's importance and participate actively.