I have always believed that from the moment we become aware as human beings, we begin to develop our character, which becomes our personality and eventually our brand. And even though the concept of branding is more prevalent in business, it begins with you.
Whether you are an employer or an employee, the teacher or student, pastor or congregation, politician or electorate, your personality plays a critical role in the perception of your organization.
While many people may not have thought about it this way, you are more important than you think, more valuable to your organization than they can pay you for and the most significant person in your role and responsibility. Until you begin to see yourself as such, you will not maximize your potential.
This thought-provoking message is as applicable to the CEO of the largest organization in the world as it is to the person who cleans your workplace overnight when everyone has left the building.
If the cleaner does a lousy job, it could affect the comfort of the CEO. What if clients come to your business first thing in the morning only to find a pile of trash blocking their way? You may naively consider your role as insignificant, but if not performed with due diligence, it may amount to a significant loss.
Ask the Swiss bank that lost $2.2 billion due to an employee’s oversight.
When blessed with opportunities to speak to leaders in the highest positions of authority in Fortune 500 organizations and even the governments, I usually advise them to be more intentional about enhancing the mindset of their people as much as their skillset and toolset.
I urge them to regularly train, coach and mentor their staff, to test their corporate culture quite often and always to remember that the mentality of their people impacts the bottom line. According to King Solomon, “As a man thinketh, so he is.”
The mindset is the nucleus of success, the foundation of your corporate culture and the propeller of success. Exceptional leaders, therefore, must ensure their actions, decisions and directions are positively influencing the mindset of their people in line with the vision of the organization.
Then and then only would you have a workforce, congregation or citizens of a nation that are truly determined, dedicated and devoted (3Ds). To have this influence over others, you must be an example of the 3Ds. Your determination must be unparallel, dedication, unwavering and devotion solid like a rock.
The 3Ds of Leadership will be part of my keynote to the hundreds of national and international delegates on Saturday, May 13, 2019, in Toronto, Canada, at the celebration of the International Decade for People of African Descent, as declared by the United Nations Assembly, Resolutions #68 and 237.
While the expected delegates include heads of states, captains of industries and other political, academic, religious and corporate dignitaries, the focus of my keynote will be on Recognition, Justice and Development.
It will be on the need for these leaders to become intentional about developing their mentality and mindset of their people to rebrand their corporations, countries and the continent for the next generations to flourish.
As the world celebrates the International Decade for People of African Descent, we need to rebrand the continent and transform the indigenes to change agents. Enough of the internal and external exploitation. Enough of the continental disdain, political, tribal and religious divisiveness, corporate deceptions and global disruptions.
I will also focus on debunking the common misconceptions about this rich continent while also challenging the delegates to do more to change the narrative about and trajectory of Africa. In line with JFK’s philosophy, it is not what the continent can do for us but what we can do for the continent.
In the unforgettable words of Nelson Mandela, from the dock in the Rivonia Trial in April 1964, “During my lifetime I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all people will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see realized. But, My lord, if it needs to be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”
Nothing can assure success in anything more than the 3Ds (determination, dedication and devotion) of leadership. Nothing can strengthen your brand more than these and nothing makes a legacy worthy than them either.
You must be determined, dedicated and devoted to a cause or vision to make it a reality.
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