Leading like a lion or lioness in uncertain times part 1

Dr. Wilbert R. Mutoko (PhD, FHEA) is a business doctor, financial wellness speaker, business strategist, researcher and senior lecturer at undergraduate and master’s degree level for business management and entrepreneurship & business leadership at the Botswana Accountancy College School of Business & Leisure. Dr. Wilbert is the author of four books entitled: 15 Secrets for Personal Financial Success – A Simple Step-by-Step Plan for Financial Freedom | 16 Mistakes Singles Make Volume One – A Guide to Successful Dating & Courtship that leads to Blissful Marriage | What you have is Enough - How to become wildly successful in finance and business starting from where you are now. | The fourth book is a free pdf - | Financial Freedom – It’s your turn for financial success. You can get the free ebook by emailing or sending a WhatsApp message to the author. All the books are available at Exclusive Books (Riverwalk) and Bala Books (Rail Park Mall). Dr. Mutoko writes in his personal capacity. For feedback, you can contact him on email: wilbertmutoko@ gmail.com. Or WhatsApp: +267 71 824 591.

Leading like a lion or lioness in uncertain times part 1

By Dr. Wilbert R. Mutoko (PhD, FHEA)

What does it take to lead during times of uncertainty? A leader in uncertain times can be likened to a ship captain, pilot, or army general. What sort of a ship captain can steer a ship through a storm? What kind of a pilot is best suited to direct a plane during dark times? What kind of an army general is needed during difficult war times? Are you ready to lead during these hard and uncertain times?

Some of the characteristics of leaders that succeed in uncertain times include vision, boldness, focus, ability to communicate effectively, building competent teams, never-give-up attitude and hunting prowess. In this article we cover some of these characteristics, but some will be covered in part two. With the understanding that there

are male and female leaders, I aim to cater for both. However, for the sake of simplicity, in this article, the word lion will represent both the male and the female leader.

Vision

Lions are known for very sharp eyes. They can see their prey from afar. When they wake up, they are very sure of where and when they will hunt. They are sure of the kind of prey they want. Lions do not like stale food. Thus, each day, lions aim for fresh meat. To lead like a lion, you need to be sure of your vision. In uncertain times, a leader shouldn’t be jittery and moving from pillar to post.

Why do other leaders steer their firms to greater heights during tough times, yet others fold their hands? Why do some leaders grow their firms while others spread their wings too thin? One of the answers could be the ability to think and act in the long-term.

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla has led Tesla to dizzy heights despite the current world challenges. This is partly due to his unrelentless focus on the vision of Tesla to “create the most compelling car company of the 21st century by driving the world’s transition to electric vehicles.” Similarly, Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon has grown in leaps and bounds by unwaveringly following the Amazon vision, “to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavours to offer its customers the lowest possible prices.” Back to you, whether you run a start-up, NGO, micro enterprise, small enterprise, medium enterprise, large enterprise, parastatal, or government department; what vision are you pursuing? Do you sincerely believe in the vision such that every minute you live the vision? The lion knows what it is up to and pursues it relentless.

Focus

When it comes to hunting, whether during the day (times of certainty) or the night (times of uncertainty), the lion maintains focus. This is where experience plays a major role. Inexperienced and young lions make a lot of mistakes including shifting from to prey in the hunt. However, an experienced lion focuses on a single prey and entertains no distractions.

In uncertain times, leaders must be focused on what matters most. While there can be room for experimentation, it is not a time to look at too many options. What are you really good at as a leader? What is your organization really good at? What does the market need? Can your organization offer what the market needs efficiently and effectively? Avoid learning too many new things and experimenting on too many new things that you know nothing or little about. Focus on what you know and/ or can deliver like experienced lions do.

Boldness

Boldness is what distinguishes lions from all other animals in the jungle. But what is so surprising is that the lion is not the fastest animal. The cheetah is the fastest animal in the world, capable of going from 0 to 97km per hour in less than three seconds. A cheetah’s maximum speed is 80-130km/hour, while a lion’s maximum speed is around 80km/hour. Thus, in the short run, the lion can never outpace the cheetah. Yet the lion is the king of the jungle.

The lion is not the tallest or biggest or smartest animal. There are other animals that do better than the lion. For example, the cheetah is the fastest animal, the giraffe is the tallest, the chimpanzee is probably the smartest animal, the beetle is the strongest animal, while the elephant is the largest land animal weighing up to 7 tonnes (7000 kg) compared to a lion which weighs a maximum of 190kg. Remember though that the elephant is not the largest animal in the world. Rather it is the largest land animal. The largest animal in the world is the Antarctic blue whale, weighing up to 181436 kg (approximately 33 elephants) and reaching up to 30m in length. Nevertheless, the lion is said to rule the jungle.

The giraffe is the tallest animal which goes up to 6m tall, compared to the lion which is about 1.2m tall. Furthermore, the lion has only one heart, as compared to an octopus, which has three hearts. How then is the lion the king of the jungle? The answer is Boldness. The lion has told himself that I am the strongest.

As a leader, during times of uncertainty, you need to be bolder than ever before. That is why Alexander the Great once said, “I am not afraid of an army of lions led by a sheep; I am afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion.” Why is that so? A sheep is a very calm and good animal, but when you are at war, it is not best suited to lead because it lacks the audacity that ensures victory. As a leader, do you have a lion’s heart, or you have a sheep’s heart? It is time to either put ahead of you a leader who is as bold as a lion or equip yourself to become as bold as a lion, or to appoint certain bold and qualified generals in your organization to help you lead in these uncertain times.

Conclusion

As a leader, you need to be consistently looking for ways to better yourself and to grow the organization. I hope that these lessons from the lion will inspire you be a better leader – vision, focus, and boldness. In the end, it does not matter how smart, fast, strong and connected you are; it matters how bold, focused and longterm oriented you are as a leader. We will look at more characteristics of a lion that could propel you to greater heights in part two of this series.

I wish you the best of every success as a leader. Together we will sail through this crisis.

See you in Leading like a lion in uncertain times Part Two.