Entrepreneurial, Charismatic, or Managerial Leadership

– which one is suitable for Nigeria’s current situation?

 - Cletus Olebune

            courtesy of nel-mag.org

   In the October 2005 article “True Management is the removing of obstacles,” I talked about the importance of recognizing the solution space – people and structural process in understanding which obstacles to remove in a particular situation as organizations seek positive results that move them toward desired positive results. The October article also stated a little of my take on the September 2005 survey question: Entrepreneurial, Charismatic, or Managerial Leadership – which one is suitable for Nigeria’s current situation?

The question was framed with the understanding that leadership is situational. From the survey responses; majority (55%) thought that Nigeria’s current situation needs a charismatic leader; the general believe is that when something is not progressing as quickly as necessary, there need to be a change, therefore the need for a charismatic leader – a change agent. In the second place (30%) is the entrepreneurial leadership; (70% of respondents in this group think that Nigeria needs an economic visionary; 20% wants creative entrepreneurial leaders with new ideas; and 10% wants an entrepreneurial builder). In the third place (15%) is managerial leadership – the value maximizers.

The charismatic change agent in the first place position may be because majority truly think that Nigeria is heading in the wrong direction economically, therefore the need for a change agent or because the majority is made up of impatient individuals who truly do not understand the time frame it takes for reforms to take hold. This group may be lacking the long mindedness of a true leader, and sees long term as 5 years.

The entrepreneurial leadership groups comprises of 70% who thinks that a visionary leader will lay the ground reform that may become noticeable in 10 to 20 years.

The managerial leadership group believes that Nigeria has the resources to move toward manufacturing economy, but lacks the managerial leadership to harness and maximize these resources for a progressive sustainable economic growth and job creation through manufacturing.

Looking at the survey, I cannot help to think that majority are self-centered and want to see changes happen in their life-time or during their time in leadership positions. This is very characteristic with greed, self-grandiose rather than focusing on the organization being led or the stakeholders. The major problem with charismatic leaders is that they may easily forget why they are in the leadership position in the first place. The lager-than-life attitude may make them believe that they are above the rules, regulations, and guidance of organizations that they lead. It is very easy for these leaders to see themselves as untouchables. Most times they are not able to show positive turnaround until time and space catch up with them; some times too late for organizational stakeholders.

I happen to share in the concept of managerial leadership, or if I may combine: “Entrepreneurial Change Management.” Why I came up with this term for the Nigeria’s current case is because, looking at Nigeria’s situation it seems to need everything to resuscitate it back to breathing state of life. This is a lot of work to do, and individuals seeking to do this work need to understand this situation and truly believe in doing the work by first telling themselves the truth that they can do it before being honest to the stakeholders. Most leaders would rather have a situation where they can choose to be any of the three leadership characters. Because the economy needs to be at the breathing state, the characters in entrepreneurial change management leadership are needed, the economy needs vision, change, and maximization. To be a change agent one has to be able to have vision of where change ought to be directed, as well as being able to manage the change in an effort to maximize values.

Why would Nigeria at this point need an entrepreneurial change management leadership? There is a need for a change in leadership style in order for Nigeria’s business – public & private as in government and commercial for Nigeria to be competitive with the rest of the world. If the vision is to grow the economy through job creation; then the focus should be on the largest job-creating sector, which happens to be, yes! Manufacturing. Therefore the focus should be manufacturing economy. This will encourages changes toward policies that encourage manufacturing. Understanding that Nigeria has what it takes to engage in a manufacturing economy is the essence of the managerial character in the entrepreneurial change management leadership. This character will be able to maximize value by removing obstacles, so that things that are already in existence can flourish. Already in existence are human capital and natural resources. The challenge for the managerial character of the entrepreneurial change management leadership is figuring out what obstacles that are in place and how to remove them. Obstacles hindering these resources once removed will give breath for a hopeful freshness and fatting of the economy.

© 2005

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Together we can build a nation where its economic strength is comparable to its individual citizen's capabilities. A 2020 Nigeria economy where manufacturing is the driving force. We are always glad to hear from you. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Cletus E. Olebunne, Is the Executive Director of Nigerian Entrepreneurial Leadership (www.nel-m.org ) An accomplished scientist, and entrepreneur in the global healthcare product distribution. He is the founder of Eastern Pharmaceuticals (www.easternpharmaceuticals.com), a global distributor of healthcare products based in New Jersey. An active member of Regulatory Affairs Professional Society (RAPS), the global pharmaceutical regulatory body, the American Chemical Society, and the American Management Association (AMA). He focuses on Entrepreneurship – general management and organizational development
The NEL organization seeks to:
1 Support and promote a community of entrepreneurs
2 Promote public understanding of manufacturing entrepreneurship
3 Promote and enhance the role models that reflect the ideals of manufacturing entrepreneurship
4 Be the source for information about best practices in business leadership.