Business Leadership analysis of Presidential candidates

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7fe4cd92-beda-11dc-8c61-0000779fd2ac.html

The FT is probably like Al Jazeera one of the few media outlets where what they write and put out is well thought out and has quality evidence behind it. I tries to deliver keeping news away from editorial. Here is a editorial piece that is truly worth reading.

Enough of the Madonna / Whore BS

I just have had enough of the crap that we as Nigerian males deal out and it is time we get called out on it. This whole libido severance shit in which we sort out women into Ije and Iyawo categories while we indulge our most crass and debauched desires at the expense of a cross section of women has to be blown wide open. I am not holier than anyone but help me here where are the real men these days. Men who take responsibility wherever it is rather than blame women for their choices. Ok what has me going on is the theatre of the absurd that is being played out by Obasanjo's son against is soon to be ex- wife. He seems an errant idiot of the type has not fully found manhood. He claims that his wife who he is fighting in divorce court was abused sexually by her father and that she in pursuit of business opportunities screwed his own father. As a result his solution is to swear an affidavit to the effect and also seek DNA testing of the children.

Once again I say crass stupidity. Is manhood that has majesty so alien to this person that he does not know that every child that was born during the currency of his marriage is his even if not so biologically. If he lacks male role models that can help him see this then sheer thinking should embarrass him . if after the test the kids turn out to be his children where does he go from there? How is it we no longer have warrior men who live for dignity, honour and the capacity to secure the future? His wife no matter how debauched was his personal choice no one forced him to marry her. He is the co-creator of the nightmare he lives. How does he take responsibility for that? He has chosen the most disgusting approach to breaking the back of a woman who he once shared intimacy with and thought to be the mother of his children. His thinking is not too difficult to fathom in a society where being a wife is the completion of a woman's humanity without which she is a fair game for all manners of proposition and pity. It is an attempt to put her firmly in the oversimplified whore stereotype since the Nigerian elite can process only one of this dimension of a woman at a time. Even if we assume the worst of the woman and find that there is enough evidence to support his claim is there not something here that totally makes her a victim of all the irresponsible males in her life?

imagine if it is true her father abused her , does that not truly shape her relationship with older men? A victim of abuse perhaps at a young age before she could actually form a real choice, does that not just frame the story into a tragedy in which men who have authority can continue to exploit her for their random pleasure. Then her father in law is implicated the ultimate father and ex president is that not itself a consistent role for her to capitulate too. Finally a husband and believe me I know about us . i wonder if he can pass the adultery abstinence test? Even if he does, then uses this facts to argue a divorce case in scorched earth attempt not pay some crazy alimony claim that will never survive a proper scrutiny before any credible judge. I think this woman has been totally failed by all the men in her life and if there is any shame to attach it should be to those who have, are and continue to try to exploit her .

Being a man is one of the few things I truly understand and respect. it is a source of great pain that in Nigerian society the quality of manhood is in free fall. if you cannot honour the woman anymore at least respect the memory of the illusion you once shared. Walk away and allow her to move on with her humanity and her motherhood intact. That is something that a real man automatically extends to anyone he interacts with.It is a mark of character or dare I say of Omoluwabi. If you do not then unfortunately it says more about you than it does of her. All this stuff has to stop . Women are entitled to their complexity and fuck ups the way we are. Until that happens it is a reflection that we are not yet the men that our society needs to be their partners for a better future. Check yourselves before you wreck us all.

By the way i still see women as my adversaries God knows they have their ways and they are not mine but the battle has to be fought with honour. Putting that stuff out their is just ugly.

Civil Rights 'Leaders' and Obama

After watching Congresswoman Jackson Lee defend Senator Clinton. This is a bit of powerful analysis of why Senator Obama is a breath of fresh air in Washinton Post from a Professor out of Spelman in Atlanta.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/11/AR2008011102000.html

NH Analysis

Here is a good piece of straight analysis by Peggy Noonan of the Wall Street Journal. It is worth a good read.

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/declarations.html

10 Steps to inspiring transformation

New Hampshire results on the Democratic nomination confounded the pollsters, pundits and the media but it was a symptom of what those of us who use the lens of complexity recognise as inevitable expression of self organisation . There are many analysis into how people who are paid to gaze into crystal balls got it so wrong and Senator Clinton won. Is it the 'iron my shirt' placards, the tears to stop the 'country falling back', the Barack Fairy tale remarks or is it the uncle from Kenya coming out of the woodwork. Never mind like most leadership educators i fancy myself an adviser to a great political leader. In this case i choose Senator Obama for many reasons that have been shared before. He only stands a chance if he can do the following things:

1) Connect back with the possibility of a United States of America which whimsically we glimpsed after the Iowa result. The lesson of Iowa is that everybody likes a dream coming true they just worry at what price and whether it will come true. In Iowa I suspect there are many children of Jane Elliot who had gone through the blue eye, brown eye experiment. They were open to possibility connect with that element.

2) Remember you got 37% in New Hampshire mostly white people so the dream is not dead it is living and it will take time to become fully owned by everyone . Concentrate on celebrating the fact that people have spoken and their message is that you need to close the deal and define the possibility of the change you can help them create in more concrete terms. remember perception is reality.

3) Do not buy the sense of unfairness and injustice that you might feel from the Bill Clinton kid remark or the racial undertone of some of the different comments even Hillarys MLK comment. They are distraction and very dangerous one. Do not let your so called friends suck you into any sense of racial polarisation. Ignore Donna Brazille and i forget her name the publisher of Ms magazine . this is not about what sets people apart but what brings them together. even if it is racism the only answer is excellence. Step up your game some more gears by having specific changes anytime you talk. For example a foreign policy that puts understanding as a pre condition to assertive or even aggressive behaviour.

4) Draw a distinction between your candidacy which is about transformation rather than about improving existing transactions.

5) Remind people that the Presidency is about leadership primarily not about management. It means that inspiration to get people to move towards another level of outcomes and the judgement to choose key people as well as the capacity to constantly improve are the key here.

6) For those who insist on details in every respect explain that in the times we are in that Alan Greenspan calls 'the age of turbulence ' the key is to be adaptive and flexible to evolve solutions to the unpredictable and unforeseeable.

7) Remind them that they have to find solutions for todays out of the mindset of tomorrow not from the same orientation with which it was created.

8) Go out on a limb and define yourself as you have always done by not just talking about your strengths but also your weaknesses and what you will do to manage them.

9) Remind people that this is about them not about you as to whether they want to be reduced to what they fear or be bold for what they desire.

10) Celebrate the process and ignore the win /loss equations from the pundits that is down to the people guess all you can do is your best. Eventually people get the President they deserve.

Do try to live in the moment and enjoy

Beyond Iowa ' the true determinant of leadership' unveiling the Players profile

This is dedicated to my Sister, Rosanna and Sherri a frequent poster on these pages both of whom are early supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton.


Senator Obama's win in Iowa is quite an eye opener even for people like me who are avid supporters but sceptics about the temperament and attitude of the people of the United States of America. This was a triumph for the spirit of possibility amongst the voters of Iowa and likely to be for the larger American populace. The question remains whether every day citizens can allow themselves to dream again. Beyond this the drama of this primary process allows for a broader discourse of leadership through the lens of the Omoluwabi dynamics. Without opening up the full 7 elements it seems more powerful to use a metaphor to explore the characteristic of adaptive, transformative leadership and locate the main candidates of the Democratic party on that continuum.

My metaphor for this exploration is the player. Yes the much abused word which has been reduced to either pimping or gaming but actually in this context is an expression of how we approach the game of life. In this context there are four domains in which we play and quite honestly through life we move from one to the other depending on environment as well as circumstances. These are not linear categories but circumstantial places in which we express parts of our complex and contradictory characters.

The four domains or orientations are the following:

1) The player orientation which is the most evolved of the four captures a disposition to be driven by mastery of ones own internal dynamics and self love which allows for an authentic expression of of the hungers and drivers that shape our journey. It allows for a coherent life narrative that focuses on personal evolution rather than a scarcity mentality. It manifests in the space of abundance and openness recognising that what matters is not the hands that life deals you but how you choose to play it. This is what Senator Obama is using to drive his movement for an American renewal and shapes how people experience him. Quite simply he is comfortable in his own skin which he wears with self love that allows him to embrace both the white and black part of his heritage without being disrespectful of either. He has mastered the Mo Lo of his own energy that makes him capable of running against the grain and yet exude a confidence. Those who deride his positions as naive and irresponsible are now forced to rethink and reassess. Here is the dynamics of the player as what matters is what delivers results it is the domain of leadership and it is always inspirational to experience. It seeks and delivers transformation.

2) The wanna be player is the second orientation which is often the space for specialism, authority and management. It is often shaped by a fear of failure and a need to establish what the playbook states rather than what ones intuition raises.It is a transactional space where it is driven by outside /in dynamics. It always is shaped by real politic and a need to win rather than succeed. Senator Mrs Sister Hillary 'experience from day one ' Clinton has this one nailed down. It assumes knowledge of the way the game has been played prepares you for the way it will be played in future. It promotes the fear of the unknown. It is a domain about technical competence rather than adaptive wisdom.

3) The Player hater is the a well worn orientation that is shaped by judgemental and blaming focus. It is about dividing and resentment of others. Former Senator John Edwards exemplifies this approach. It reduces all issues to who is fault and always finds a wedge issue to determine its priorities. It personalises all challenges and uses competition rather than cooperation as its main plank of operation.

4) Finally the played orientation which is where the majority of us act out a roles as pawns in the game of life living in the matrix of the contract of employment, mortgage payments, pensions or 401ks and escapism from retail therapy or watching channel O. We buy the next hysteria from the media abrogating our choice to live out or assignment.

I started writing this before the New Hampshire result. This Primary process is extremely rich in lessons about character and how it shapes destiny. Expect a lot of posting over the next few days.

Iowa and Elections

Whatever the polls say it is clear that I have posted in support of Senator Obama not because he is black or of African descent but for the possibilities of an America truly living for a greater good, grounded in its recognition of a common humanity and humbled by the interdependence of nations. Senator Obama exudes and authenticity that is both open and passionate. He represents hope that is beyond the limitation of contrived policy. His is an aspirations beyond partisan politics, vision beyond the artificiality of national borders. He is of course limited by his constituency in both party terms as well as nationality. However he more so than others recognises and exercises his judgement accordingly for complexity of our times. His positions are a congruent exposition of his character hence the truimph of his judgement on Iraq, Pakistan et al over so much touted experience.

He is Hope and Senator Clinton is Inevitability. I cannot see senator Obama winning because the fear of loss that has become the calling card of the psyche in the average American will not allow for them to look beyond their insecurity towards their possibility. The establishment of both parties thrives on division and conflict and the citizenry are addicted to the idea of winning too much to recognise that what is important is success which often times is abundant enough to allow for both competition and cooperation. I am sure that Senator Obama has run a good race and I hope he has become the warror of light for an American renewal but he will unfortunately not become the president.