Why Lead?

In this episode, we are talking about what separates the greats from the mediocre. The top from the bottom, the certified winners from the one-hit wonders, the tested and proven from the exceptions. This is a quality the likes of Drake, Apple, Diamond Platnumz, Cocacola, Ford, Mercedez, T.D Jakes, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi all have. CONSISTENCY. Today we are talking about consistency, and mo...

The work of leadership will require you to dig deep within yourself and stretch yourself in significant ways. And the best place to start your growth journey is learning what you didn't know before. But unfortunately, many stop here, and a few practice what they know, and even fewer people become what they know and practice. In today's episode, we're exploring how to close the knowi...

Warren Buffett said this about Shoe Dog, "The best book I read last year was  Shoe Dog , by Nike's Phil Knight. Phil is a very wise, intelligent, and competitive fellow who is also a gifted storyteller" In this episode, we're reviewing some key leadership ideas from one of the best leadership books in the past 10 years. 

Leadership has become more complex in the 21st century than it has ever been. The world is connected, which means it’s no longer just global leaders who are dealing with multi-cultural teams. Technology is evolving at a faster rate than we’ve ever seen, which means what you’re building today might not have any utility tomorrow. Diversity has grown from male-female to leftist-rightist-LGBTQIA… Ther...

Failure is one of the things that fascinate me (Ben Owden) personally. Part of the fascination is the inevitability of failure, none of us seem to escape it. Part of the fascination is due to the enormous number of successful people crediting failure as one of their reasons for success. Part of the fascination is due to the enormous number of people who have quit their different conquests creditin...

Some of us have heard of phrases like, “You become who you’re surrounded with” “You’re the average of five people you spend the most time with” All this amalgamates to one big idea that, your network will determine your net worth, be it financially, career-wise, personal growth, and so forth. Who you’re connected to will either add speed to your progress or slow you down. And this idea is even mor...

Today we will be looking at the role leadership plays in building a successful start-up. Startup success is a result of a number of factors; Idea - Team - Timing - Biz Model - Funding . But these factors are not equally important. In our Tanzanian context, which factor should be the most important?

There are many leadership philosophies out there. But the one style that seems to work in every context is servant leadership. Whether you work are leading a public organization, a non-profit or you answer to shareholders in a for-profit organization. 

We must first change how we look at the world, in order to have a real chance of successfully changing the world.

How do we effectively lead through major changes in our companies, changes in leadership, changes in operational philosophies, changes in vision, changes brought about by mergers, and acquisitions, changes brought by major rebranding, changes in company culture, and even the transformation of products and services?

When organizations are confronted with a lack of diversity, be it gender diversity or racial diversity or generational diversity-mindset/idea diversity you know the young vs older ratio. When this happens, some organizations tend to respond or need I say, react to the issue by opening the door for a token person, by offering a seat at the table to a token person. You know, that one woman in the C-...

Many organizations across the world were forced to adapt and pivot in the last 15 months. And some organizations died because of their failure to pivot and adapt. The ability to adapt and pivot is critical in the survival of an organization. Max McKeown says, “All failure is a failure to adapt, all success is successful adaptation.” So it is in all of our best interest as leaders to learn how to a...

Being ALL IN means being fully committed to something, dedicating cognitive, social, and material resources sacrificially and consistently towards an idea, a business, or a cause you’re building. Some of the people who have been associated with this mindset include Nelson Mandela, Apostle Paul of Tarsus, Mother Teresa, Malala, Miriam Makeba, Steve Jobs, Dr. Victoria Kisyombe, Robert Sobukwe, Elon...

“We need to resist the tyranny of low expectations. We need to open our eyes to the inequality that remains. We won’t unlock the full potential of the workplace [And I add to that society] until we see how far from equality we really are.” — Sheryl Sandberg

Many of the duties of a leader require her or him to be a good storyteller and salesperson. In essence, a leader is always trying to sell something. Whether it is trying to get everyone to buy into their vision, trying to get everyone to buy into a change the organization is executing, trying to get buy-in on an initiative from key stakeholders, trying to inspire and motivate their teams, trying t...

Innovation is a process of creating new sources of value. Innovation is not a product, it is a culture. It is not a destination, it is a process. So how do we build this culture of innovation within our teams and organizations, especially in our Tanzanian and African context? To have this conversation I am joined by Firas Ahmad

If decision making is the cradle of leadership, then change is the sustenance of leadership. Change is what keeps us moving forward into new frontiers. Words like innovation, trailblazing wouldn’t exist without change. Change is the new normal for leadership success. But change doesn’t just happen, someone has to initiate it.

One of the common problems facing organizations, teams, and leaders today is a lack of clarity. Clarity of vision, clarity of strategy, clarity of goals, clarity of purpose, clarity of plan. If at any given time you ask your team the following questions and they don’t have answers, you have a clarity problem. The questions are; Why do we exist as an organization? Who do we serve? What’s our goal?...

I believe that one of the cradles of leadership is decision making. Our ability as leaders to make decisions will determine the quality and the course of our leadership. I think the year 2020 has been a wonderful illustration of this. We have judged, we have labeled, we have categorized many worlds, corporate and religious leaders because of their decision making. Now since decision making is one...

Having integrity is one thing. Keeping it is something else. Keeping it at all costs is almost unheard of. In this episode, we look at the life of a leader who kept his integrity at all costs. 

Our word for the year within the why lead community is Consistency. This is the year of doing what you do consistently, it's the year of solving problems consistently. It's the year of getting things done consistently. It's the year of loving consistently. It's the year of building up people consistently. It's the year of operating with integrity consistently. It's th...

Thank you to everyone who has been part of this journey. A special thank you to my producer Isaac McDonald from Eternal Entertainment. 

In a world where servant leadership is on the up and up. In a world where books like Leaders Eat Last and Put People First can be bestsellers. Hopper stands up and says, as a leader you need to operate with the mindset of "Me First" or as he says it in Swahili, "Mimi Kwanza" This ideology seems destructive on the surface, but once you understand it, it can change your whole lif...

Anna Bwana shares her leadership journey and the different elements that contribute to her success. She talks about privilege, luck, failure, mentors, hard work, and assertion. If you're interested in becoming a better leader. Listen to the end.

In leading change and in building diverse teams, you will be challenged to think and operate outside the box. In this episode, we are laying out a blueprint as per Tribal Leadership and Remember the Titans. And the big question we are asking is, How do you transform a dysfunctional team that seeks the elevation of self at the expense of others and entity, to a functional team that is selfless that...