THE GIANT IS GONE!

THE GIANT IS GONE!

He was a little boy who was endowed with gracious potentials. These potentials were identified by his father who was his super-hero – his giant. His father was an epitome of strength, courage, wisdom, smartness and skill. His father was financially highly stable and commanded great respect in the corporate world and community where they lived due to his influential social standing and business acumen. He was not a pastor or mainstream Christian leader but his lifestyle was a good example of spiritual leadership and authority. His father, being a responsible parent, did everything possible to fend for his family. The only task and responsibility of Bobby was to go to school, study hard and get good results. This task, Bobby being fully aware of, worked hard. However, Bobby was oblivious of the engagements, communication and great networking that his father had garnered over the years that made him great. Not too long in the distant future, Mr. Nanu, Bobby’s father, lost his entire empire due to a serious accident he encountered. Bobby was shattered – his education, and prospects of a successful future became bleak. The world turned upside down and the cloud became heavily dark, whiles sunshine became only a shadow. His giant was incarcerated – gone! His father lost most of his friends and business contacts and contracts to the point where his employees shared his properties illegally. This is because Bobby dwelt in outer darkness with no clue to his father’s fortune. How then can he take any steps to remedy his father’s empire? If he could, where could he have started from and to whom must he go? His mental excursions only raised rhetorical questions to which there were no one to provide answers. Several questions can be deduced to probe why Mr. Nanu acted this way and the effects of what happened to him. There are many giants in our lives, communities, institutions and countries. However, there is serious problem of mentoring, training and coaching successors and empowering the future generation in all aspects of life. To understand their roles and how they need to conduct themselves, we need to ask: Who is a giant? How do giants rise? Why do giants fail to groom others? What leads to their downfall? What can societies do to help sustain giants?

The effectiveness of your future as a leader is to prepare for your exit.

~EKs Quotes~

A giant is a symbol of a well accomplished person, a celebrated figure, a financier, a legend, business tycoon or someone who has the capability and ability to call the shots, influence decisions, change situations and undertake daring initiatives due to resource endowments such an individual possesses, as well as embark on mind blowing investments. Giants rise or come to lime light through several means. Some giants rise due to wealth or fame through family influence. This is a kind of heredity or being born with silver spoon in one’s mouth situation. Through political alliances or rent seeking behaviour, some people have become giants (risen to prominence). Others have also attained great heights due to their personal efforts and hard work. There are also those who rose to prominence after they chanced on an opportunity. But why do giants fail to groom or help to develop others?  Firstly, some giants sustain their level of influence through selfishness. This is borne out of deception that people will steal their trade secrets that will diminish their level of influence. Secondly, some giants pride themselves in wickedness. Since they have labored long and hard, they think anyone who desires to benefit should go through the same process. Thirdly, unwarranted recognition precedes the mentorship consideration of giants. The challenge of these giants is to ensure other people do not attain the same status or recognition they have reached. This is a ‘me alone boss’ mentality. They expect everyone around them to depend on them. Fourthly, there are giants who do not know what to do to help other people to become giants like themselves. Fifth, some giants do not understand the necessity and importance of raising successors or developing the next generation.

It is absurd to develop other people but not give them the platform and space to operate.

~EKs Quotes~

Like Bobby, Israel’s long standing leader and judge of 40 years was gone. He was their super-hero and their Giant. Samson, the man that delivered Israel from the tyranny of the Philistines lost his source of strength, influence, position, leadership and eventually, his life. What a pity! Although Samson was not naturally a person of stout, tall and huge (as a giant) physique, his abilities and works gave an outlook of a giant character. Samson was captured with no one to come to his rescue because all through the forty years he reigned as Judge over Israel, he did not develop champions like himself (Judges 16:31). He was a castle without protection. As in the case of great men and women, what really accounted for Samson’s fall? The reasons that led to the down fall of Samson were careless living, uncontrolled passion, lack of good company, pretentious deception by Delilah, and intense and sustained hatred from his enemies. This is the bane of many great people whose fame, popularity, wealth, properties and influence go down the drain. When a country and institutions like family, churches and businesses have giants, they need to take precautions to protect, support, and encourage them to thrive. A giant should not be an island unto himself and to succeed; those around them should provide necessary support. Samson had no counsel to rely on for advices on what he needed to do and steps to be taken. Where his own parents tried advising him, such advices were ignored.

What should Samson have done? Primarily, he should have lived within the precincts and dictates of his calling. He needed to be watchful and careful in his dealings with his competitors and enemies. Samson down played the level of hatred held against him by the Philistines. He was oblivious of the role of Delilah as a plot that had been promised goodies if Samson’s secret of strength was discovered by her. In terms of leadership, a father or corporate leader should recognize (1) the need for mentorship. Samson and Mr. Nanu should have incorporated mentorship into their leadership success equation. Such mentees could supplement or complement the efforts they displayed. Leaders are required by necessity to delegate certain responsibilities to their mentees, which will help such mentors to expand their influence or territories. (2) Coach others. Unlike mentees, people under coaching follow a coach’s direct instruction and orders. Coaches don’t give suggestions but orders that must be followed. Giants should learn to adopt and impact upcoming people. They need to be determined and strategize on how to impact others. This act will in turn provide safety and security for a giant’s future because he will have people to come to his aid or defense. (3) Give others opportunity to operate. It is absurd to develop other people, but not give them platform or room to operate. A true leader should go extra mile to find or create the platform for people who have been impacted by him. True and honest followers will continue to appreciate the role of such leaders in helping them to attain great heights. (4) Develop global initiators of change. Localizing leaders is unsustainable and limiting. The world is much smaller than our villagers now. Leaders should develop people with the mind of making them global leaders or world champions. (5) Train and prepare successors. The effectiveness of your future as a leader is to prepare for your exit. This should be done through training, preparing, assigning, directing and correcting where necessary. Samson was deceived by his strength and supernatural abilities, but the most dangerous deception was forgetting that he was human and that someday, he will be gone. No human is entitled to lead or rule forever.

You cannot study abroad, but come and localize your mind.

~ EKs Quotes~

Unfortunately, some leaders fail to develop and groom others to ascend the ladder of influence due to circumstances they have encountered. Those who try to impact the next generation of leaders rather disclose only the positive side of what they do or have done, leaving out their falls and frustrations. A fundamental problem with most interns, mentees and subordinates is disloyalty. Some people are very disloyal to their superiors or people who have helped to develop or contributed to their growth, progress and prosperity, For instance, Ahithophel as a counselor to King David became disloyal by abandoning him and gave damaging advice against his throne and family to his vagabond son – Absalom. Gehazi’s disloyalty to Elisha was so bad that he told a lie on his master. His reward was the a curse – leprosy. Joab as the Commander of the Armed Forces of Israel became disloyal to David and joined alliance to Absalom his son who sought to usurp the throne. These stories are endless. Some employees leak information to competitors against their employers. Political party members join alliances with their opponents in exchange for money and position. House helps give off their bosses and mistresses to their enemies and destroyers. Some families have been attacked in armed robbery cases because house helps leaked their security, business and financial information. As such, some leaders and people of influence deliberately restrain themselves from investing in other people. Other factors that inhibit mentoring, coaching and impacting other people are laziness, greed, and rush (get rich quick mentality) that have consumed some young chaps. Lot (Abraham’s nephew) after becoming prosperous due to service to Abraham, started competing with him. He eventually lost everything. Due to some of these tendencies, some parents neglected footing the expenses of their children. In worse cases, people have even been sacked from homes where they lived.

“You can only qualify for your next level when you have prepared the person below you to take over from you”

~ C. N. Quansah ~

As bad as these attitudes are, current leaders should understand that they will definitely exit and there’s need for some people to take over the family, business, government, or projects.  Being the only rich person in a family is not good. Such person would have to shelve all family stress. When the giant or superhero leaves without a successor, disaster sets in. A well to do family sinks into shame and reproach. When Samson was gone, Israel went back into slavery. Their enemies afflicted them as before. As a leader, would you want your works and the memory of you be erased because you did not develop people to take over after you are gone? Bobby’s life turned around for the worse because his father failed to introduce him to how to do business – intricacies, milestones and sign posts to observe, and contacts that helped to sustain his business. Although Bobby was intelligent and smart young man, he lacked practical approach to managing his life, family’s business empire and negative situations. The family became impoverished because “the giant is gone!

Article by:                      

Ernest Kwame Affum (Dr. EK)

Author, EKs Life Tunes

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