LESSONS FROM THE EQUITY LEADERSHIP CONGRESS

“Developing a global edge .” That was the theme of this year’s congress and indeed it was depicted through out. There were various speakers, all prominent in their various fields and professions. Each delivered their message in the best yet easily comprehensible way. 

I particularly was rather challenged by a message by Kenneth Njiru of the “Uungwana Vs Ushenzi “campaign. His major highlights were on how everything rises and falls on leadership. That in order to truly be great leaders we should start by leading our very own selves.

He spoke very passionately on how our country has given in to ‘ushenzi’ to be the order of the day. Even before pointing fingers at politicians and rogue business people, we should start with ourselves. Time and again we have heard about the famous Mahatma Gandhi quote, “Be the change you want to see.” But honestly very few of us have actually sat down and thought about where to start.

How many times have you actually broken a promise you meant to keep? How many times have you arrived late only because you decided to sleep a little longer? How many times have you performed poorly in a test all because you were too lazy to study? How many times have you lied simply because it was the easier way out?

The sad answer if we were totally honest is, many times, and those are just a few case scenarios. We keep waiting for this big revolutionary change to rock us and that is where we go completely wrong.  It is the small things we do on a day to day basis that help us grow and become great.

If you had one bad trait, say always being late, it is by changing that weakness that will make you gradually transform it into a good habit. In the long run it becomes a way of life, thus eliminating the problem with punctuality. The same principle can be applied in all other varing situations and overall create a positive culture.

The most important thing in stopping the “ushenzi-like” practices is starting NOW! Not in the next 5 minutes, the next hour or even tomorrow but now. Only then can we kill this terminal illness known as procrastination. Only then we can we actually map out the way ahead for evolving into a more reliant and self sufficient people.

So in a nutshell all we do, how we do it and when we do it, we should seek to curb any “ushenzi-like” habits and grow into “wangwana”. Let’s stop being mediocre and only then can we reach our full potential and take our nation, continent and globe as a whole to greater heights. Let us live and breathe the philosophy-“Muungwana ni Kitendo.”