Harvard University has always held a special attraction for me. And why not? Its awesome reputation as a remarkable citadel of learning, knowledge and research never fails to stir a sense of pride. So when an opportunity recently came my way to undergo a course in Strategic Leadership, I grabbed it with both hands.
Going to Harvard offered a good chance to glimpse the city. Located in Cambridge, a city in Middlesex County, Boston Massachusetts, it is one of the oldest cities in the United States. Being one of the oldest and most prestigious universities in the US, Harvard has been a significant part of Cambridge since its founding in 1636. The city of Cambridge has a rich and inextricable history with the university. Harvard is reputed for its academic legacy, historic buildings, technology and cultural attractions.
Aside its fascinating history, one of which is its leading role in the American revolution of the late 1700s, Boston’s sporting traditions also run deep.
The weather in Cambridge is almost comparable with what obtains in Lagos at that time of the year – bright, warm with some sunshine. I basked in the warmth and friendliness of this weather.
It was my first time in that city. Everything around Cambridge revolves around the university. Supermarkets sell only items, clothes, and souvenirs with imprints of the university’s logo. Most of the restaurants also sport the Harvard colour. This is the first culture shock. Yes, some of our universities in Nigeria impact their local communities in a way, but the immersive blend of the town and the gown does not go that deep as can be discerned in Harvard.
My eagerness to glimpse Massachusetts can be compared in equal measure with my excitement about the Harvard Strategic Leadership Course. Held from July 14 to 17, the programme was very enlightening and informative. It was an opportunity for interactive conversations, cross fertilisation of ideas, experiences and cultures.
One key takeaway is the conversation about the changing dynamics of leadership in our rapidly changing world. The idea that one leader is super human and endowed with all the required competencies has become obsolete.
There is now a radical shift in leadership perspectives, with growing emphasis on individual responsibility and competence. These individual capacities within an organisation – or a nation – are developed to engender growth and sustainable development. It is when all these competences are harnessed that an organisation or a nation grows bountifully.
Margaret Andrews, the Harvard Instructor and professional speaker, who was our main resource person during the programme, noted quite succinctly: “None of us is as smart as all of us. No human knows everything and somebody knows something.”
Margaret was profound and impressive as she led discussions. She emphasised the importance of building a team and the relevance of teamwork to the success of an organisation. There may, however, be difficulty in building and maintaining a team. A number of reasons account for this. Accounting for derailment are factors like narrow perspective or not being strategic, bad working relations, poor performance, and inability to develop or adapt.
There are many ways of building and managing successful teams. For the Harvard instructor, the most effective is for the leader to have a harmonising influence and give team members purpose. This will help increase their engagement, motivation and productivity.
We had extensive discussions on topics like the imperative of feedbacks to the success of a project or enterprise and the feedback process, confronting a new reality, implementing change and change management, and why transition is important for change to occur. Here, Margaret observed that most organisations tend to start a relay, but without putting in place effective transition.
Talking about decision-making, she restates the often-stated conventional wisdom, which is to pay attention to the decision-making process. The more one pays attention to the process, the more good decisions that are made, she explained. The processes must take cognizance of the framing of the problem, gathering data or intelligence, drawing conclusions, and of course learning from experience. For every option, there is a consequence. Analysing the pros and cons, benefits and drawbacks are absolutely necessary in choosing alternatives.
The question should always be: how will the consequences of options taken be mitigated?
Many a leader in a public or private sector will take better decisions if they factor in these important processes and factors.
The programme offered a good opportunity for networking. During the conference, I again met my friend, John Breen of Harvard Education Team. The caliber of the course participants and their strong professional backgrounds were quite impressive.
In the classroom among others were Dr. Verity Rawson, MD of a hospital in Michigan, US, specializing in hospital medicine and lately palliative medicine; Amanda Loveday, the CEO of NP Strategy, a strategic communications firm serving small and large corporate an non-profit clients across the US, and Ozde Demituok, Director of Sustainable Finance at Sanko Group, one of the largest conglomerates in Turkey focusing on renewable energy, textile production, packaging and recycling.
At the programme, I also encountered Khalil Suleiman Halilu, that young transformative leader changing the narrative at the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Dr. Dairu Mohammed, Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Technology Transfer, and Prof. Ahmed-Doko Ibrahim of the Ahmadu Bello University, among other Nigerians, nay African participants.
The final point of the programme emerged at the point participants were divided into groups and asked to share their leadership perspectives, which are recorded. The questions included what each participant thinks make them a leader, their leadership journeys and philosophies.
As Margaret puts it, everyone is potentially a leader. The pertinent questions, however, are what type of leader are you? What type of leader would you like to become? What kind of phrases would you like people to use in reference to you?
*Rahman is Senior Assistant to the President on Media & Special Duties.
