Leadership comes with commitments, sacrifices and huge demands

Leadership is a sacred trust that should not to be trivialised. [Courtesy]

In the coming six months, thousands of people will be campaigning, seeking  election as president, governor, senator, member of Parliament and member of the County Assembly.

With a lot of fanfare, they will join the political circus to entertain, shout, sing and dance and occasionally abuse their opponents or tormentors.

In the process, many will forget the essence of what they are looking for and what leadership actually means. Let’s revisit this.

First, let me congratulate you. Leadership is an offer to serve and that comes with many commitments and sacrifices. There will be huge demands on your time, efforts and money.

You will become the chief problem solver, chief guest, banker of last resort and chief mourner in times of crisis. You will be the role model that people will look up to. Make yourself worthy of that honour.

Getting elected is only part of the game. What happens next is what really matters. Once you have been given the mandate to lead, do you know what you want to achieve? By being elected, you have achieved your personal goal. Now you must deliver what the people who elected you need most.

As a leader, you must have a vision of what you want to achieve. Proverbs 29:18 says, “where there is no vision, the people perish” and the Quran also says that we are all leaders and are responsible for our own leadership.

This vision must be set out with clear measurable goals. You must inspire people to believe and support your vision and your vision must be grounded in the people’s needs – not your ego.

Vision without goals is a fantasy. You must try to achieve your goals with the limited resources at your disposal. To achieve this, you must harness the power of the people.  

Leadership is the ability to convert vision into reality. At one time we had a beautiful idea we called “Harambee spirit” before politicians abused it as their excuse for collecting funds for their weekends.

Leadership is a sacred trust that should not to be trivialised. Many politicians take the people who elected them for granted and some even consider them as fools. Many a times, I have sat with politicians and I am dismayed at how they think of their people.

Just because people are poor does not mean they are stupid. Remember they run their lives and their families without your help and have survived all their lives without you. You are totally dispensable Mr Mheshimiwa.

God is watching us. Let us all pledge to serve, keep the peace and unite the people. Inspire people to rise to their next level with ideas and a helping  hand. I still have hope.

We will elect a few braggarts and a few thieves but I am confident that many of the young people seeking leadership will rise to the challenge and work to uplift our people and rise to a higher calling. I still have hope.

Finally, if you are not elected, remember that the greatest leaders of our times  were never elected.

Think of Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohamed (PBUH), Mahatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela who was a leader when he was still in prison. Reflect on this as you hit the road.