By Olajide Hamzat
One of my favorite leadership books of all time was the one written by Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky; two Harvard scholars with extensive works in medicine, law, politics, and academia. Titled Leadership on the line, Staying Alive through the Dangers of Change, the book offers strategies, insights, and toolkits for navigating the perils and pitfalls of mobilizing people, managing resistance, and staying resilient while outwitting complex challenges.
Particularly, the authors noted that change is more difficult, perilous, and dangerous if it asks people to change themselves; adding that when confronted by sudden, and disruptive change, people naturally chooses the path of resistance. In a way, the authors cited the example of Colombia under the iconic President Juan Manuel Santos and the incremental peace accord his government entered with the FARC rebels as one of the dangers of change. “People push back when you disturb the personal and institutional equilibrium they know.
And people resist in all kinds of creative and unexpected ways that can get you taken out of the game: pushed aside, undermined, or eliminated”, they contended. To successfully and effectively undermine leaders with a change mindset, the authors warned that forces of resistance will try to distract, divert, and attack the character, competence, and capacity of such a leader, leaving aside his credentials, accomplishments and vision.
Take distraction. In a world of digital chaos, distraction represents the most destructive and virulent tool in the hands of the resistant: those who want to maintain and sustain the status quo of underdevelopment by ruffling feathers, stepping on toes, muddling conversations, and twisting narratives. To stay alive and be in charge while people detonate various landmines of distractions, diversions, and attacks reflect the ultimate qualities of adaptive leadership. Sure, distraction can come in the form of outright invectives, outlandish falsehoods and fictitious fallacies.
For one, it can equally manifest through speculations, assumptions and rumors. While distraction may ultimately serve the whims of the distractors, it can derail an unsuspecting transformational leaders. Although, an adaptive leader will know that when distractors go low, he and his team must exude confidence, radiate competence and demonstrate character by going higher and higher on moral and emotional grounds. In other words, when they go low, leaders on the other side of the spectrum as Michelle Obama once enthused must go high. This is especially spot-on given the saying that, you cannot wrestle with the pigs without getting dirty, implying that the only way to stay clean is to avoid playing the game of vilification and mudslinging.
By sidestepping distractions, such a leader prioritizes the most important assignments and faces each task with focused, crystal-clear, and calculated attention. Unless a leader faces this kind of calculated, coordinated, and complicated attack, distractions, and diversions, it is impossible to measure his/her emotional intelligence.
Anyone who knows Amofin Beulah Adeoye would attest to his calmness, equanimity, and magnanimity in the face of obstacles. You don’t become Amofin Beulah Adeoye’s friend unless your level of emotional intelligence is top-notch. And your level of emotional intelligence cannot be top-notch unless you face teeth-gritting challenges as a leader personally and professionally.
As a legal luminary, Amofin Beulah carried out his legal business with clarity of purpose. And as a politician, he will sandbag the debris of distractions to lead the people through the gainful process of change and transformation.
Olajide Hamzat writes about the various prospect and potential of Oyo state while projecting Amofin Beulah Adeoye as a solution provider, problem solver and creative, adaptive and innovative leader and thinker with compassion and empathy.
