Personal Keynotes From Excellence in Leadership Conference 2019

7.11.19

Personal Keynotes From Excellence in Leadership Conference 2019

John Cage said, "We only hear what we listen for" and I totally agree. I attended the Excellent Leadership Conference today to listen to what I needed to hear.

This is me sharing what I heard with you. May something shift inside of you as you read. Amen.

Notes From ELC2019

First of all, I heard about the Excellence in Leadership Conference via one of my favourite WhatsApp groups. The group admin invited us (more like motivated us) to attend ELC2019 as part of our capacity building activities. Who wouldn't want to hear from this line-up of speakers? I just had to. So glad I did!

ELC2019 themed 'Great Leadership' is a two-day conference hosted by Daystar Christian Centre which started today and is to end tomorrow. The speakers slotted for today were; Rev. Sam Adeyemi, Pst. Nike Adeyemi, Dr. Joe Abah and Ali Baba.

Now let me share what I reflectively gleaned from each speaker. . .

Speaker 1: Rev. Dr. Sam Adeyemi
Topic: A Perspective On Great Leadership

His Definition: Leadership is the ability to influence one or more people and to organise people to achieve a goal. Leadership is taking people from point A to point B. Where there is no movement, there is no leadership.

Self leadership is the foundation for Great Leadership. Great leaders break personal barriers and inspire others in the process. You have to be your own leader. Focus on your growth. Focus on your self-awareness. Focus on your competence. When you have led yourself, then you can help others to make their own journeys.

My handwritten notes. Yeah, I literally wrote down what I heard

Your journey is very important. Honour your struggle. Celebrate how far you have come. The world needs to hear your voice. Don't underestimate what you have gone through to get here. Helping others was the purpose of your struggle. Don't hide your story. Move from being self-centered to other-centered . Stop hiding.

When Rev. Sam said, "What you think will bring you shame will bring you fame." My leg started to shake. He spoke so much on vulnerability that I almost cried.

To influence others, they need to trust you.
For them to trust you, you need to be deeply caring and very vulnerable. Vulnerability is the most courageous act of a leader. Wawu!

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Speaker 2: Pst. Nike Adeyemi
Topic: Leading From The Heart

Pastor Nike started her talk on David shepherding the sheep; how David was faithful and committed to tending for the Sheep. David was so diligent in his father's business that he killed a bear and a lion to save the lost sheep. He treated each sheep as though they were human. He had a heart. It was the same heart that David used to lead the people of Israel.

The heart is the deepest self which really yearns to connect. Pay attention to your heart. Rid your heart of all form of toxicity.

Pastor Nike also spoke about vulnerability. She defined Great Leadership by the letters in HEART;
H — Humility
E — Empathy
A — Accountability
R — Realness and
T — Transparency

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Rev. Dr. and Pst. Adeyemi. Thank you sir/ma. God bless you both. Amen.

Speaker 3: Dr. Joe Abah
Topic: Leading Difficult People

His Definition: Leadership is the ability to motivate, inspire ordinary people to do extra ordinary things.

Let me shock you. His teaching didn't hit me as much as when he told us that no one could intimidate him EXCEPT his wife. I just couldn't get pass that very high school of thought.

Great guy, I must say!

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Speaker 4: Ali Baba
Intro: Don't do things the old way

His definition: Leadership is about
. . .intervention
. . .foresight
. . .mentoring
. . .sacrifices
. . .sharing
. . .tolerance
. . .directing people
. . .consulting people
. . .listening
. . .delegating
. . .vouching for people
. . .self-growth
. . .embassy
. . .having an oversight function
. . .understanding the environment
. . .being cool calm and collected

Ali Baba took his time to explain each of these points. He said it's OK to be dynamic.

Keep improving. Keep giving and sharing without fear. You are like a well. Nobody goes to a dry well. You have to stay consistently filled up so much that WHENEVER people come to you, you have something to give. Be ever willing to give yourself away without thinking. Look for people to mentor. Share what you know. Do not see your followers as competitors. Find ways to be a source of blessing to the generation coming after you.

He mentioned the ABCD performance principle — every time you are called to perform — you should perform Above and Beyond the Call of Duty. I think that's profound!

Me and Chuks (a Twitter follower I met physically today)

Chuks was sweet enough to get a copy of 'He Wasn't My Husband'

Mo and Me

Ire, Mo, Emmanuel and me

connection birthed from the WhatsApp group I mentioned earlier

I didn't take so many pictures at the conference because (like I said) I attended the ELC2019 to listen to what I needed to hear.

I left the conference with a determination to be more courageous in my vulnerability and more open to new ways of doing old things.

Finally, here's my tip for actively listening at a conference like #ELC2019: