MIND POWER Strategies For Relevance by Pst (Arc) Kelechi Okwulehie
Who is A LEADER- someone who sees ahead, who sees beyond what others are seeing and knows a little better than others. and because he has what others need and they keep coming to him in search of it.
3things you would quickly notice from this statement are: seeing ahead, knowing a little more and solutions to others needs.
These 3abilities are all results of mind power.
The MIND
It is the seat of thoughts and feelings; the intellectual faculty of man, and has the ability to think and reason.
A very startling study reveals that only 5% of the human populace think!15% think they are thinking, while the remaining 80% do not think at all.
the mind is a muscle and it can be developed-R.G.Letourneaux.
Make your brain work, it will improve, it will develop, until you become the envy of those around you-E.W.Kenyon.
RELEVANCE is to matter in the scheme of things.
The Way forward to relevance in leadership using mind power
1.Seeing and owning the future
2.The \’knowing edge\’
3.Need solving(value creation)
1.seeing and owning the future
The smart leaders and potential leaders are and will be those who engage their mind\’s eyes in order to see ahead, predict global trends and position themselves and their teams for relevance in the future.
Mind power tools for seeing and owning the future
Vision and imagination
These provide direction, and in leadership direction is everything.
Vision
The future belongs to those who see possibilities before they become obvious-john Sculley, former CEO of Pepsi and apple computer.
Vision leads the leader. whether you lead a group currently or not, from within you catch a vision for Statement, have a personal vision statement.
Vision involves seeing what could be better; in your environment, institution, nation, or even the world.
Every great leader became such by first seeing the picture of a preferable future.
The founding fathers of our nation saw a vision of one sovereign nation bound in freedom, peace and unity. it was this. Vision they saw that gave birth to the nationalist struggle which gave us independence in 1960,which we would be commemorating n 10days from now. they were not in positional leadership, but they had a vision of a better future for us. they set up pressure groups, newspapers, etc just to actualize the vision of independence.
They didn\’t wait for leadership to be thrust on them, rather they pursued the vision impressed within them, and when the vision was actualization, leadership was freely conferred on them by the will of the people.
The story is same of the great \’madiba\’ of blessed memory, Nelson Mandela and his compatriots in the ANC. he was imprisoned for 27years for fighting again st apartheid and his vision for a free south African republic. But vision cannot be kept behind bars.
Imagination
Zig-ziglar said \”the most powerful nation in the world isn\’t America after all, but the imagination.
The American heritage dictionary defines imagination as the formation of a mental image of something that neither perceived as real or present to the senses.
It is the mind power tool of image formation.
Its is so powerful that the biblical tower Babel\’s builders had imagined a tower into heaven and couldn\’t be stopped by any force on earth except multilingualism.
It is often said that ideas rule the world. these are products of the imagination.
Stretch your imagination into the future, and you will generate ideas that will create a more ideal world to live in.
Great inventions are the product of stretched imagination.
In order to own the future we have envisioned, we need to engage our imagination to improve the way things will be done.
Akio Morita of the Sony corporation was responsible for most on \’miniaturing\’-making electronic appliances smaller. The walkman , discman etc all came out of his work in sony.but he died and didn\’t train anyone with his kind of imaginative prowess in the company. today, Sony is out of that miniature device market segment leadership and Apple is now on top, with d iPod, iPad, etc.
2.the \’knowing edge\’
Recall as earlier said in an attempt to define a leader that he knows a little more than others
That little more he knows is his edge as a leader.
The 21st century illiterate is not he who can not read or write, but he who refuses to learn,unlearn, and relearn.
If we stop learning, we start dying-Dr.T.L.Osborn.
When you stop learning, you\’re old, whether at 20 or 80- Abraham Lincoln
Knowledge must be consciously acquired through these means, not assumed. assumed knowledge is a natural set-up for shame.
education, formal or informal is the route which learning occurs.
It is by learning we acquire the edge of knowing. it is what you know, which others don\’t that gives you and edge and brings you to relevance.
Education from a compound Latin expression which means to draw out something from another. sadly however, most formal education especially in developing nations seem to dump into the mind more than drawing out from it. right and proper education should help the student discover concept for themselves, rather than dump endless theories on the learners.
The result is that the learners just learning to pass examinations, get a degree, a certificate and a job, but ignore the need to discover, mine and refine the \’gold\’ within the intellect.
What do you know, or what have you learnt, unlearned or relearned that will position you ahead of thousands of others with your exact same set of qualifications? That is your \’knowing egde\’ .with the same c.v, you\’re in competition, but with your \’knowing edge you out-compete your competitors, wether in seeking a job, contract, in formulating your products, etc what you know above all others in your field is your edge, and once that edge you have is being known by others in your field, you raise the knowledge bar for yourself. Don\’t rest on the edge you have today, it may be good enough for today, but not for tomorrow. keep improving your knowledge and skill, commit to a lifelong learning process and personal development.
The largest room on earth is the room for improvement.
Leadership entails a continuous and progressive journey of self improvement.
For example, there were and still are many retail and departmental shops like kingsway, chellarams, park and shop, spar, shoprite, etc. but now with the wide internet usage, online shopping platforms are spreading like wildfire, from alibaba ,to amazon here in Nigeria, Jumia, konga, wakanow etc. these online shopping platforms hardly have any ware on display, neither do they own any shop, but they are posting sales s and profits larger than all and any group of retail chain outlets put together. why? their secret is in their edge of knowing how to create online sales platforms.
Do you know that you can do an online tutorial on a complex course you know well, and people pay a small token to download?
I know an upcoming perfume maker, kayous designs is his brand name, who started out here n the east, aba to be precise, a banking and finance graduate. he started out over 4 years ago using disposed bottles of other known brands to package his perfumes, I volunteer to test perfumes for him till date. just last week, his own branded can and paper packages have been produce and the product will soon be in wide circulation and high demand. for every time I\’ve tested his fragrance, it has become progressively more lasting and scentier. he has found his knowing edge in perfume pride , and keeps improving on it
3.Need/problem solving(value creation)
As earlier pointed out in describing, a leader, he/she has what others need or solutions; this involves value creation.
Once you can Solve problems, meet needs or create value, you\’re automatically a potential leader. Because people are naturally drawn to solution providers.
Value creation entails more of the application of resources of the mind using: creativity and innovation
Creativity
It involves treading paths previously untreaded and getting results.
It is the ability to be pacesetter in a certain field of endeavour and enhances your productivity.
Inventions are the product of creativity. inventions however in and of themselves do not create value, until and unless they solve problems or meet needs.
Nevertheless, inventions are a vital 1st step of creativity toward solving problem.
Apart from inventing new products and solutions to problems, creativity involves creating \’systems\’ and \’systems thinking\’.
Creating systems makes it possible for a creative process to be repeatedly done without starting all over again.
For instance, by putting a system in place for production, apple doesn\’t need to start making a new iPad from scratch, just because I want to buy one.
If also you have a system of studying from start of a semester you don\’t have to start reading from scratch just because you have a test or exam.
Systems thinking on the other hand entails understanding these patterns that have to be played out in achieving results in any endeavour. it makes us look at how parts of a creative process interrelate and lead to a whole solution.
Eg. it is systems thinking that makes us conscious of the effect of industrial activity on health, safety and the environment.
Innovations
they are inventions that have become a product or process that enables people to do things they could not do before, or do something more easily.
Eg. online shopping is an innovation that makes buying consumer goods easier than actually going shopping.
To solve create value
To solve problems, meet needs and create value, will always keep a person relevant and move resources in their direction. because resources flow toward the direction of value creation.
The world is becoming smaller by the day because of the internet with millions on social media.
Social media presence in itself can be a tool value creation.
You don\’t need to go to press to publish a book, you can write an ebooks, do an ecooking tutorial, so a song,do a taxi service like uber, laundry service etc.
All you have to realize is that once you can create value such that people keep coming to you to have needs met, you\’re a potential leader.
Endnotes
Mind power is vital to become and relevant, especially in this 21st century.
They way forward for the Nigerian students and youths is among other measures to rise to leadership in any sphere we find ourselves by
Seeing and owning the future,
Acquiring the \’knowing edge\’,and
Creating value/solutions.
Long live the great Nigerian youths and students,
Long live imo state,
Long live federal republic of Nigeria.