EMMANUEL ONWUBIKO
“There will be reason they are not listening so work out what it is.”
– Richard Templar
The Rules of People. Richard Templar is the pen name of a British author who has written self-development books. He reportedly shares his “path to success” in a series of books, in which 100 simple “ Rules” are presented. The World’s best known online marketing application Amazon.com said Richard Templar is an astute observer of human behaviour and understands what makes the difference between those of us who effortlessly glide towards success. As I reflect on some successful leadership qualities in display in the management of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) under the current dispensation, the best intellectual hot spot to tap for some guides towards unravelling the strides made institutionally in the administration of the NYSC is therefore the qualitative thoughts of this beloved British author whose 2018 book titled “ the Rules of people” I find Fascinating in this thematic reflection on the imminent resumption of camping by hundreds of thousands of Nigerian University graduates by the National Youth Service Corp as a necessary prelude towards kick starting their year-long service to fatherland Nigeria.
My reading of the works of Richard Templar and other erudite writers on management shows that to pay attention and listen to the pulse of the people under your management is at the core of the qualitative virtues of an effective manager.
Richard Templar puts it succinctly thus: “ if someone persistently doesn’t listen – or doesn’t hear what you’re saying –you need to do something different otherwise nothing will change. There will be a reason they ‘re not listening, so work out what it is. Are you undermining their authority, criticizing them, saying something they don’t want to hear, making them look bad in front of someone else? Whatever the reason, try to accommodate it. Take a different tone, speak to them in private, plan out how to get your point across more succinctly, pick a better time. Show them why what you have to say is worth listening to.” These indeed constitute the corpus of the ingredients needed for a sustainable and effective management of people and resources institutionally. For the purposes of our reflection, it is tangential to situate these concrete body of evidence at the doorstep of how so well and how so efficiently effective the managers of the National Youth Service Corp have carried on with their onerous task even amidst the shifting nature of the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic in Nigeria. The distinguished citizen named Brigadier General Shuaibu Ibrahim who has a doctorate degree in education is the head of the NYSC and he has over the past few couple of months, since coming on board, manifested the abundant qualities of an effective leader of Youngsters and he uniquely showed the quality of listening when in the hit of the advent of the Coronavirus Pandemic in the first quarter of the year he was quick to ask the participants of the NYSC scheme to leave the camps so measures are adopted to safeguard their lives.
The rapid shut down of camps by the management of NYSC in line with the directives published by the Nigerian government under the auspices of the Presidential task force on containment of Covid-19, remains commendable and it is indeed an excellent show of effective leadership. Writing on the scholarly theme of efficient management versus effective leadership, Emily Rice stated the following: “In most leadership books, you are told that you need to be both in order to be successful. That you need to be both, effective and efficient.
Except, when given a choice, we’re likely to choose one over the other. In definition, effective is producing the intended or expected results.” This management guru further informed us that: “While, efficient is performing the best results in the least about of time and/or effort. In other words, being effective is doing the right things and being efficient is doing things right. Doing the right things isn’t enough anymore. Nor is just doing things right – Laura Stack. “Therefore, if someone is expected to be both, then it’s about doing the right things, right.
Although, both “lenses” encompass a different mindset. Those that align with being effective are impact-oriented, strategic, and relational. An effective leader focuses on productivity in various layers such as motivation, teamwork, communication and objectives. They encourage innovation and creativity to reach a desired goal. Those who are efficient are task-oriented, impulsive, and project focused.” The management expert said also thus: “An efficient manager is one who uses limited resources to get the job done in a more professional manner; They want immediate results. Efficiency avoids mistakes and likes to take repeated steps to achieve a goal. Both efficiency and effectiveness are desirable characteristics in business. Although, one is often attainable only at the expense of the other. While some do a good job of balancing the two, others view one lens more than the other. Depending on the situation, both efficiency and effectiveness can be used, if managers and leaders work together. “
No doubt, the effective leadership of the NYSC was also instrumental to the ability of the institution to very rapidly rise to the occasion and to efficiently put internal measures in place to meet with global best practices and guidelines published by the Nigerian Centre for disease control, presidential task force on COVID -19 and the world Health Organization’s protocols towards the containment of spread of Covid-19 disease.
The media has been awash with the positive story that the management of the NYSC in consultation with the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 (PTF-COVID-19) and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) have developed these guidelines to facilitate the safe conduct of the 2020 NYSC orientation camp activities in all NYSC camps across the country. The management has reportedly put all the necessary logistics and manpower in their proper position to effectively ensure that all corps members are tested for COVID-19 on arrival. Only those whose test results are negative will proceed to register in the camp.
Onwubiko is head of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA)