Is Leadership in Simplicity shaping the outcome of Kenyan
Politics?
It is extremely unlikely
that the election of a boys high school football team will be chosen from among
the members of the girl’s hockey team. No matter how talented the girls team is
there is merit in having the captain of the boys team being elected from among
the boys and the selection or election of the girl’s captain coming from the girls hockey team. In this matter the question of leadership is a closed shop. It is not
open to debate or question so long as the boys football team plays football in school.
However, should the school games teams face off with the neighboring school
teams in various sports, it is just as likely that the school games captain may
be chosen from the Chess club. I have used this example to illustrate that the
context of leadership determines the selection of a suitable leader in a
situation. There is positional leadership which is assigned for administrative
purposes, but is more importantly, leadership in simplicity, leadership in
complexity and leadership in diversity shape that the success of a team’s performance in different contexts.
While leadership
in simplicity can be quickly assigned to a tribal chief charged with pursuing
community interests, such a leader will find it difficult if not impossible to
impose the will of his own community over the will of others. Leadership in
simplicity sees the role of the leaders as a competition for resources. However,
resources as we all know, are limited and thus leadership in simplicity leads
to conflict in wider society. Leadership in complexity however, recognizes that
there are different sports and different teams each with its own administration
organization and order. The responsibility of the leader in this context is to
maximize collaboration and harness the value of each team for the highest performance
of the school. Such a leader, rather than begin by pushing their own interest,
seeks to evaluate the strengths and compliment the short coming of each of
their teams to ensure an overall victory for the school. A school attending international competition must step up its leadership to a whole new level. Leadership in
diversity demands that a leader mobilizes the performance of the team within global
standards fully appreciating that success of the team is only sustainable in the
context of global coexistence. Leadership in the minor leagues is no match for the leadership required in international competition.
The leadership
drama playing itself out in the Kenyan political arena, ahead of the 2022 general
elections, clearly indicates that many political leaders see themselves as
leaders in simplicity, charged with the responsibility to achieve maximum
returns for their community without due regards for the need for leadership in
complexity nor understanding the value of appreciating their role as leaders in diversity charged with ensuring the success of the leadership of enterprise Kenya. Voters
would be well advised to elect leaders who embrace leadership in diversity as
the key to ensuring a successful, sustainable and united Team Kenya rather than
a balkanized federation of competing tribes. In this regard, political leaders
need to step up their game from leadership in simplicity to leadership in
diversity. It may not be practical or even necessary to wish away ethnicity, however, leadership in diversity requires statesmanship.
