By WALE AKINYEMI

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Last week, I wrote a tribute to the late president John Magufuli of Tanzania. The outpouring of grief at his departure should make leaders wonder what will happen when their own time comes. 

I remember when South African Nobel laureate Nelson Mandela died, leaders from across the globe and Africa, including those who were running their countries aground, were reminding us about the things Mandela did to become so great. I thought I was dreaming. You mean these people know what great leadership is all about?

That means that our problem in Africa is not one of ignorant leaders but selfish ones whose personal interests take centre stage in their decision making. This is what separates the ordinary people from the legends. The greats dare to put their nation’s interests first, and are willing to take the ridicule and negativity that comes with it.

There are leaders, and there are visionaries and revolutionaries. One of the most outstanding traits of leaders is their willingness and readiness to stand alone when the need arises. The ability to do this emanates from the power of conviction: The power of conviction flows from the revelation of purpose.

The time has come to bring massive transformation to the African continent and to the developing world. The transformation will come through the harnessing of our minds to exploit the natural resources that we have been so blessed with.

We are the generation that learns from the past, but refuses to benchmark with it. We would rather benchmark our imagination. This is the point where great visionary leaders leave the rest behind.

What is the worst that could have happened had all the other African leaders aligned with the late Burkina Faso leader Thomas Sankara when he told them to have an Africa-first ideology that produced for Africa, produced in Africa and produced for African consumption?

No competition strategy

In 2005, W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne wrote the book Blue Ocean Strategy, which introduced a new way of looking at competition. They said that the only way to beat the competition is to stop trying to beat it. They talked of two oceans — a red and a blue one. Red oceans are the industries in existence today and blue oceans are those yet to come. Competition takes place in the known, in the red oceans.

Boundaries are set, limits are defined and everyone is trying to beat the other at the same game in the same space. The blue ocean however represents the spaces that have not yet been discovered. It represents a space where competition is irrelevant because the rules of the game are waiting to be set.

I like to swim, and, whenever I can, I take a boat out into the sea. When I am far out, I jump into the ocean. There is absolute peace and the only sound is that of the waves lapping against my body. Now the question is, “Where are the noisemakers?” They are at the beach.

When I hear the sound of competition, it is because I have not swum out far enough. To be outstanding we must be ready to stand out!

Wale Akinyemi is the convenor of the Street University (www.thestreetuniversity.com) and chief transformation officer, PowerTalks