THIS CHILD WILL BE GREAT



 Memoir of a Remarkable Life by Africa’s First Woman PRESIDENT –ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF

This piece of work is about the life of an icon from childhood to stardom and without any additions a motivational book. It is an interplay of fate and destiny. A compact of the historical, present and futuristic information about Liberia, live of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and her role towards the democratization of Liberia. But beyond this, the book is an encyclopedia for upcoming leaders and for achievement of great leadership. The book is a character molder.

The power of the spoken word, accepted, believed and pursued with vigor and absolute trust in God. The book focused on, her childhood to the position of presidency without any room for the conventional African wisdom that is gender sensitive.

Success as achieved by the author and character in this book was made possible by total adherence to the unmistakable values of life which are – hard-work, honesty and humility.

In the revelations of this piece of work is the manifestation of the words of Thomas Jefferson:

‘’we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable Rights’’ -and the bible says he gave to each according to their strength’’

 

THE FORCE BEHIND THE JOURNEY TO PRESIDNECY - An old man visited the home of baby Ellen Johnson when she was born and why standing by the bed side said looking at the baby, ‘’this child will be great’’.  Her mother took in these words which later became a prediction, a dream, a goal and focus for President Ellen Johnson. She once said:

‘’at many of the junctures in which my mother recalled the words of the wise old man, my life seemed anything but great’’ Looking up to the prediction of the wise old man continued to give hope in the struggle to liberate her father land. Remove your eyes from your focus and all you see is obstacle. One’s believe in predestination banishes fear.

Be grateful to God and speak positive about your fatherland. The young Ellen was once told; ‘’Persons coming to Africa should expect to go through many hardships’’ and she wrote in reaction to the above quote;

‘’I expect it and was not disappointed or discouraged in anything I met with; and so far from being dissatisfied with the country; I bless the Lord that ever, my lot was cast in this part of the earth’’

Remain connected to your indigenous roots, be proud of who you are –the words of Ellen Johnson ‘’In the end I have been throughout my life, first and foremost, ahead of everything, a Liberian. Everything else came afterward’’

SMALL DECISIONS –Sometimes it is the small decisions in life that end up shaping our future the most.

SELF POTENTIALS – The ability to believe in one’s potentials is a pedestal for becoming a great leader and personality. Ellen Johnson’s words;

 

‘’One thing I had always believed in was my own potential, and I knew it did not lie in filing papers and collecting payments as the secretary in an auto garage. Nor as much as I loved my children, did it lie in simply raising them’’.

 

SELF DEPENDENCE – Ability to articulate the risk in every action to be taken is key in the pursuit for great leadership. ‘’when push comes to shove and at the end of the day, depend on yourself, no one else is guaranteed to be there –no one’’

No one achieves success in isolation of the subordinates -‘’In an organization, success in development depends upon a partnership between the Management and its staffers. But for such a partnership to succeed, staffers must believe their Management to be honest, efficient and willing and able to mobilize the resources for the common goal’’

‘’Success is not characterized by full knowledge but with idea and guts’’. This is the reason for the use of the old clitche –‘’business venture’’ to describe undertaken of a new business activity.

Redeployment and or Realignment on its own is not a challenge but the stand point from where it is viewed. Ellen at any point in time she was posted to different countries and assignments took all as great opportunities to develop herself the more and increase her contacts. All because she remained focused on her goal.

 

‘’ In life/job, one should consider realignment as not a period of surrender but a strategic retreat for growth, connections and respite.’’

 

Nonetheless, ‘’it is good to quit when the ovation is very high. This decision can only be taken if one is focused and remained focused’’.

 

In the course of life and living, one is encouraged to make and keep all contacts as they will come handy someday along life journey. Severing relationships is therefore not an option for any human and especially for upcoming leaders it is so.

‘’It is better and important to always keep the lines of communication open than to close them.’’

Leadership requires stamina, it requires a whole lot of acceptance, the ability to remain committed to your cause and to have the courage of your conviction. Any leadership operating contrary to this is bound to fail.

 

‘’Business collapses when the leader/Management ignores an increasingly displeased workforce or responds with more oppression’’.

 

To succeed, one has to become part of the organization’s culture. Everything centers on what is contributed to the bottom line and it is important to remember that…

A leader must be able and willing to tolerate criticisms. The least that can be done is to siege them and work on the ones that are constructive.

 

‘’The inability to tolerate criticism is a troublesome trait in any human being but in a leader it is especially so. As a leader you will get hit. You will get hit verbally sometimes with some very harsh words, you must be prepared to take criticism to stand still and let it just pass over you without resorting to retribution or revenge’’. Being able to take it is part of the price of leadership.

 

Leadership has many challenges and these challenges are Serious. Too often people in their eagerness to stand and command ‘’Follow me! neglect to consider the downside. They do not for example, consider the possibility of ostracision. But the truth is that if you want to lead and be hailed, you must also be prepared to be ostracized, because surely it will happen at some point in your career.

 

‘’If you want to lead, you have to accept that there will be conscious attempts to push you into forgetfulness. You have to be prepared to be very lonely sometimes’’.

 

When a leader allows what causes disunity or a cleavage to go for so long without addressing it forcefully and frontally, he sets the stage for disaster.

‘’What begins with the failure to uphold the dignity of one life, all too often ends with a calamity for entire nations’’.

Violence is a vicious, contagious disease easily spread so much so is workforce dissatisfaction. The consciousness of Management to the welfare of the workforce is therefore key to the stability and eventual success of an organization. A workforce that has been radicalized will not be turned back. Progress maybe slowed by oppression but it will not be stopped.

Great leaders live their life with great moderation and simplicity and even greater integrity. They also leave their followers unified. Great leaders are decisive, focused, disciplined and honest.

 

‘’Unless a leader draw people to him or herself, either they are going to go into oblivion, thus wasting their contributions and skills or they will become an active force working against the agenda you try to set.’’

 

A leader is connected to the past and traditions but not bound by them. Leaders must sometimes force old traditions to give way for to new requirements. It requires understanding that sacrifices will be made and the willingness to make them again and again.

The greatest sacrifice is putting everything important ahead of yourself. In effect, to be a great leader is to sacrifice yourself, to be great leader means to get to a place where personal consideration and needs become secondary to the achievement of your goal.

Most leaders are not born with these qualities, instead their life encounters influenced them thereby molding them into great leaders.

 

‘’It is reasonable to think that certain people are born with these qualities but their experiences as they go through life serves greatly to add to and strengthen them.’’

 

Culled from: ‘’This Child Will Be Great’’- Memoir of a Remarkable Life, by Africa’s First                             Woman President - Ellen Johnson Sirleaf