In this series, authors will explore how individuals and communities imagine new ways to lead change, new mindsets to approach complex issues and new strategies to align leadership theory and practice. We will share examples of how local leaders address global issues, highlighting leadership perspectives and strategic change actions.
In this first blog of the Leadership in a Changing World series, K-State leadership communication doctoral student and graduate teaching assistant Chibuzor Mirian Azubuike, uses the analogy of making lemonade out of lemons to describe how Nigerian change-makers lead through daily experiences.
The secret to success is to find a need and fill it; find a hurt and heal it; find a problem and solve it. – Robert H. Schuller
In June 2011, I received a letter that changed the course of my life. I had just graduated from the university and was looking forward to serving my country for one year under the National Youth Service Corps scheme (NYSC). NYSC is a mandatory program where Nigerian graduates below the age of 30 are assigned to serve the country in a different zone than their place of origin or residence. I was in absolute shock to see that I was posted to Bauchi in Northern Nigeria. In this region, the precarious security situation had caused the death of 10 corps members during the election and Boko Haram activities caused an uproar.
While serving at the Bauchi State Government Television Station, I was tasked with searching for news stories. I came across a community of about 6,000 people who did not have access to potable water. Their only source of water was a well that dries up during hamattan. Seeing their despicable situation, I facilitated the construction of the first and only borehole in that community. A borehole provides clean water for drinking, and other purposes.
Since then, I have registered an organization, Haske Water Aid and Empowerment Foundation that focuses on providing potable water for rural communities and youth empowerment. Today we have reached over 55,000 Nigerians in this mission. Looking back on this story, I did not set out to this, life simply made me gave me lemons and I made lemonade out of it. I would later learn that what I did, was tantamount to leadership.
In this article, I will use the concepts of leadership as practice (Raelin, 2017) and complex adaptive system (Uhl-Bien and Arena, 2017) as a lens to analyze and describe how leadership emerges and unfolds through the work of young Nigerian change-makers.
Turning passion into leadership practice
Raelin’s (2011) leadership as practice perspectives suggests that leadership emerges and unfolds through day to day activities. As the day goes by, more young Nigerians are setting up nonprofits and businesses to solve social problems that appear cumbersome for the government of the day. Nigeria is seen the bellwether of Africa, the most populous country in the continent with the largest economy and most renowned democracy. Yet, a weakening economy, rising insecurity and violent conflicts threaten progress made in its democratic development (United States Institute for Peace, 2021).
For many young Nigerians, this frustration has been turned to a passion through which they practice leadership. Crevani et al. (2010) asserts that leadership is embedded in cultural context where societal notices of “leadership” are both taken for granted and under re-construction. In other words, leadership as practice involves taking actions to solve problems regardless of whether one occupies a traditional leadership position. Instead, leadership happens through natural voluntary actions. Focusing on everyday leadership practices enable us to explore and engage what is going on in organization, rather than emphasizing abstract performative ideals.
Carroll et al. (2008) reinforces a need to move away from the exclusive focus on competencies. Put simply, leadership it is not about degrees and academic certifications, but relevant field/hands on experience in a niche area.
Leadership is not a solo endeavor, rather from a practice lens, leadership is found in relational interactions, emotions, and emergent outcomes of lived experiences. Engagement and performance are key to creating change. Leadership as practice helps to illustrate my story of change—how passionate engagement in community helped to alleviate suffering.
I am not an engineer. I do not have any water-related degree, but I run an organization that does water-related projects. If my academic background is to be considered to decide if I am competent, then answer will be negative. However, based on practice and my experience in the field, following leadership as practice I am a great fit. This organization was founded to fill a gap I observed from my personal experience in everyday life.
This form of leadership as practice is not unique to me. For example, Nkem Okocha is a young Nigerian who saw the struggles her mother went through as a young widow to raise her and siblings. She went started an organization that empowers poor women. She and many others are making lemonade out of lemons and have built careers from this–driving social change in areas that they do not have academic qualifications but are making a formidable impact.
Complex Adaptive System leadership in Nigeria
Complex Adaptive System (CAS) is also useful lens in understanding leadership among young Nigerian change makers. According to Uhl-Bien and Arena (2017), a complex adaptive system is a dynamic system that is able to adapt in and evolve with a changing environment. In Nigeria, young people are creating a solution for complex problems even though the environment is not enabling. They are able to do the following even without occupying a leadership position.
- Identify that they can proffer a solution to a problem in their community
- Start a business or non-profit and dedicate it to achieving the goal of solving the problem
- Partner with relevant organizations to champion the cause
- Embark on fundraising or sell and plow back the profit into the social enterprise
- Impact thousands of lives through their activities
These are examples of self-organizing in the complex adaptive system. Self-organizing is a strategy that emerges in the complex adaptive system, so as to prevent chaos. I like to also think of self organizing as a survival strategy to adapt in the complex system.
Holliday and Tytel (2011) describe three conditions necessary for creating change in a complex adaptive system: containers, differences, and exchanges. Containers: refers to boundaries that bind the system and hold it together. They can be social or psychological. For Nigerian changemakers, I think that containers refer to their passion that fuels their enterprise. It is because they are passionate that they create organizations to create change. It is passion that makes them thrive. Differences provides the potential for interaction and change within the system In human systems, this includes power, gender, affiliation. In respect to Nigerian changemakers, I like to think of difference as what makes the change-makers unique, their gender, different causes they are involved in, to mention but a few. Finally, exchanges refers to the flow and movement of information or resources between and among members of the system. Among Nigerian changemakers, this can be partnerships with different organizations to drive social change.
Implications for future research and practice
Leadership as practice and complex adaptive system was used to show how young Nigerians are making lemonades out of lemons, that is, channeling their energy to promote noble causes and lead. It is important to further study their day to day practices and how they build their organizations. How are they sustained? How do they strategize? What is their day to day activities? How do they engage with the community and stakeholders? Such findings would help others who are interested in leading change to solve social problems in Nigeria set up their organizations.
In addition, further studies are needed to explore the existing structures of their business. How do they navigate a system where there is a lack of basic amenities, like power, water, yet their organizations are still standing? It has been observed in Nigeria that businesses do not last up to a decade before they fail, further research using the lens of leadership as practice and complex adaptive system would be helpful in unpacking this problem.
References
Carroll, B., Levy, L., and Richmond, D. (2008). Leadership as practice: Challenging the competency paradigm. Leadership, 4(4), 363–379.
Crevani, L., Lindgren, M. and Packendorff, J. (2010). Leadership, not leaders: On the of leadership as practices and interactions. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 26(1), 77-86.
Holladay, R. and Tytel, M. (2011). Simple rules: A radical inquiry into self. Gold Canyon Press.
United States Institute of Peace. (2021) The Current Situation in Nigeria, https://www.usip.org/publications/2021/08/current-situation-nigeria
Raelin, J. (2011). From leadership-as-practice to leaderful practice. Leadership, 7(2), 195–211
Uhl-Bien, M. and Arena, M. (2017). Complexity leadership: Enabling people and Organizations for adaptability. Organizational Dynamics, 46, 9-20.
About the author
Chibuzor Azubuike has about ten years of experience in community service. She is the founder/director of Haske Water Aid and Empowerment Foundation, a non-profit organization which focuses on providing potable water for vulnerable people and youth empowerment. Chibuzor is interested in building civic leaders that would solve complex societal problems, especially in developing countries. The doctoral program in leadership communication will help her to build transferable leadership skills, and contribute to scholarship on leadership, social change and development.
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