We are now two weeks into the Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders, and as I reflect on the array of academic and cultural sessions we’ve had to date, I am reminded of my initial appreciation for the significant level of diversity of the program. My first observation on all the fellowship had in store for us was influenced by the diversity of the program support staff, the varying activities in the curriculum prepared for us by the University, and the multiplicity of my peers.
Because Africa is so diverse and the people who inhabit the continent give it the character and soul it has, I found it so refreshing to be a part of a program with fellow young African leaders from all walks of life. I knew I would learn a lot from my peers and from the professors at my host university, but I had no idea that there would be such revelations about my own limitations, or that I would experience such enticement to return home and better my organization SO QUICKLY. I have been inspired every day. But with the understanding that my twenty-four peers and I were selected very competitively for the Washington Fellowship on the basis of our demonstrated leadership, I wondered how exactly the University of Delaware intended to teach a group of leaders how to lead.
Professor Tony Middlebrooks, who directed our first Monday academic session, answered that question for me when he shared with us the proven core traits of a leader. He went on to list intelligence, self-confidence, determination, sociability, integrity, and credibility to be the main characteristics of a leader. But I was particularly drawn to Middlebrook’s emphasis on the importance of one being able to reflect on their own short comings. That ability of self-awareness is, indeed, what distinguishes leaders from followers.
Leadership, as Professor Middlebrooks confirmed, is the process of influencing others towards a common goal. I learned today that leadership is not a linear journey, and a leadership course will not and cannot teach me how to lead. But what it will do, and has already done for me, is serve as a reminder to never become complacent, to always evaluate my own effectiveness as a leader, and by aspiring to continuously improve myself, I can better guide others to self-improve by my example. Because I aspire to motivate, uplift, and ensure personal as well as professional success and growth for my followers, my ambition is to cultivate their leadership potential—a process of influence Middlebrooks described as transformative leadership.
