The influence of leadership of developing effective life-long learning experience for me - Essay Example

The influence of leadership of developing effective life-long learning experience for me PROCESS OF LEARNING The process of learning about oneself (i.e. developing autobiographical awareness) is integral to the creation of effective, emotionally intelligent leaders in our communities (Goleman,Boyatzis, & Mckee, 2002), and as people are able to name and define their own knowing, and to claim personal authority over their lives, a stronger sense of self- identity and self-determination arises that can lead to their creation as new agents of change. It is change at the individual and personal level that holds the potential for change at a societal level. In fostering the growth and personal authority of individuals, we are investing in the future leaders of our communities whose wisdom and courage will guide our tomorrows. INTRODUCTION TRANSFORMATIONAL DIVERSITY LEADERSHIP (TDL) Transformation Diversity Leadership (TDL) module has, so far, been an invaluable means of developing effective life-long learning experience for me. The unit provides numerous experiential learning opportunities. It gave me insight into a wide variety of relevant models and theories that informs the practice of leadership, diversity, human transformation and self-renewal processes in modern life and organisations. Taking Transformational Diversity Leadership (TDL) has an optional course gave me a whole new experience, an experience completely different from my career pathway - accounting. The most worthwhile aspect of the unit, for me, was how it helped me to plunge into the innermost part of my being to awaken my inner self and identify my purpose- who I really am. Having sat through a few lectures in class, I began to reflect on my past, identifying past mistakes/errors and determining not to let those mistakes deter me from moving ahead in life. In addition, the unit serves as a major basis for me to build new skills, (the most important being leadership skill) that other modules/units in my degree program may not have given me the opportunity to develop. For instance, I was able to identify a leader whom I admire, the themes/leadership qualities that enabled the leader attain outstanding success in his area of endeavour and how I can emulate those qualities in my own personal development. This is the basic reason why I am comparing and talking about the strong presidents of USA time to time in my autobiography. I wish to evaluate how directly and indirectly their lives have influenced my circumstances as well as personality. In furtherance to the skills developed, I am able to adopt a critical thinking approach to several areas of my life, reflecting and constantly assessing my life to ensure continuous development/growth. I am able to challenge myself as an individual as well as my intellect and nurture my inbuilt abilities to bring out the leader in me. In the light of my continuous wish to excel in life, it is very important to state my background as well as early influences in life that induced a source of motivation in me to work hard in order to accomplish tasks towards success. My name is Mukaila Adegoke, born on 15th February 1962 in Iwo, the Osun State of Nigeria. This was the era when President John F Kennedy established his office as 35th president of the USA and gave a major input in the history of civil rights. Discrimination in American culture had badly affected the community of African Americans. President John F Kennedy pressurized the government authorities and organizations to provide work for African Americans equivalent to Britain Civil Service. In his time, more African Americans were appointed on federal government posts. This was the reason why he also lost support in the north USA where common people and administration started thinking that the President Kennedy proved to be more concerned with African American and forgetting behind the rights of the majority- the whites. In 1962, when I was born, first time a black student registered at the University of Mississippi. In 1963, the organization of African Unity (OAU) was also formed in Addis Abana in Ethopia near Nigeria. Currently when I think about the initial years of my upbringing and Kennedy’s commendable input for the welfare and rights of African Americans at that time, I find the whole scenario as a source of inspiration, although unconsciously, towards excellence and continuous struggle for betterment in later stages of my life. As both of my parents belong to the poor class of Nigeria- My father named Mr. Adegoke Atanda, a farmer from Iwo in the State of Osun. On the other hand my mother Mrs. Munirat Adegoke, a trader from Ibadan. They are deceased now. I was born to a poor family in a village environment with limited facilities- born at home without any medical assistance. The neighbours were called by my father for the assistance of my mother and the new born. Now, we are four siblings in total; I have one elder sister and one elder brother as well as a younger brother. Background As a child, I passed most of the time of my childhood in a village without basic facilities like piped water and electricity. Usually, I fed on milk and play all my way before getting enrolled in a primary school. In 1967, Nigerian Civil War which is also known as Nigerian- Biafra War was started as a result of military coup and counter coup which proved to be a great human tragedy in the history of Nigeria. In the later stages of my life, whenever I use to evaluate this tragedy, I find out the greed of power and unconscious aspiration of human being as the main reasons behind the whole disaster of war. Human being, most often, remain unaware of the lessons of their past. They ignore the past and always value the present. They even do not take the mistakes of their life serious. This becomes the main reason why history repeats again and again. However, the nations and individuals who learn from history always get strength to avoid individual and collective disasters. The history of Nigerian Civil War allows me to understand the fact in all stages of life that we must learn from history as well as our individual experiences must not be ignored to ensure progress, contentment and development. I still remember the time when I was just 5 years old, following the Nigerian Civil War, my younger brother was born. This was a memorable time for me as I have got a new companion to play with. My uncle also gave me a new bicycle as a present which was another source of complete happiness for me. Even after so much chaos in the region, life went on. Later on, in 1968, I was enrolled to the District Primary School, Iwo. During this stage of my life, I had to travel long distance on foot with many other students. Daily, we covered four miles way to and from school because of the fact that there was no transport available nearby. For me, learning and socializing with friends were new experiences and absolute fun as well. However, I do not find myself a very intelligent and hardworking student in the beginning of my school career. I still remember the time when, at the age of 7, I was sent out of the class by the headmaster for not having blackboard and exercise books. Later on, in 1970 when I was just 8, my parents were asked by my class teacher allowing me to repeat previous class because of the fact that I was not catching up the syllabus properly. Turning Points As mentioned above, it is change at the individual and personal level that holds the potential for change at a societal level. The diversity of human experiences plays a vital role in human transformation and self-renewal processes in modern life and organisations. When we develop effective life-long learning experience, they awaken the inner self and identify our purpose of living. Our body goes through a continuous pattern of modifications rather physical or psychological and these changes continue during lifetime. At times, several incidents in life allow us to readjust according to the situation or vice versa. The human reactions towards various turning points and situations have intense relationship with individual personality build up and this is what the model of transformational diversity leadership (TDL) explains. Such turning points have intense importance in human life as well. This is what forms human character as an individual. When I look up the importance of these turning points in my life, I also found them imperative in my character build up. For instance, an incident that has still its reflections on my mind involves the year of 1972 when President Idi Amin of Uganda ordered the expulsion of Pakistani and Indian’s minority and gave them just 90 days to vacate the country. Although I was very young at that time but I could really feel the pain of the minority communities who had to leave behind their houses and belongings in 90 days only. This was a great setback for the minorities living in Uganda for years. However, I keenly observed all those experiences how people took courage to cope with the odd situations. This offered me strength to learn how an individual can gain courage against ill circumstances. Later on, in the same year, when I was just 10 years old, I found a wallet on the road with large sum of money while on my way back to home. I picked up the wallet and gave it to my father. Although my mother was unhappy about this happening but my father gave me a present for my honesty. This also allowed me to understand the fact that life not only possesses grey areas but it all depends how we can change the scenario by using our wisdom and good deeds. Later on, in 1973, first time in life when I was just 11 years old, I became very ill and hospitalized for two consecutive weeks because of my hectic routine to and from school. After two weeks, when I recovered from acute sickness, I returned to school and found out so many challenges. These confrontations not only involved those concerned with academics but also coping with the attitudes of other students who had difficult psychologies and different cultural backgrounds. For example, in the initial years of my school career in 1971, I was badly beaten up by some class fellows. However, all the experiences I had come with gave me the new spirit and strength to build up my personality and since then I developed my mind that I would fight bad circumstances, poverty and would go further to liberate my family from miserable life. In 1973, the tallest building of the world, World Trade Center in New York was built and this proved to be a source of excitement for me. It gave me the strength to understand that sky is the limit for excellence. In 1974, my mother got a job as one of the caterers in the school. This was a happy moment for me because of the fact that so many friends and students attracted towards me. They got an opportunity to get free food items from my mother. The job of my mother offered financial security to our family at one end as well as sense of happiness and acceptance to me among my school fellows at the other. Later on another incident that has produced strong prints on my mind involves an event occurred in 1981 when a blind man came to our school in order to deliver an informative lecture. The title of the lecture was ‘Deformity is not a barrier of winning soul.’ The lecture was heart touching and left behind a thought provoking approach for me. I just thought if any defect or abnormality is not a barrier then normal human beings could do anything they really wish and fight for. Hardship Experiences It is a fact that life is a continuous chain of good and bad experiences. Both sorts of experiences help us to live a more productive life. Experiences are considered as key source towards success. Besides happy moments of life, I have also come with so many hard experiences as well that educated me at one end and turned my vision into more practical and professional approach at other end. For instance, in 1964, when United States of America was badly hit by an earthquake in its history at magnitude 9.2, I was just 2 years old. In the same year, my half- sister was killed by a rushing vehicle. She was coming from the market with one of her friends, badly distracted and had lost her focus on the road while crossing the road. This resulted in her death on board. This incident was a great setback for the whole family but remained all of us to be more cautious about surroundings. Similarly, in 1966, a small event that left behind its reflections on my mind involved the caught up of my auntie’s finger in my mouth. Till then, there was a scare on her finger. This was the year when Vietnam had also been bombed by US. However, whenever I evaluated such odd incidents in later stages of my life, I always came with the idea that human being should be strong enough to cope with the odd situations. It all depends of human wisdom and leadership that could better direct the individuals as well as nations as whole. 1978 was another terrible year of my life when my grandmother died and it was extremely sad moment when I found my mother crying. We all travelled to Ibadan for burial ceremony of my grandmother. This was entirely a new experience of my life as I saw a near one deceased first time in life with open eyes and understanding. She was the one with whom we had shared so many good and bad times. However, her death allows me to understand how to bravely cope with the difficulties of life. Later on, in 1980, one of my close aunties has left us. This was as devastating as she always used to cook delicious food for us. However, I found out that nothing gets stop in life and goes on and on. Another upsetting event again happened in my life in 1987 when my elder sister became Christian. This was very distressing as this had never happened in our family history. Soon after this set back, my mother also lost her catering job which created a disturbing situation for the whole family. Later on, in 1993, I lost my sister and just after one year in 1994 I again lost a very dear friend of mine who was sick and badly suffering from diabetes. Later on, in 1995, I also lost my mother. However, all the bad life-long learning experiences of my life always helped me out to turn my personality into a stronger being- an individual with strong leadership qualities. First Time Experience First time experiences also produce strong impact on human life. It is also noteworthy to describe such experiences of my life. In 1976, when I gained admission in secondary school, I had to move from village to city. As already mentioned, my village did not possess modern facilities of life like school, colleges and hospitals. So, when I relocated to city, I found out the whole scenario as a big challenge for me. First of all, this was the first experience when I have to leave my parents and live alone in a complete new environment of a big city. I only used to travel to village on weekends to see my parents there. Another challenge that I had to face was the new environment of the city. I found out that the living conditions in a village and city are quite different. However, soon I realized that I have to adapt myself according to new circumstances if I really wish to survive successfully and really want to build a winning career. Just after 1 year of my admission in secondary school in 1977, my father completed the construction of his house in the city. This was a great moment not only for me but for the whole family. My family relocated to new home in the city. I also started living with my parents once again. In 1979, another happy and excited moment of my life was the marriage of my elder sister. This was the first time I have ever seen any wedding. Independent Personality and Transformation Stage In 1982, at the age of 20, I finished my secondary school and finally got a reasonable job in a commercial bank. There, I met Late Barrister named Tokunbo Orimobi in 1983 who was my adviser. I have learnt so many new things from my adviser that assisted me at every level in my professional career. My experience in commercial bank was pretty cool and I found myself very stable and satisfied with the job. In 1984, at the age of 22, I bought my first car- Peugeot 504 SR. Just after one year, I resigned my job with the Commercial Bank as I found myself firm to register my own private company- Mukad Associates. In 1986, I travelled to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja to do some consultancy job first time in life. Later on, in 1989, I met my wife at school during Inter House Sports and after the lapse of one year I got married to her in 1990 at the age of 28. In 1991, I lost my father which was a great setback for me. In 1992, I was blessed with my first daughter. In 1996, at the age of 34, my second daughter was born but this time it was a terrible experience because it took nearly 8 hours in labour room before the child could come out. 1997 was the year in my life when I first took alcoholic drink at my friend’s birthday party at the age of 35. Although I was enjoying life and career in Nigeria but in 1998, I moved to United Kingdom for better living and more exposure. Later on, in 2000, I set up a business related to photo printing. This was set up in Nigeria- at my birth place. I just set up this business to carry out my plans to relocate back to Nigeria after getting more stable, financially, in UK. I sold out my property to a friend and that was a turning point in my life as I bought a new property in Nigeria. In 2003, I also got divorced with my wife and next year I returned to UK. In 2005, I was granted with a 5 years visa to remain my residence in UK after getting married with a European National. Later on, I purchased my first property in UK. In 2006, I also travelled to Milan in Italy for one week holiday. In the same year, I bought my second house in UK. I found more exposure in UK as compared to my homeland Nigeria. This gave me courage to flourish and establish permanent living in UK. In 2008, my first daughter completed her graduation from secondary school. Then, in 2009, she got admission into university to study law which is a five years course. In 2010, my indefinite leave to remain was granted as I applied for it in 2007. In 2010, I also got British passport and finally succeed in getting admission in London Southbank University. In 2011, my young daughter also completed her graduation from secondary school and next year she got admission in university to study accounting as her major subjects. Currently, I am busy with my final year project and also preparing for my graduate degree. Leadership Qualities As already mentioned, my early years of life when compared with John F Kennedy conclude that a man could do anything if he dares to do. He could win hearts and achieve success if he really fights for. However, currently, when I compare my personality with President Barack Obama, I find out a great similarity. The acceptance of power and money keeping in view the prestige is the most common attributes in both of us. President Obama always selected his cabinet with great care and scrutiny. He has been choosing strong, intellectual and expert candidates who could better accompany him. Same case goes with me. I never rushed for speedy success and heights. I always preferred to move forward step by step. I also favored to surround with right people. This shows my strong approach and willingness towards success same like any veteran politician. Last but not the least; this is the main reason why a poor village boy from Nigeria succeeds in grabbing a prestigious job, a private business- Mukad Associates, British passport as well as property in United Kingdom. References 1. WikiAnswers. (2013) What are Barack Obama’s Leadership Qualities? [Online], Available: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_are_Barack_Obama's_leadership_qualities [2nd April 2013]. Read More