In terms of the traits leadership theory, what distinguishes you as a leader and how does the paradigm of leadership shift, if at all, to define women leaders? Leadership is about serving other people; it sounds like a cliché but the truth is you cannot shove orders down people’s throats while you are doing the opposite. I have learned to resonate with people and make sure the people I lead love me. I think this is one main outstanding trait that distinguishes me from my peers. In any of my initiatives, I have always made sure that I am not the highhanded leader but the servant leader. So far it has been effective because the people that I work with or lead always want to learn from me and be leaders too. I always make sure I inspire the people I interact with to be productive members of the society and to believe in their own potential. Leadership doesn’t happen with just a snap of a finger, it has to be nurtured like an egg to make sure it hatches properly. Women are still yet to be respected and counted as leaders in our society. Globally we have only 20.4% of women in parliament, but this is an improvement from the 19.6% at the beginning of 2012. There is need for more support from both men and women to ensure more women ascend to leadership so that we can have both genders play their roles effectively in development. More often, women leaders are judged more harshly than their male counterparts. Although majority of women leaders out perform their male counterparts, unfortunately some women leaders have been a hindrance to women leadership because they feel threatened by rising young women. Young girls need to be encouraged to take leadership roles so that they can build on their skills. Those women who have climbed up the ladder should reach out to those at the base of the ladder and help them climb up through mentorship and empowerment. It is very encouraging to see many more young women and girls in my generation striving to make a difference despite the harsh conditions that they face. We need more collective efforts to make sure that many more girls have access to proper secondary and college education so that they can mold their lives to be great contributors to the socioeconomic success of their communities. And as the late Prof. Wangari Maathai once said, “African women in general need to know that it's OK for them to be the way they are - to see the way they are as a strength, and to be liberated from fear and from silence.” Let us not forget that, Leadership starts with the girls!
“ Unfortunately some women leaders have been a hindrance to women leadership because they feel threatened by rising young women. Young girls need to be encouraged to take leadership roles so that they can build on their skills. Those women who have climbed up the ladder should reach out to those at the base of the ladder and help them climb up through mentorship and empowerment.”
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