The Future-Focused Female Leader

By Dr. Chinyere Almona and Chief (Dr.) Mrs. Onikepo Akande CON

When females lead, societies and organizations benefit tremendously. However, females continue to struggle, and finding proper guidance is challenging even when a woman’s heart is in the right place. As we journey into the future, we must facilitate the emergence and success of future-focused female leaders in society and the workplace.

The Future-Focused Female Leader is for ladies intending to develop or strengthen their leadership skills to excel. It is also a resource that can be leveraged to coach and mentor younger female leaders to continue developing themselves and their perspectives.

Dr. Chinyere Almona leverages her 30 years of leadership experience in diverse roles across Africa. She shares her ups and downs, failures and successes, strengths and weaknesses, showing anyone striving to lead successfully that the secret lies in strengthening or developing certain attributes.

The Future-Focused Female Leader is a great read, with insights and actionable ideas. It is a book that will genuinely resonate with female leaders at different stages of leadership. It is personal, practical, and powerful, making it relatable for female leaders in their leadership journeys.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 16, 2023
• ISBN: 9781669868095

Dr. Chinyere Almona

Dr. Chinyere Almona is a versatile inspirational speaker and dynamic Bible teacher; her overarching purpose is to inspire people to love and live by the Word of God. She is also the author of five other books. She has been involved in active ministerial work for over twenty-eight years. She is passionate about leadership and people development. In her spare time, she provides guidance and counseling for women, youths, and teenagers. She lives in Lagos, Nigeria where she serves alongside her husband, Pastor Obi Almona, at RCCG New Dawn Parish, Surulere. They are blessed with three very amazing children.

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Copyright © 2023 by Dr Chinyere Almona.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 03/16/2023

Xlibris

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CONTENTS

Dedication

Epigraph

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Preface

Introduction

Chapter 1 Be A Lifelong Learner

Chapter 2 Be A Reader

Chapter 3 Be Adaptable

Chapter 4 Be Authentic

Chapter 5 Be Courageous

Chapter 6 Be Disciplined

Chapter 7 Be Ethical

Chapter 8 Be Humble

Chapter 9 Be Self-Aware

Chapter 10 Be Visible

Chapter 11 Be Visionary

Chapter 12 Be Well-Groomed

Bonus Chapter: Be Tenacious

Conclusion

Postface: Breaking News

References

About the Author

DEDICATION

I dedicate this book to my brilliant and phenomenal daughters, Chidumebi Daniella Almona and Ginikachukwu Ruth Almona, who are future-focused young leaders.

And to all future-focused female leaders who are determined and will excel

I look forward to more formidable female leadership in the years ahead!

EPIGRAPH

The Future-Focused Female Leader

She is a force to be reckoned with

A blessing and source of good to many

Armed with skills, will and vast abilities

She secures her license to affect current and future generations

She is mindful of her integrity, influence and impact

Known for her character, competence, and confidence.

She made it to the top because she dared to climb

While making decisions in the present her eyes are focused on the future

She is a phenomenal future-focused female leader!

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I thank God Almighty, who blessed me with a sound and creative mind.

I thank everyone I have encountered in my leadership journey. Everyone has contributed in a small or large measure to the contents of this book. I can confidently say that I have lived, loved, laughed, led, and learned a lot along the way.

I thank all the young female mentees I have had the privilege of walking alongside. I have learned as much from them as they have learned from me.

I thank one of my role models, Chief (Dr.) Mrs. Onikepo Akande, CON. Former Minister of Industry, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Past President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI), and the current Group Chairman, Emerging Africa Capital Group, whose speech formed the foreword.

I thank everyone who has picked and will pick up this book because they validate the need to write it.

I thank my family and friends for standing by me as I acquired and strengthened the attributes I shared in this book.

FOREWORD

At the 2023 International Women’s Day Celebration organized by the Bank of Industry, held in Lagos, Nigeria, on 6th March 2023, I was mesmerized as I listened to the keynote address by one of my role models, Chief Dr (Mrs) Onikepo Akande, CON. Everything she said resonated with me and related to the leadership attributes and concepts discussed in this book. I subsequently obtained her permission to include an abridged and slightly edited version of her speech in this book: The Future-Focused Female Leader.

Despite limitations that could have been deterrents, I excelled as a young girl in school and career. My life’s journey explains my devotion to pro-women development initiatives. Appreciating God’s enormous grace, I have devoted my life to motivating and inspiring the girl child, young ladies, and women in Nigeria to become the best they can be in this globalized world.

The common denominators of great Nigerian women are their very high levels of competence, capability, and capacity, as well as hard work, diligence, and integrity. Outstanding Nigerian women present viable role models for the girl child and young females that they can achieve any heights with determination and resilience.

My message is that there are no viable or sustainable shortcuts to the top. Knowledge acquisition through sound education, retraining, skills acquisition and exposure to capacity-building programs are essential for progression to the top. As women, we, in most cases, have to work twice or thrice as hard as our male counterparts to excel beyond doubt in this highly competitive world.

In the wake of the 4th and 5th industrial revolutions, brain power and superior intellect, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things are gaining ascendancy over physical prowess. This gradually but steadily bridges the edge that young men used to have over their female counterparts at workplaces. Not mainstreaming our women would amount to operating at 50% of our national productive capacity since women account for more than half of Nigeria’s population of about 216 million.

Being naturally endowed with nurturing qualities that help with team-building capabilities implicitly prepares women for leadership responsibilities. As we were taught in Business Schools, being a good team player and builder are prerequisites for successful and effective leadership. Women are also gifted with a high capacity for insight, foresight, and intuitive and instinctive capabilities. Women are also noted for their patience, tolerance, resilience, endurance, and multitasking capabilities. This explains why women can succeed at home and work by striking the delicate balance between their careers and domestic responsibilities, including procreation and nurturing.

I need to stress the importance of mentoring and handholding. No matter how knowledgeable, brilliant, or skillful we are, a mentor’s guidance and support help us actualize our potential. On behalf of elder stateswomen and female forerunners in the public and private sectors, I assure you of our readiness to mentor and hand-hold promising young ladies and women as they navigate their way to the top in their respective undertakings. I urge us all to seize every opportunity to network, make friends and establish contacts that can be built upon for life.

As an elderly and experienced woman, I like to state some self-destructive practices that have continued to retard women’s progress, especially in our society. I want to make a passionate plea; please let us end the long-held view that women are our own greatest enemies. From experience, I know how we women undermine each other. These negative and detrimental tendencies are driven by envy, jealousy, and petty, unnecessary rivalries. The sky is so wide, and everybody can soar.

Let me summarize with Life Lessons; Ways to Rise to the Top!

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way. In my own little way, I want to share my expertise and suggest ways to rise to the top:

The qualities of a leader are:

(1) Education, (2) Hard work, (3) Honesty, (4) Transparency, (5) Intellectual and Professional rigor, (6) A winning mindset, and (7) Courage (Confidence).

Apart from these qualities, there are some strategies that one can adopt to get to the top. These include the following:

1. Build networks and alliances

2. Take full advantage of training opportunities: particularly in the early parts of your career.

3. Always sitting upfront at seminars and conferences

4. Watch women who are successful in your organization and industry and try to figure out what characteristics seem to drive their success

5. Play to your strengths.

6. Do not be afraid of fear. ‘Am I good enough?’ ‘Am I smart enough?’ ‘Will I fail?’ Throw caution to the winds. Look fear straight in its ugly face and barge forward.

7. Do not lose your sense of humor.

8. Do not dive into the water if you do not know how deep it is.

9. When women are given respect, the ability, and the freedom to pursue their personal dreams and ambitions, life improves for everyone.

10. Women are as capable, energetic, and aspiring as men.

Undoubtedly, getting to the top is relatively harder to achieve for women. For instance, most countries and large corporations have yet to have female leaders at the helm of affairs. Notwithstanding, the number of female leaders in the public and private sectors worldwide, including Nigeria, has grown significantly and steadily over the last decade. This development and trend are quite reassuring.

Let me, at this point, challenge women, including men, who are in leadership positions across the board, to support more women into electable or other leadership positions. It is time we consciously adopt younger women and mentor them in a manner that will facilitate their moves and quests to leadership ranks and positions

I have listed the qualities of a good leader and the strategies to adopt, and I will conclude by saying, on your way to the top, you will stumble and fall, you will experience both disaster and triumph sometimes on the same day, but it is so important to remember that, like a hangover, neither triumphs nor defeats last forever. They both pass, and a new day arrives. So, just try to make that new day count.

This keynote address validates this book’s importance — thumbs up for The Future-Focused Female Leader.

Chief (Dr.) Mrs. Onikepo Akande, CON

Former Minister of Industry, Federal Republic of Nigeria

Past President, Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry (LCCI)

Group Chairman, Emerging Africa Capital Group

PREFACE

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My leadership journey

Having lived for over fifty years, worked for over thirty years, and been married for over twenty-five years. I, like many other women, juggle several balls of responsibilities continuously. In the working world, women deal with the stress of a full-time job and are often responsible for raising families. It may seem impossible to juggle your work and personal life at times. Still, I believe this fact enables women to bring more diverse physical, mental, and emotional experiences to everyday conversations.

While working at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), I was pivotal in introducing and implementing the IFC’s Women on Boards and Business Leadership program in Africa. This work was part of the overall corporate governance work as IFC intentionally built capacity, raised awareness, and expanded the conversation on gender diversity in leadership across developing countries.

In 2017, the Women on Boards Network (WOBN) Kenya invited me to their annual conference to speak on Excelling at the top: my leadership lessons for women leaders. The first difficulty was deciding what parts of my leadership journey to share within the 45 minutes allocated to me. Therefore, it took a lot of effort to isolate a few specific lessons that seem to stand out as being more important than the others. Some of them I have learned the hard way, and some of them I was and am still learning. Reflecting on my ongoing leadership journey, I extensively researched these attributes in preparing for the session.

In 2019, I was invited to speak to a group of women from one of the independent agencies of the Federal Government of Nigeria as part of a gender enlightenment and empowerment program. I found that my list of leadership lessons was relevant and appropriate for the conversation, and I got rave reviews from the post-session evaluation. This further enshrined these attributes in my portfolio of experiences.

Interestingly, in 2022, I was invited as the plenary session speaker for the Young Female Professionals Mentoring Program. The young professionals’ program catered to females aged 19 to 30 and was organized by the Unboxed Conferences and hosted by Mr. Wale Adenuga. He sent me a message, "we are hosting YPHangout: a learning experience for young professionals across Africa. I was wondering if you could also help facilitate the plenary session. This will involve you speaking for 20 minutes on Notes to my Younger Professional Self". I gladly agreed.

It was an absolute honor and pleasure to speak at the plenary session of the Young Female Professionals’ mentoring event. I spoke on Notes to My Younger Professional Self and highlighted some specific leadership attributes that would have helped my younger self navigate the corporate world better. I enjoyed the session. It was an interesting, inspiring, and impactful event. It was a privilege to share insights and experiences with many young female professionals, which I offer in this book, hoping it would help others bridge a gap, learn a way, and be better.

This book, The Future-Focused Female Leader, is for women who want to strengthen their leadership skills and advance in the workplace and society. Read on for tips to strengthen your leadership attributes and help you prove your leadership merit in the workplace while inspiring other women to follow in your footsteps. Female leaders must be supported to raise their level of awareness and to walk the talk or continue to develop themselves and their perspectives.

INTRODUCTION

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Female Leadership Matters

The Oxford Online Dictionary describes leadership as the action of leading a group of people or an organization to achieve a specific goal. It is about challenging the status quo and taking risks. Leaders motivate others to achieve something new and better. There is no sector or area of life where leaders are not needed. Leaders are essential to the evolution of life and the progression of organizations.

Leadership and its relevance to organizations is a well-researched and documented subject, and leadership has been a trending topic for ages across different age groups. Equally, well-researched is female leadership and the female leadership advantage.

Sadly, women have historically been underrepresented in leadership positions across private and public organizations around the globe. Thankfully, the working landscape is changing, and the business world is no longer just a man’s game. However, competing in this challenging environment is not easy for women, especially for those striving for leadership positions. Yet organizational research suggests that female leaders bring a unique combination of leadership traits, attributes, and behaviors to the workplace that is advantageous.

In today’s world, organizations led by inclusive leadership teams make effective decisions that deliver better results. In the twenty-first century, the essential qualities required to lead include collaborating, connecting, empathizing, and communicating. All these qualities are feminine in nature and can help build a more sustainable future.

Yet, women in leadership still face numerous challenges, from experienced women leaders to the upcoming young lady looking to make a leadership debut. Research has found that the global share of women in senior leadership is building momentum, but there is much room for improvement.

The Future of Female Leadership

Many statistics show that companies led by women have better financial results. The Frontiers in Psychology¹ states that female leaders received praise for their outstanding leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 - 2021. Three women stood out: Angela Merkel of Germany, Jacinda Ardern Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand, and Tsai Ing-Wen of Taiwan. They received recognition for their care, empathy, and collaborative approach.

McKinsey research² shows companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams were 25% more likely to have above-average profitability than companies in the bottom. According to research from academics from the Universities of Glasgow and Leicester³, companies with more than 30% female executives were more likely to outperform companies that don’t.

However, in 2022, only 15% of CEOs at Fortune 500 companies are women. Only eight women, no women of color, are currently employed as CEOs in the FSTE 100. In contrast, women hold only 14% of executive directorships and 38% of all directorships, according to the Fawcett Society’s Sex and Power report 2022.

Women in leadership are the future, and they should push for a more significant impact. In a world dominated by male leaders, it is critical that females change the status quo. Inspirational female business leaders do everything from highlighting gender-based issues to presenting solutions to deal with them. Future-focused female leaders are the ones that will make concerted efforts, now and in the future to …

… Challenge and change the narrative, making organizations and communities more equitable for everyone, envisioning a world where women get the same opportunities as men.

… Inspire other females to join the workforce and leadership, thus increasing society’s dependence on female workers.

… Bring diversity to the table. Where men are more assertive, headstrong, and risk-taking, women bring more rationality, sound character, and stability to an organization.

… Demonstrate superior leadership qualities. Good leaders possess attributes like honesty, intelligence, innovation, and compassion, women score higher in most of these categories.

… Act as role models to others. Other women can look up to them, learn from them to take charge, and live their dreams to the fullest.

… Make the workplace less toxic. Companies headed by female leaders have employees that are relatively more content in their jobs.

… Enhance cross-collaboration. The overall disposition of female leaders helps them approach potential clients and partners and formulate longer-term business relationships.

… Raise the voice for minorities. There is always a clear difference in how male and female leaders support minorities.

… Offer fresh new perspectives on old issues. With more female leaders, the world may finally be able to witness leaders prioritizing things like climate change and global food poverty.

… Be great mentors. Allowing talented youths, the Gen-Zs, to come forward and achieve their full potential under

Female leadership is vital to increase the pace of transformation at home in the workplace and society. Female leaders will likely provide an integrated view of work and family, resulting in an engaged and promising personal and professional future.

Female leaders of the future must take ownership of their skills and abilities, take purposeful action, and push the boundaries for growing their business or organization. Being able to lead with confidence is dependent on having the right qualities.

Top Twelve Leadership Attributes

Female leadership requires broadening perspectives and strengthening capabilities. It is, however, not always easy to articulate the wide range of attributes to develop or things to focus on. Here are my top leadership attributes, alphabetically arranged.

1. Be A Lifelong Learner: a future-focused leader must be a lifelong learner. This is the intentional pursuit of self-development opportunities beyond formal schooling or corporate training requirements. Leaders who are lifelong learners never stop honing their skills and expanding their knowledge.

2. Be A Reader: It is usually said that readers are leaders. One of the well-known habits of strong leaders is reading, despite their busy schedules. Through reading, leaders are exposed to diverse perspectives, which makes them more knowledgeable and well-rounded.

3. Be