Gilax Ngoya
Rank-dominance is something that is divine because it was instituted by deity. When you go to the trees, you will see canopies.
Similarly, when you introduce a new chicken in the fold, there must be a ferocious fight to establish its place in the pecking order.
At any given time there is always one leader at the top and not two.
The overall leader has the onus to lead as others follow the queue and any other leader in that organisation has the duty of supporting the leadership of the one at the helm.
In the world of politics it is so difficult to know the deputies of Presidents and Prime ministers whether you go to the developed or third world.
A deputy has to throw the weight behind the leader to turn the dreams in the organisation into reality.
The buck stops with the one on top. Dr. John C. Maxwell, the proponent of cogent leadership content postulates that everything rises and falls on leadership. Leadership rises and falls on communication. When the leader fails, there is no need to engage in baseless blame game.
The one billion dollar question is: What if the deputy is a person that wields a powerful personality?
Such characters exist but, they have to swallow their pride and control their ravenous thirst to lead the orchestra.
It should not be a case of massaging one’s inflated ego, but a case of playing the second fiddle for some time.
Many deputies have missed the mark because they have contravened the first law in the 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene – never outshine your master.
Honor the leadership because there will only be one leader at a time.
For example, going by the current trends in Kenya we can have deputy who is a male at a girls’ school but not a male principal.
In such a classic case, the male should know that he cannot lead in that school instead should pray so that God opens up an opportunity in another station which must be either a boy or mixed school.
His work therefore, is to build the leader by working smart to build a strong name for himself.
I remember fondly, when we were growing up in the nineties, I knew for a long time that Onjiko Boys’ High School was steered by Owuocha Abok even though Owuocha was our neighbour at home, I was oblivious that the name Abok belonged to his deputy.
They were close-knit friends. Abok built a name for himself at Onjiko. I wanted to go to that school because all the boys from our village who went there talked good about them. These were two people who knew how to play it cool. Two strong characters who worked in perfect harmony to help shape destinies of young boys. God lifts people to those positions however much we try using other means, we must come to a point where we accept to be led even as we serve as a deputy.
Truth be told, some leaders are hard to serve under, they can be difficult and they might not be great leaders but I still insist, be patient and learn how not to do things under such.
It is a training ground for you. People also know that they are not good; do your part and do it so well as if to divinity and not humanity.
For any leader, learn your deputy well and when the person is a strong character that needs recognition, manage that bit well.
Nothing should threaten you; for you are the one in charge. If the deputy evinces smartness, then tap into that strength. Derive energy from synergy. Employ delegation as a leadership tool.
It is wise to release them with bounty of blessings when their time for promotion manifests. Leaders should not use their positions of power to thwart people’s chances in life. That could be outright wickedness.
On the other hand, a sagacious deputy should strive to cover the nakedness of your boss as much as possible.
The writer is a speaker and a trainer.
