Archibald Marwizi, Making Success Deliberate

"My personal convictions drive me to join those like-minded, in the recruitment of a growing army without guns, no hatred or prejudice, but with a leadership voice of influence and harnessing resources to create the change they desire. The major problems facing the world, particularly our beloved African continent, will not be won by sanctions, cruelty, ethnic cleansing, revenge, guns or bullets. The challenges are not largely externally motivated, so the platform to change them must shift. Shift from selfish to selfless, from external to internal, from behaviours to beliefs. Some of them are externally sponsored but self-inflicted, whilst most of them are due to greed, short-sightedness, abuse and selfishness."

"As you strive for personal effectiveness and leadership excellence, there are local and global questions that you will inevitably have to face. These range from poverty, corruption, terrorism, food security, scarcity of resources and overpopulation among others. Your power and influence for significance in leadership excellence will increase in direct proportion to your ability to find effective and sustainable practical solutions to some of these real-life challenges."

"Realistic and unrealistic expectations will be placed on you, demands will be made, fair and unfair judgment will be passed. Your growing leadership intelligence should reflect in your objective response or reaction to these challenges – remember more eyes than you can see are watching you. Know when it is prudent to make a comment, to set the record straight or just not comment. Decide which invitations to accept and which ones to send a representative or to turn down. Continuously reflecting on your mission, beliefs and values will make this process more objective."

"Because leaders and influential people are just as human as any other person, they sometimes forget that by doing little extra things to become extraordinary means they no longer have a completely private life. You must be willing to pay this price because if you don’t, the consequences can be more disastrous. Learn to plan and be deliberate in also ensuring you and your family can still enjoy quality private moments."

"Now that you are a leader. Everyone will want to know what you are doing and feel at liberty to comment or scrutinize even your private life. The world will become interested in your family life, your health, your achievements but most interestingly your shortcomings."

"The call to leadership excellence means you must now be awake to the reality that you are no longer your own, you are a blessing to society. In business, this will also mean value given to shareholders, customers, employees as well as society. This will take you, your family and your corporate base to appreciate that your leadership role and influence demands that they share you with other causes and stakeholders. As an effective person, you must be able to balance the demands on you and create the additional time that leadership at a higher level requires."

"The primary challenge for any aspiring public office bearer is to have a well-defined cause and diligently represent that cause until a significant impact is witnessed. Adhering to value-based leadership principles must be at the top of the priority list for public office aspirants."

"The role of political leadership in any society will remain critical to the socio-economic progression of the world. It is however worrying to see the growing number of people, including the youth, getting into politics for economic gain and not for a cause. This, inter alia, is the contaminated seed and eventual root of chronic corruption because such leadership will always be selfishly seeking gain and enrichment from their roles and offices."

"The leadership challenge for celebrities and those in the limelight includes turning focus from being self-centred to influencing vulnerable and gullible youngsters, especially teenagers, in a positive way; realising that it is possible to entertain and increase following without promoting societal vices like drug & alcohol abuse, irresponsible sexual behaviour, prejudice of all kinds, criminal heroism, gangsterism and all forms of violence."

"Most entertainers and celebrities realize the influencing power they possess. The sad reality is that those in the know tend to utilise that power with a lack of mission, beliefs and values which could translate to a positive impact of their talent on the lives as well as missions of those who form their fan-base. Their agenda tends to be self-centred but it can change."

"Research has shown the challenge caused by Climate change is mainly man-made due to abdication of leadership and personal responsibility in taking care of the environment. Will you be part of the army replenishing the earth and promoting proper stewardship of its resources?"

"The principles that guide your decisions as a leader must not be contradictory to your personal values. Your personal values must lay the strong foundation on which you build your leadership tenets. In becoming a principle-centred leader, these leadership values become your guiding principles and lenses for decision making."

"There is need for clarity on what your leadership role stands for and the kind of unwavering and unstoppable beliefs required. These beliefs must not be deterred by current circumstances and conditions. They must become your source of internal strength and inspiration, especially during trying times. How strong, positive and empowering is your belief system as a leader?"

"Development of states, urbanization, mechanization and industrialisation have all brought phenomenal strides to growth and prosperity of economies and their populace. They have also brought with them the insatiable need for energy resources with the related offspring of instability, conflict, war and corruption."

"Your leadership skill-set might be what we have been waiting for, to bring order and finality to major challenges that affect the global village. The vast hydroelectric generation capacity in Africa, particularly the Great Lakes region and along the Nile River, still remains unutilized potential not benefiting the people of Africa most of whom continue to live in darkness and depleting the forests looking for wood fuel and more fertile farming land."

"Due to poaching and global warming, future generations will not be able to see some animal and plant species given the rate at which they are disappearing from the forests and seas. Both vices are man-made and man must be challenged and confronted on these global issues. Park rangers, armies and nature conservation trusts are still grappling to find lasting solutions – will you join them in this fight?"

"Due to climate change and growing world population, the demand for vital requirements for human survival will continue to rise. If the world is not producing as much food as demanded, the prices will continue to rise affecting the poor and lower classes more, in every society. It is sad, looking at the shocking statistics of people who die every day as well as the spread of preventable diseases in developing nations, just because people do not have access to clean drinking water. So are we proud of our leadership contribution? Are we doing enough to increase food production, harvest rain water and replenish underground water reserves?"

"I am aware that for decades there has been exploration of options and concrete plans and investments being made to look at life on another planet. We must not stop exploring. At the same time let’s preserve and enhance the life we already have on earth. Join the green revolution, plant trees, stop soil erosion, reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere and promote recycling of waste. Become aware, create awareness, act responsibly and lead by example."

"Terrorist groups will not, in most instances, openly recruit from universities or the well developed areas that politicians and business leaders are always focusing on. They will not flight newspaper or TV adverts, but will use belief systems riding on the back of disadvantages, poverty and problems that have remained unaddressed in particular communities, tribal and religious ideologies. They will recruit the most vulnerable to harm and attack the most vulnerable, in order to spite leaders and authorities."

"Global summits are necessary to discuss and strategise, but will never be the platform that will uproot the seeds of hatred, intolerance, polluted beliefs and passionate convictions that fuel whatever we term terrorism. The excelling leader should be thinking of dealing with the soil and the seed, how do you make sure the soil is not polluted and how do you counter the retrogressive seed that is being planted?"