Leadership Makes the Difference but Leaders Matter

Book excerpt: ABOUT LEADERSHIP MAKES THE DIFFERENCE BUT LEADERS MATTER The book “Leadership Makes the Difference but Leaders Matter” is a 367-page book written by Prof. Goski Alabi, one of Africa’s leading Full Professor in total quality management, and a scholar in leadership who serves on several public, corporate and international boards and committees. Prof. Goski is President of the African Council Distance Education (ACDE), Chair of the African Network for internationalization of Education (ANIE), Founder and Consulting President of Laweh University College, Founding Dean of the School of Graduate Studies University of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Member of the ISO Committee on Consumer Policy, four times national delegate to the World Health Assembly, Member of the National Codex Committee, a certified member of the Europe – Africa- Caribbean Liaison Committee (COLEACP) Inter Professional Association who served as a framework consultant to the EU-COLEACP for Good Company Practices on the Pesticides Initiative Program (PIP). She also consulted for the Ministry of Trade and Industry on the National Quality Awareness Project as a lead consultant. She has offered training and consultancy services on quality management and strategic planning to the Bank of Ghana, the Public Services Commission, the Architects Registration Council. of Ghana and the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development (EiABC). She also offered several other consultancy services to the Association of African Universities, (AAU), the African Union Commission, as well as the European Union Commission among a few to mention. Prof. Goski has also led and participated in several Work Bank, DFID and EU Commission Projects successfully. As a regulator, who worked with the Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) of Ghana she audited several organizations from micro-to multinational level and also audited several national and international public and private universities for the then National Accreditation Board and the African Union Commission’s Quality Rating Mechanism. Prof Goski was “The Lecturer”, Keynote speaker at the prestigious Oxford University’s Sir David Watson Memorial Lecture at the Human Welfare Conference (https://www.gtc.ox.ac.uk/news-and-events/events-series/human-welfare-conference/human-welfare-conference-2019/2019-david-watson-memorial-lecturer-professor-mrs-goski-alabi/). She is also author of the seminal book “Managing for Excellence in the 21st Century, the Total Quality Approach” which appeared in the New York Times in August 2017. Prof Goski has taught leadership at the Graduate level (Masters level) for 12 years and has condensed the knowledge and experiences gathered into the book, “Leadership Makes the Difference but leaders Matter”. The must-read book presents both practical and theoretical perspectives about how we can use leadership to create and deliver value for both the individual and common good in the twenty-first century. The book also challenges our thoughts about leadership to provide a key insight for today’s leaders. The aim of Leadership Makes the Difference but Leaders Matter is to bring us to question our held assumptions about leadership to improve our leadership skills. It shows striking differences between the concept of leader and leadership and argues that though leaders’ matter, leadership makes the difference in bringing about necessary and constructive change, which is the ultimate goal of leadership. Leadership Makes the Difference but Leaders Matter explains that being in a leader’ s position does not guarantee leadership, and that leadership itself is a concept of shared influence which begins not with influence but ideas and vision, and centers around communication and actions, with trust, power, influence, commitment and competence as core pillars. It also discusses trust and the sources of power as the main avenues for negotiating power in leadership. Are you driven to lead or driven to leadership? Leadership Makes the Difference but Leaders Matter is for Scholars, Practitioners, Governments and Trainers.