(Six Core Values to Elevate Your Leadership and Create Infinite Legacy)
Author: Babs Olugbemi
Publisher: Mentoras Multimedia
Year: 2025
Pagination: 362
Reviewer: Obinna Emelike
Leadership is a scarce resource. While many people across the world are craving for leadership benefits, and others are complaining about lack of accountability and visibility of outcomes from those saddled with the responsibility of leading others, it is sad that there are insufficient efforts to create leadership opportunities to address the scarcity of good leaders.
The above highlights the fact that leadership is a scarce resource, and more also, a perfect introduction for the latest leadership book in town; Uplifting Leadership: Six Core Values to Elevate Your Leadership and Create Infinite Legacy.
It is a 362-page book, divided into 10 chapters, written in clear language, amid presentations in tables, graphs and diagrams for easy understanding.
Moreover, Babs Olugbemi, the author, who is an Executive/Leadership Coach, did not waste time in sharing his practical insights in efficient leadership gained from years of experience, the enormous positive impacts from the leaders he has worked with and at Tribest Corporate Support Limited where he first implemented the leadership culture before introducing it to numerous clients.
The rich mentorship is probably the reason he dedicated the book to three corporate giants, and astute mentors in their own rights: Dr Christopher Kolade, Elder Felix Ohiwerei and Mrs Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru. The author cherishes their towering organisational impacts while in office and the enduring institutional legacies they left.
Hitting the ground running, the author listed the six core values to include: Credibility, Influence, Teamwork, Result, People-oriented and Ambidextrous.
In Chapter 1 titled ‘Reality of the Leadership Gaps’, the author explains reasons for the leadership gap and urgent need to close it.
He posits that leadership gaps are everywhere, because good leaders are a scarce resource in every nation, organisation and society. Offering solutions, he notes that the continuous lamentation will not help, instead creating more leadership opportunities for people to grow and become leaders.
“Individual talent at any level is beneficial to the people and organisations only with the right leadership attitude, perspective, atmosphere, capacity and influence,” he says. The chapter also delves into how his team at Mentoras Limited, through leadership consulting and development, in Africa and Europe, has impacted many organisations.
Worthy of mention in Chapter 1 is the Culture and Attitudinal Change Ltd, which, according to the author, represents 20 selected clients within his outfit’s growing portfolio, served between July 2018 and June 2021 as leadership and organisational development consultants.
As well, the chapter touches on research and surveys conducted by the author’s company for clients, the findings and solutions.
The author ends the chapter citing exemplary leadership styles of Dr Christopher Kolade, Elder Felix Ohiwerei and Mrs Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, the trio, who he dedicated the book to.
He opens Chapter 2, titled ‘Notable Trademarks of the Difference Maker’, with an insightful quote from Jane Goodall, an English zoologist and primatologist: “What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make”.
The chapter dwells on things that can make the difference and close leadership gaps. For him, a sure way of closing the leadership gap is for everyone to see oneself as a leader irrespective of his or her role in an organisation.
He buttresses the above perspective with an encounter with Dr Christopher Kolade and his quote.
“When I met with Dr Christopher Kolade to present the Firelighter Award to him, his response was apt. He said it is not the responsibility of leaders to imbue people with greatness as latent greatness waiting for the appropriate time of manifestation is already deposited in them by God. What leaders do is to ignite the fire of discovery to unveil the latent greatness in followers. The fire is metaphorically the push to unleash the capacity of the people the leaders are leading. Dr Kolade subscribes to a people-oriented perspective to leadership, irrespective of the context”.
Encounters with Elder Felix Ohiwerei and Mrs Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru saw them pointing to the same values Dr Christopher Kolade upholds.
For him, in a workplace where leaders see themselves as enablers to maximise potential in people, where everyone is conscious of the value exuded at home, where structure and processes are prioritised and respected; then there will be manifestation of many positive things, recreation of workplace that will make a difference in people, processes, products or services and culture. Also, everyone will be a momentum maker; speak and respect others deeply; be conscious of his or her role and work for others; be a net contributor to the collective positive or productive outcome of the organisation.
Most importantly, he notes that employees will think and act like the owners because of entrenched motivation and trust.
He buttresses the above with the commendable leadership style of a manager who was credited with a N200 million bonus at the end of the year for the contribution of his directorate to the organisational bottom-line. Despite being told to be quiet, he broke the rule and shared the bonus among his staff based on the size of their contributions to his team’s outcome.
His action resulted in a high leadership culture and highly motivated team members, who kept delivering their numbers consistently because they knew their leader was considerate.
The author furthers his insightful instances with citation from Simon Sinek’s book, one of his favourite authors. In the book, “Leaders Eat Last” with the subtitle “Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t”, Sinek asserts that the courage to do the right thing is an important value for anyone who calls him or herself a leader.
For those aspiring to lead others, the author segments leadership culture into four popular organisational cultures, amid their limitations.
The Hierarchy Culture, for him, is at its dead end with the influx of Gen Z who are collaborators. The Clan Culture is good to have and encourages collaboration, while its limitation is the likely accommodation of people with little contribution to the team success. The Market Culture focuses on performance at the expense of other forms of instrumental contribution that support performance, with the tendency to overlook the back-office supporting role which is crucial to sustainability. On the other hand, the Adhocracy Culture puts innovation ahead and may lead to lack of accountability and excessive risk-taking.
But the bottom-line, according to him, is that leadership culture should focus on people not positions; prioritises building people to innovate, engendering collaboration among team members and with others as well as taking over the market through teamwork. The people are built to execute the vision, which embodies other aspects such as strategy, process, service or product, measurement and improvement that lead to realisation of an outcome.
He also explains the rationale for the FAT Test (Faithful, Available and Teachable), noting that in every leadership engagement programme at Mentoras Limited, his team always carry out a litmus test before the company agrees to implement the Leadership Culture and address the identified gaps for their clients. According to him, a leader has to be Faithful, Available and Teachable in order to lead well.
The chapter also explores practical leadership culture, its bedrock and practical and essential steps to making a success of leadership culture, which include: people-oriented approach, inspiring and purposeful communication, minimising positions and hierarchy mindset. Others are: putting wellbeing ahead, adopting coaching, practising fairness, promoting civility in the workplace.
In Chapter 3, the author takes the readers to the ‘Importance of Credibility to Leadership Success’, with a fantastic opener from one of Rick Warren’s quotes: “Leadership is learned, earned, and discerned. You develop it. It’s based on trust and credibility. Others see it in you. You can’t demand it”.
The author poured his heart into the chapter, which he says is important in uplifting leadership because it deals with humans, who are the foundation, as leading others starts with leading oneself. He posits that before anyone can lead and achieve extraordinary results, he or she must first become the extraordinary person in his or her determination to go beyond the ordinary.
In line with the above, he recommends credibility as the key requirement for new or aspiring leaders, leading teams and organisations to successfully influence others.
Explaining further why credibility is key in leadership, the author notes that it is the ability of someone, or something to be believed or trusted as belief or trust is key in any relationship, hence people who follow leaders are doing so because they trust them.
For those aspiring for credibility, he excites them saying that as a value, it can be built, enhanced, damaged or confirmed. Apart from humans, data, organisations, groups and situations can offer credibility, though people, for him, are the primary factor of credibility.
Speaking more on credibility, he says that it is also about integrity, which means doing the right thing even when no one is watching and not necessarily about titles and certifications.
For him, the manager that shared his N200 million bonus with his team members as indicated earlier in chapter two, can be said to be on the highest rung of the credibility ladder despite breaking the self-serving management rule.
Again, he reveals in the book that leading others is a major platform for deriving personal fulfilment, while also pointing to trust, respect and integrity as the three factors of credibility.
He also drives home his point with the trust-and-respect quadrant, explaining in the diagram that: High Trust and High Respect = Total Acceptance; High Trust and Low Respect = Empathetic Acceptance; High Respect and Low Trust = Moderate Acceptance, while Low Respect and Low Trust = No Acceptance.
He also posits in Chapter 3 that ‘Position Is not Leadership’, as well as revealing a foundational principle, which is: “seeing people as people and working with them to achieve set goals is paramount to your success as a leader”. The chapter also touches on the pyramid of credibility, the benefits and how to up credibility, among others.
Like in the previous chapters, he opened Chapter 4 with an insightful quote from Charles R. Swindoll: “Leadership is influence. The extent we influence others, we lead them”.
The above aligns with the title of the chapter under review, “Influence as the Seal of Leadership Effectiveness”.
Explaining the title, the author notes that all jobs require some form of leadership to be effective and that it is the effective personal leadership of individual team members that makes an effective team. Picking on influence, he says that it is the capacity and power to affect or change how someone or something develops, behaves or thinks and consequently affect his/her or its actions and outcomes.
While influence can be direct or indirect, the author explains that the family setting is the first place where influence is exerted. He cites instances to buttress his point, especially the Richard Williams influence on his daughters; Serana and Venus, renowned world tennis players.
He asserts that there is always the influence of the parents of today on the adults of tomorrow. Following the above, the workplace is therefore a composition of all the sources or platforms of influence with an average employee or person reflecting a composition of the values transmitted by the parents, mentors, neighbours, peers and environment.
He points to different forms of influence; accidental, performance, while using Gbenga Alade as a case study for Influence Above Motivation. In the same chapter, he goes ahead to offer perspectives about influence, amid the general misconception about it.
He also engages people with a table, scoring them on how influential people perceive they are and questionnaire on personal leadership influence.
The Chapter 5 is titled “Leadership and Positive Impacts of Teamwork”, he highlights why individual ability to develop credibility and enhance capacity is critical to leadership.
For him, one’s influence on the team members should not be position-based as it does not guarantee any relationship with the team members beyond the office, and once you are out of the position, everyone moves on.
A credible or truly influential leader should be able to influence team members beyond the positional authority, which is sadly momentary. To lead or influence team members beyond positional authority, the author says that multiple forms of influence are required.
Again, the author offers reasons one should embrace teamwork as a value, saying that every leader that is eager to succeed in any given assignment needs team members.
Going practical, he argues that Elon Musk would not have been able to build Tesla, get people into space on a commercial level among others feats without teamwork.
Also, Jack Ma’s quote resonates in his point of view as having a dream and being unable to work with others, will make the dream remain a dream.
The bottom-line for him is that no one can succeed alone. In a team setting, everyone brings something unique to complement the efforts and talents or skills of others. As well, the starting point in team leadership, according to him, is the alignment of the individual team members’ aspirations with that of the team and the shaping of values.
Drawing valuable lessons from the video of a lion trapped by a clan of hyenas, he insists that: No matter how brilliant, powerful and intelligent you are as an individual, you will always lose to a team; the help of a team member is needed to always complement yours and produce a better outcome, while a reliable team member with an extreme ownership mindset can facilitate the desired change.
The chapter also highlights the need to meet team members, and the four types of team members: The Eagles, The Peacocks, The Ducks and The Vultures. But the Eagles seem most preferred as they are the team members who live by the core values of the team, while the Vultures are not committed to the team values and achievement of results for the team.
The chapter also hypes on the need to understand the followers’ needs as such will go a long way in shaping expectations, developing their capacity plans and improving their capacity to contribute to your team.
There is also a highlight of John Maxwell’s four fundamental human needs: A sense of Worth; A sense of Belonging; A sense of Purpose and A sense of Confidence. He also touches on why everything lies on leadership, among others, as well as a reflective exercise to conclude the chapter.
In Chapter 6, the author delves into “Leadership and the Significance of Results”.
He opens the chapter with a quote from John C Maxwell: “Personal and organisational effectiveness is proportionate to the strength of leadership”.
The relationship between the leaders and their followers, according to him, should produce the anticipated outcomes, as all employees and their leaders are engaged by the employers to produce results.
Shading more light on the topic, the author notes that without delivering results, holding a leadership position is delusional and a depletion of scarce resources. Though good leaders are scarce, he insists that everyone wants results; the government and business organisations appoint leaders to deliver results.
He explains that the above is given priority by all because a key attribute of effective leadership is achievement of impressive results. Following this, he posits that leaders must be result-oriented by understanding their expectations and resources needed to deliver on their expectations.
He also shows an insightful workplace depiction of the Bermuda Triangle, which has claimed numerous victims, in what he terms an analogy of the Devil’s Triangle in the workplace.
Using the analogy, he explains that a lot of organisations face high attrition rates, which no leader desires. Just like the Bermuda Triangle occurrences, many organisational leaders, according to him, are worried about the attrition of employees whom they have invested in suddenly resigning and joining competitors.
The missing loyalty, negative communication, toxic workplace environment and disruption to existing people’s emotions and processes are some of the reasons for high attrition rates, he says in the chapter.
For him, most organisational leaders would rather blame something else instead of accepting responsibility for the attrition rates. The chapter also dwells on the strength of leadership, creating the Herrera factor, atmosphere for sustainable performance, among others.
Also, his communication impact model is worth mentioning, as well as a matrix showing Dr Maxwell Ubah’s false states of leadership: The Leader, The Boss, The Stranger and The Friend. He also explains how: expectations, energy and excellence are the three mindsets needed for creating an effective organizational momentum.
The Chapter 7, titled, “Potency of an Impressive Leadership Legacy” highlights the place of legacy in effective leadership.
He drives home the point with Dolly Parton’s quote, “If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then you are an excellent leader”.
For him, legacy is about setting a strong foundation for the future, while leadership legacy is about creating the building blocks for high-performing organisations that outlive the leaders.
He explains that what makes the difference among leaders about legacies is their attitude and perspectives to their positions, noting further that for every leadership position, there is a role it should play in building the foundation for an organisation.
Instead of seeing leadership as a means of creating fortune and making selfish decisions, the author urges that leadership should be seen as a call to serve. Selfless service for him, is the pillar of organisational legacy, which ensures focus on culture, policies, atmosphere and creation of unbiased benefits to the followers.
Offering commendable instances of legacies, the author says that John Jarry Rawlings left Ghana with the legacy of peaceful transition of power and elections not marred by ringing and violence, which is a contrast in Nigeria.
Moving on, he cites another legacy instance with Lee Kuan Yun, who was able to create a sustainable legacy of prosperity for Singapore, by investing in the people, while Mustapha Kemal Ataturk’s decision to turn Turkey into a secular state and encourage separation of politics from religion is a legacy-oriented decision that has made Turkey more advanced than Nigeria.
In the institutional legacy as leadership, the author says an organisation with a stable outlook, high staff retention rate, consistent performance and high brand loyalty, tells more of a strong corporate culture, governance and respect for employees.
He cites the enviable case-study of Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, whose leadership legacy was about using her position to serve others at the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) now the Nigeria Revenue Service.
The author notes that at the start of Omoigui-Okauru’s tenure in 2004, she met an organisation with 7,200 staff members, 80% of which were non-professionals. By the end of her tenure in 2012, she left 7,000 staff members, 80 of whom were professionals. Staff were encouraged to enrol for professional studies and develop themselves in areas relevant to their roles.
Also, the revenue collected during her tenure has been surpassed subsequently. In 2023, the revenue hit ₦12.37 trillion under the leadership of Mohammed Nami and ₦21.6 trillion in 2024 under the leadership of Zacch Adedeji.
The author argues that if Ifueko had focused only on revenue generation without building the organisation, she would not have been remembered today because no matter the achievements a leader has, the next leaders are likely to surpass it.
The author also cites more legacy instances with Felix Ohiwerei, issues like the diversity of legacy, the bedrock of people-oriented leadership, institutional legacy, among other useful leadership nuggets.
The chapter 8 titled “Fundamentals of Leadership Sustainability” deals with some salient reasons indigenous businesses hardly survive for a long period of time.
The author worries over why there is hardly an indigenous African partnership business that is over 50 years old. He decries that ego and the desire to dominate others are the key factors preventing people from working together sustainably for a long time.
A handy case study in the chapter is Ugokama Limited, formed from a partnership between Ugochukwu and Kamala; two brilliant entrepreneurial leaders. In the first three years of Ugokama Limited, the business generated geometric growth in turnover and profits of millions of dollars because the two people were focusing on and leading others to make the partnership a success.
Sadly, ego cropped in and desire to dominate the other partner resulted in the liquidation of the company and the partners went their ways. Even when they opened their different companies, they were unable to fly because of the lack of complementing skills that each brought to their once-thriving partnership.
To ensure sustainability, the author urges for the ability to accommodate and work together with people. He notes that at every level, people need others to complement their skills and efforts to make the outcomes sustainable.
He also notes that openness is needed for leadership sustainability, arguing that had it been Ugochukwu had been open to Kamala and vice versa, maybe they would have sustained the momentum, and growth witnessed in the first three years of Ugokama Limited.
Citing another instance, the author uses the story of Olu Abosede, founder and former managing director of Aboseldehyde Plc, a wholly indigenous quoted company, once used as a reference point for other local entrepreneurs, to highlight the lessons on personal sustainability.
Despite being listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and becoming a very strong brand in the country in its niche area, within 14 years, the company still collapsed due to forced take-over by creditors, among other issues that boiled down to lack of leadership and personal sustainability.
The lessons on personal sustainability in the story, according to the author, include: Better Believe This: There Is God!; Never Lose Confidence in Yourself; Use Crisis Times to Reinvent Yourself; Take Responsibility for Every Challenge You Face; There Is No Odd Job in a Crisis; Nothing Is Permanent, among others.
But the reality of the above lessons, according to the author, is that if one feels the above lessons are good and beneficial, they are a gift from a leader in crisis but open to others.
Moreover, leaders are to share their experiences to guide others. The common menace in leadership is that leaders mostly reveal positive experiences, thereby creating a superstar syndrome of leadership to followers. No leader is all- knowing and omnipotent except God. There are equal lessons in positive and negative experiences, as relating negative experiences can teach aspiring leaders.
In Chapter 9, the author dwells on “Understanding the Infinite Stake Leadership Theory”.
This time, he opens the chapter with his own quote: “Every individual is a custodian of infinite value. We all have a responsibility to influence and contribute positively to posterity beyond personal or immediate interests”.
This chapter sees the author narrating his experiment with 10 select workplace proteges, who he invested in. The decision, according to him, stemmed from an observation that the members of the generation around him, that is, the Millennial and Gen Z had different kinds of mindset and thinking patterns.
At the end of the day, all the ten selected proteges and many others outside the small mastermind group he created have progressed in their careers and family lives, helping others as he had done for them.
The author says his action is the main objective of Infinite Stake approach to people leadership as he used his position, relationship and engagement with others to build character, capacity and competence in people for the future proliferation of positive values.
Explaining the “The Infinite Stake Theory”, he uses his book titled, “The Value Chain Banking”, which examines the trust and respect quadrant as the basis for assessing and accepting relationships with customers.
According to him, in any relationship, trust and respect are a crucial factor that determines how valuable the association is to the parties involved. For him, trust is the capacity to build a mutual alliance with others; the ability to keep confidential information, the zeal to show empathy and be a companion when required.
In his further explanation of the Infinite Stake Theory, he says that it is a positional view of a party in a relationship, interaction and engagement. It is also a belief that your business, personal or charitable engagements with others will outlive you if done in a way that invests in them and not only to your advantage.
He also brings to bear in the chapter, his experiences in organisational coaching assignments to drive home his points, amid touching on other helpful tips like Infinite Stake Leadership Explorer and the quadrants, Workplace Motivation and the Infinite Stake Framework, The Infinite Stake Framework and Employee Capitalism, Service: The Bastion of the Infinite Stake Framework, among others.
In his conclusion, he urges organisational leaders who desire perpetuity and relevance for their organisations to review their business models, employees and stakeholders’ engagements and use service as a common focus for achieving the infinite status through the implementation of the Infinite Stake Theory and Framework.
The author commences Chapter 10, the last of the book, which he titles “The Currency of Leadership Fulfilment”, with yet another one of his quotes.
“In old age, memories devoid of fulfilment are an indicator of a life not lived to the fullest,” Babs Olugbemi says.
Again, he goes practical, drawing knowledge from his private research into the retirement lives of some people. According to his findings in the research, what people do during their working years largely determines the type of memories they will have in old age.
He says that if those memories are devoid of fulfilment, it means their leadership journeys and lives have not been successful. The currency of fulfilment, according to him, is an important one that everyone will need and spend in old age.
He insists that how well one’s children and those they have helped at work or elsewhere in life are doing, will determine their emotional state. To get fulfillment as a leader, the author says, one needs to start by leading oneself, build the reservoir of credibility required to influence others to align their personal values with yours and those of the organisation you are leading.
He insists that with that alignment, employees will work towards achieving the organisational goals, as the combination of your influence and teamwork attributes will also produce results.
He goes back to his mentors, recalling how he visited Dr Christoper Kolade’s home in 2024, had a fruitful one-hour discussion and learnt a lot from him.
He is also a constant visitor to Elder Felix Ohiwerei’s residence whenever he is in Nigeria, to get his rich insights on family values, which he has been applying and transmitting to people around him.
As well, not forgetting Mrs Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, who has practical experience and demonstrated simple and purposeful leadership during her reign as the Executive Chairman of the Service.
Bearing the above in mind, he says that the currency of fulfilment is irreplaceable and will be required in old age. He urges those still in a leadership position, to invest their time, resources and energy in people to build a sustainable legacy that will outlive their tenure.
He also offers a comprehensive approach to personal and organisational fulfilment from his book, “Take the Lead” with the subtitle “How to Live, Energise, Activate and Develop Your Strength Zone”.
They include: Live – embrace authenticity and align actions with core values; Energise – cultivate passion and maintain a positive mindset to drive personal and professional growth; Activate – take proactive steps to initiate change and pursue goals; and Develop – continuously enhance skills and competencies to reach full status.
He also offers the Wheel of Strength to further demonstrate fulfilment as well as the LEAD Framework, which is designed to help individuals identify and operate within their “strength zone”, thereby leading to more fulfilled and impactful lives.
The LEAD Framework, according to him, is also designed to help people live intentionally, lead purposefully and create lasting impacts grounded in value-based living, purpose alignment, and servant leadership aimed at helping people achieve meaningful, successful and fulfilled lives.
But before anyone can lead others successfully and kick-start the process of ensuring availability of the required currency of fulfilment in old age, the author says he or she must first be someone that is fulfilled in his or her career journey by: Discover Your Purpose; Live by Values; Develop Character and Competence; Serve Others; Embrace Growth and Learning; Live Intentionally and Leave a Legacy.
In his conclusion, the author notes that planning one’s leadership succession begins now and with giving what you have that someone may benefit from. It is also impressive to advance the lives of others from where you are. Leadership success is not for ordained leaders alone but for anyone with an Infinite Stake mindset, he concludes.
