By Chioma Akabuogu
A former President of National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Chief Eugene Nweke has advised the leadership of Association of Nigeria Licensed Custom Agents (ANLCA) on how to manage the crisis confronting leaders.
Nweke gave this counsel in a post Easter goodwill message of peace to the leadership of the oldest freight forwarding association in Nigeria.
According to him, executives and leaders don’t allow the crisis to overwhelm them as they weigh the possible outcome of the crisis, then take action to change the course of events and ensure they prevent disaster.
His words: “When crisis seems to be getting beyond expectations, an executive leader neither panics nor resolves to fight back dirty; rather he conquers fear and doubles his sense of proportion and fair reaction.”
“In the face of crisis; humility, patience and being focused is key, the executive leader does not react unreasonably or irrationally. He neither snarls nor squanders his efforts in the wrong direction. The executive leader does not look for whom to blame rather he sees self as the man of the moment upon whom enormous leadership responsibilities are rested, as such takes responsibility.”
He, further, stated that in the face of crisis, an executive leader stands courageous, reliable, and unflinchingly see crisis as an avenue to solve problems. He preoccupies his mind, thinking solely in terms of plugging holes in the dike. He builds a stronger dike if the situation permits it.
Eugene noted that this press statement was not aimed at romancing issues but to call a spade a spade from the point of postulation as the ANLCA misunderstanding has been taken too far.
He quoted President Mohammed Buhari ” I am for nobody, but I am for everybody”, stating that against the background all the actors involved in the leadership quagmire are respectful good friends, senior professional colleagues, and chief executive officers.
Moving forward, Eugene said that what is expected of such executives under such circumstances is not only thoughts of how to cope with the adversity but how to turn the adversity to corporate advantage.
He gave words of encouragement by saying that none of the warring factions in ANLCA is perfect. As such, he encouraged them to look at each other eyeball to eyeball and tender with a soft brotherly tone apologies to one another and think about their professional colleagues/members.
