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Tayo Olanipekun
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State has said his government will ensure that leadership in the state’s civil service become influential.
The governor made this remark at a training workshop organised by the Lagos state government at Citi-Height hotel in Ikeja, tagged: “Leadership and Management Training for Senior Civil Servants in Lagos state
In a keynote address by the Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions, Dr. Akintola Benson Oke, who represented the governor, he said in envisioning a public service peopled by leaders, it is important to be mindful, as Robin Sharma observed, that “Leadership is not about a title or a designation. It is about impact, influence and inspiration”.
According to him, ” Impact involves getting results, influence is about spreading the passion you have for your work, and you have to inspire team-mates and customers.
“I therefore hope that this training will begin or further the monumental task of transforming the participants of this training into impactful, influential and productive officers to such degrees that the output of the public service will inspire the good people of Lagos state.”
He told participants at the training that the state government would not rest on its oars in ensuring that the state’s civil service ranks among the very best in the world. He urged them to assess themselves on a scale of one to 10, by attempting to answer some pertinent questions.
“Are you able to maximise efficiency in your use of time and resources? Are you able and willing to initiate action? Do you instill motivation? Do you provide guidance? Do you instill confidence? Do your words and actions build morale? Do you seek to create and maintain an efficient work environment?”
Oke said answering the questions dispassionately would stoke a desire to either aspire to leadership or to improve their leadership skills.
He added that hovernor Ambode fully recognizes the enormous value that knowledge and soft skills training bring to bear on the attainment of the strategic objectives of the government and the public service of Lagos state.
He stressed also, that the Ministry of Establishments, Training and Pensions had always been in the vanguard of advocating the institutionalisation of essential training programmes that benefit the most strategically-placed officers in the public service. As such, he said he was delighted to be witnessing yet another occasion to demonstrate this noble commitment of the state government.
He urged participants to take the training seriously aa the need for ensuring and assuring the efficiency and effectiveness of public institutions has never been greater than now. He said in a dynamic age of constant changes, it is widely agreed that institutions must have clearly-defined missions that are relevant to the needs and aspirations of its stakeholders.
Following this, he stressed, the human capital at the helm of leadership in these institutions must have the courage to envision a future that realises the attainment of the defined mission of the institutions.
“In order to actualise the vision, however, leaders must be trained to possess both the hard and soft skills that are fundamental for success. This is where this training programme becomes relevant,” he said.
