A Contemporary Leader: Kofi Annan
Many organizations success are defined by the type of leader and the leadership qualities they inspire to accomplish many things by translating their vision into reality. Contemporary leaders are defined by the legacy they bring and leave in an organization. Kofi Annan. What type of leader was he? Was he a born leader or a made leader? Kofi rose in ranks at international organizations to become the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations serving two terms from 1997 to 2006. He led a comprehensive programme of reforms aimed at revitalizing the United Nations and making the international system more effective. As a human rights advocate he sought to bring the organization closer to global public by forging ties with global society, private sectors and other partners. Why do we consider Mr. Kofi Annan as a contemporary leader today?
The United Nations is a world body formed in 1945 with the purpose of bringing all nations together striving for peace, human dignity and well-being of everyone while tackling global challenges and balancing individual nation’s interests with global interests.
We all believe that we have a good idea about what it means to be a leader, but when it comes to defining the concept, there is no consensus agreement on the term leader or leadership or what qualities do a leader possess. Many great scholars, researchers and theorist have conducted and come up with various definitions of a leader, or leadership with different types of styles and qualities. According to Afsaneh Nahavandi, a leader is any person who influences individuals and groups within an organization, helps them in establishment of goals and guides them toward achievement of those goals thereby allowing them to be effective. The word leader in historical and present times bring to mind a variety of images of people who were considered great leaders and people today we consider to be great leaders. In many ways we tend to mingle the terms “leader” and “leadership”.
What is leadership?
Leadership is a process of social influence and cultural phenomenon which maximizes the efforts of others towards achievement of a goal. Leadership involves making sound and difficult decisions, creating and articulating a clear vision, providing followers with knowledge and tools necessary to achieve those goals. We encounter leaders in many aspects of the society from business to politics to region to community-based organizations. We all look at the qualities that make these people be leaders; characteristics: self-confidence, strong communication and management skills, creative and innovative thinker, perseverance in failure, willing to take risks, openness to change, levelheadedness and reactiveness in time of crisis.
In understanding leadership as a cultural context we have to look at where leadership is taking place. One leader in one community may not be a leader in another community due to cultural difference that people within that community hold and values. Culture gives a leader and his group uniqueness and differentiates us. Was Kofi influence by is cultural upbringing? What about education and culture at the United Nations? From the uniqueness we see two forms of leadership; assigned leadership based on occupying a position and emergent leadership who is a natural influencer. This separates a manager from a leader and also power from leadership. Even though there is a relationship between leadership and power as they both part of influence process, there are not the same as it depends on how a leader uses the influence they have been given.
What influenced Kofi’s life and career?
The former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Atta Annan was born on April 8, 1938 minutes apart from his twin sister in Kamusi Ghana. He was a grandchild and nephew of tribal chiefs in aristocratic families in Ghana. Kofi’s father received modern education and was an elected governor and chief of his tribe among the Asante province in Ghana. Kofi grew up watching and seeing his father judge, mediate, provide leadership and end disputes among his people. In his teens, Kofi attended boarding school during liberation of Ghana from colonial rule. He was once quoted in New York Times “ It was an exciting period, people my generation, having seen the changes that took place in Ghana, grew up thinking all was possible. ”
After completing high school in 1958, he enrolled into university where he was vice president of Ghana national students union. During a conference for African student leaders he met Ford Foundation representative and won them with his eloquence and leaderships earning him a scholarship to study at Macalester College in St. Paul Minnesota in the United States graduating with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Economics in 1961. He went on to pursue post-graduate studies in International Affairs in Geneva, Switzerland and also attended MIT Sloan School of Management in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is fluent in a number of languages; Akan his native language, English, French and some Kru languages as well as other African languages. Kofi Annan began his career in 1962 when he joined the World Health Organization (WHO), an agency of the United Nations as an Administrative and Budget Officer in Geneva then served as Economic Commission for Africa in Ethiopia and as UN Emergency Force in Egypt as Chief Personnel Officer for civilians. In 1974 Annan went back to Ghana to become the director of Ghana Tourist Development Company, however due to political instability in Ghana in 1976, he returned to the UN to serve under the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva and later as director of the budget in financial services office in New York around 1983. In the 1980s he served as Assistant Secretary General for Human Resources Management, the Office of Program Planning, Budget and Finance. In 1990 he negotiated the release of over 900 UN personnel from Iraq with then President Saddam Hussein. From 1993-1995 he served as Under Secretary-General for peacekeeping operations during the Rwanda genocide. He was accused of not doing more during the genocide by the Canadian ex-General Romeo Dallaire then force commander in Rwanda.
Later in a BBC article in 2004, Kofi Anan admitted that he “could and should have done more to sound the alarm and rally support” in the genocide that claimed more than 800, 000 people. From 1995 to 1996 he served as the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to former Yugoslavia. On December 13, 1996 the Security Council unanimously voted Kofi Annan to replace former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros Ghali and later confirmed by UN General Assembly as the new Secretary General of the United Nations. The UN Secretary-General has vigorous selection that is subject to the veto of any of the five permanent members of the Security Council. Annan had risen through the ranks of the UN due to his diplomacy and leadership style having served under the leadership of four of his predecessors: U Thant of Burma, Kurt Waldheim of Austria, Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru and Boutros Boutros- Ghali of Egypt.
Kofi Anan understood the job requirement through mentorship and experience. The United Nations is the world’s largest organization dealing with diverse global challenges facing the world yesterday, today and tomorrow in the quest to make it a better place. Formed in 1945 to replace the League of Nations, the UN is tasked with bringing nations together to work for peace and development based on principles of justice, human dignity and well-being of all people. Nations are challenged to consider global interests above individual national interests when addressing international problems. The UN has a current membership of 192 countries which each country carries one vote in the General Assembly. The UN has six major organs: the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council, the International Court of Justice, the Secretariat and the Trusteeship Council that was suspended in 1994 upon independence of Palau, the last remaining UN trustee territory. The Secretary General is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations serving a five year term with a maximum of two terms if reelected.
During his leadership period, Annan observed that the world in the 21st Century would deal with economic, environmental and social threats that include poverty, diseases; regional conflicts and hostilities, internal violence, genocides, nuclear, chemical and biological warfares; terrorism and transnational organized crime. Even though some of these happened during his leadership period, we look at how he handle different situation at any given time. Different situations required different responses at any given time and how he managed the UN as a leader to execute its plans and agendas. In order to understand Kofi Annan leadership style during his term as a Secretary-General to the UN we need to look at some of the crisis that took place around his leadership period and his relationship the six organs of United Nations. The UN is a complex organization with six functioning organs, as a chief administrative officer he provided leadership and coordinated activities for the General Assembly that comprised of over 192 countries. He extensively keeping himself informed of global issues as he persuaded member states to support his ideas and relied on teamwork developed during formal and informal visits to countries. While working with stakeholders, national delegates and regional leaders he solicited their views by encouraging participation and challenge them to implement reform programs like Global HIV fund, UN Millennium Development Goals. Responsible for the Secretariat’s operations, he relied on skilful appointed number of associates whom he considered competent and experienced in key positions to come up with the budget and annual reports presented to the General Assembly. Having grown up in the UN he knew people within and outside the organizations he would rely on during his terms as the Secretary-General.
Annan trusted his lieutenants and allowed them full control of their operations without close supervision. Without feeling threaten for his position he was delighted whenever they were recognized for their achievements but his critics faulted him for giving to much leeway to his subordinates. This Leader Member Exchange type of leadership has its pitfalls as the leader tends to believe his associates more than the mistake they made. He did not disciple his subordinates more whenever they committed mistakes that led to scandals. Within the Security Council he played the mediate encouraging the five permanent members to reach a consensus and avoid deadlocks and vetoes that paralyzed UN’s ability to address breaches of peaceful existence. He preferred multilateral diplomacy to aggressive war solutions advocated by some members. His soft speech disarmed many and calmed heads in given situations. In Annan’s 10 year term as the Secretary-General, he mediated the Bakassi Peninsula Crisis a decades-old border dispute between Nigeria and Cameroon following intensive mediation. Camrron had asked the International Court of Justice to rule over the sovereignty of Bakassi Peninsula that was under military occupation by Nigeria and determine the maritime boundary between the two countries. The decision was awarded to Cameroon which Nigeria rejected. Through a Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission chaired by Annan they considered the court’s decision and the rights of the affected population of both countries, an agreement was eventually reached to settle the dispute. Another display of his leadership was when he convince the then Libya’s President and congress to hand over the suspects of Lockerbie bombing of 1988 to the International Criminal Court in The Hague, in the Netherlands.
Through engagement and consultation with various leaders around the world the U. S, the U. K and Libya were able to reach a compromise that easing tension to all involved. Life after the end of Kofi Annan terms as the Secretary-General had ended he still continued to pursue a number of global issues like peace, poverty, education among others. Following his retirement he returned to Ghana and was chosen to lead the formation of the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa, he became a member of the Global Elders and appointed president of the Global Humanitarian Forum in Geneva. In February 2012, Annan was appointed as the UN-Arab League envoy to Syria in an attempt to end the Syrian civil war but later resigned citing failure by all to create a peaceful resolution. In Annan, his strength was his polite speech but also his weakness, as many saw him not being assertive enough. Some of his critics says that he was unable to control the bureaucracy he was tasked to streamline and his trust to his subordinates that led to oil for food tender process scandal involving Iraq need to sell oil to meet basic needs of its citizens during embargo to Iraq and President Saddam Hussein. Some say he was too nice of a person.
What kind of leader Kofi Annan was?
Nahavandi, Afsaneh, in her book, “the art and science of leadership” discusses a number of topics related to a leader and leadership. In the first chapter she defines leadership and its significance. How much did Kofi’s culture and leadership models affect his life? Kofi’s father and grandfather were chiefs and even governor, he grew up seeing his father leader their tribe and province. He understood leadership and management, through his education both at home and abroad and through his career. Let’s not forget his wife who offered support and advice. Kofi saw and learnt from a number of Secretary-Generals throughout his career and mentored fellow UN members into management and leadership positions. What was Kofi’s emotional intelligence?. Being the Secretary-General meant that Kofi Annan had vast power, he rubbed shoulder with world’s elite and many who listen to him? In step to empowering others people, some took advantage of their closeness to Kofi to abuse the power and trust invested in them as read in the oil for food scandal. All the topics in Nahavandi’s book can be seen is some aspect of Kofi Annan’s life through his characteristics and leadership qualities.
“Kofi Annan was neither a perfect person nor a perfect leader. He acknowledged his mistakes and was ready to learn. With soft, baritone voice, he was a level-headed leader and a great listener. The lot fell on him to steer the world community in times of upheaval. History will rate him among the more successful secretaries-general of the United Nations.”
