bridgingpositions together with our client and partner Axis Pension Trust Ltd. held the first Self Leadership Backbone in West Africa. The SLB took place in Accra Ghana and hosted 30 participants from Ghana with various different backgrounds.
What made it especially interesting for us from bridgingpositions to hold the SLB program here, was that we set it up to find out from our participants if going through the program made a positive effect on how they felt responsible and accountable for their context, their communities and for Ghana as a whole.
The feedback and answers we received are very encouraging. Yes, going through the SLB program created a strong awareness and sense of accountability among the participants, on what it is that each one can contribute to the benefit of a larger context.
Seeing, feeling and hearing how everybody immersed him or herself fully into the SLB process, gave a tremendous sensation of blessing and honor to be able to hold and facilitate this program in Ghana.
Special thanks to Afriyie Oware the Chief Executive Officer of Axis Pension Trust, who without much knowledge of bridgingpositions or the Self Leadership Backbone program invested time and resources to make it possible to hold this program in Accra Ghana.

Leading our self is the central prerequisite for leading others. It is knowing our self, building up our focus and developing personal mastery which is the base for effective and successful leadership.

“No leader sets out to be a leader. People set out to lead their lives, expressing themselves fully. When that expression is of value, they become leaders.”
Warren Bennis

Why this name, Self Leadership Backbone?

Self

The program is designed and focuses on you as an individual, on the leader in you. In the words of Warren Bennis:
“Leaders have nothing but themselves to work with… we are our own raw material. Only when we know what we’re made of and what we want to make of it can we begin our lives and we must do it despite an unwitting conspiracy of people and events against us. To become a leader, then, you must become yourself; become the maker of your own life. Know thyself, then, means separating who you are and who you want to be from what the world thinks you are and wants you to be. Until you make your life your own, you’re walking around in borrowed clothes.”
It all starts with you and you alone.

Leadership

Everyone has the potential to be a leader and to make a difference in life. The question is not “Are you a leader?” the question is “How much of your leadership potential are you currently living?” and “What kind of leader do you want to become?”
In this program, you work on strengthening your integrity and authenticity, giving yourself direction, taking ownership and responsibility for your life and making a difference: “What is it that I can bring, give to the world?” “Where do I best use my gifts and time?”

Backbone

It is the central element of the skeleton. It is the central point from which every major movement of the body originates. A robust and developed backbone is the base for an elegant impact. The elements (vertebras) of a healthy Leadership Backbone are steps to clarify and connect to our own qualities, purpose, values and set a meaningful and mindful direction in life.

What does the Self Leadership Backbone program take us through?

To become the best version of ourselves, we have to seriously invest in learning about our self. This program guides participants step by step through a personal inquiry journey; it is an exploration endeavor.
You will take the time to understand your purpose and vision for the world. “What contribution will you make in this world?”

“You can’t be a leader if you don’t have a definite purpose guiding you through the dark times. Purpose is like a light at the end of a tunnel; a hope that keeps us going.”
Sandeep Kashyap

• You will discover your unique gifts and talents and learn about where and how to express them.
• You will work on your core values that will guide you in your authentic actions and decision-making.
• You will make your math’s concerning: What is the price you need to pay to bring your purpose, values, and ambition to life?

What are the basic elements forming our Self Leadership Backbone?

• History: Where do we come from?
• Facts: What are our strengths and weaknesses?
• Brand: What do we stand for?
• Purpose: Why are we here? What is it we and only we can bring to this world?
• Values: What are our constituent values? What values do we need to live to bring our purpose to life?
• Ambition: Where do we want to go? What is it we want to bring to life?
• Limiting Believes: How do we hinder ourselves to fully live our purpose, values, and ambition?
• Pathway: How do we bring the next chapter of our life forth?

Leadership is not something we are born with, it has to be cultivated. Leaders grow and develop. It is about connecting our deeper purpose, our unique strengths and talents with a passion and then create the right focus to make an impact in the world.

Who should attend a Self Leadership Backbone Program?

Anybody who wishes to develop personal focus, direction and clarity in life in order to live his or her full potential. People taking or wanting to take responsibility for themselves and or other persons especially benefit from the Self Leadership Backbone process. For this journey, a mindset of being open, curious and courageous about what you will encounter is needed.

What is the Self Leadership Backbone program?

It is personal quality time of profound contemplation and self-revelation on what is of true importance and deep value to you in your life.
The Self Leadership Backbone process lives from the individual going on a deep discovery journey into him or herself. To uncover, discover what is of true meaning to her/him. Accomplishing this insight and clarity about yourself, you become able to align and direct your life in line with what is truly important for you, the starting point for a meaningful and fulfilled life.

bridgingpositions together with our client and partner Axis Pension Trust Ltd. held the first Self Leadership Backbone in West Africa. The SLB took place in Accra Ghana and hosted 30 participants from Ghana with various different backgrounds. This is an article on the Self Leadership Backbone held in Accra by Zadok Kwame Gyesi published on The Daily Graphic, a Ghanaian daily newspaper.

When Axis Pensions brought self-leadership backbone to Ghana

By Zadok Kwame Gyesi 

“EVERYTHING rises and falls on leadership” is one of the profound quotes by international motivational speaker and leadership coach, Mr. John C. Maxwell, that speaks to the importance that leaders play in the success or otherwise of their organisations. As heads of their organisations, departments or units, leaders determine the direction of their followers and those directions equally determine the health of the entire organisation. Thus, when leaders fail, the organisation suffers and fails in the long run. This is succinctly captured in the proverb "the fish rots from the head." Conscious of this and more, many organisations have prioritised capacity building as one surest ways to develop capable and optimally functioning human resources that can lead others to create the value required of the firm, but not all those training programmes pass the test of quality and not all organisations have the ability to detect those that meet their organisational goals.

Leadership backbone 

Lead pensions service provider, Axis Pension Trust Ltd (APTL), is not one of them. The firm recently brought into the country BridgingPositions, a Germany-based organisation with a specialty in training managers, leaders and executive teams in leadership skills to help stir up the capabilities of its staff and stakeholders for optimal results. With BridgingPositions came the world acclaimed Self Leadership Backbone seminar, one initiative that has stood out among its competitor programmes. It was the first time that seminar was being held in West-Africa and for that matter, Ghana, to help nurture the caliber of leaders needed to help transform the country's economy. The Self Leadership Backbone is designed to help participants deepen their personal and social awareness while fostering effective self-leadership skills, inner resourcefulness and professional best practices. The three-day leadership training, organised by the Axis Pension, was facilitated by BridgingPositions. Topics treated included 'initiating development,' the rhythm of our life; where do I come from? 'what can you learn about yourself from your life timeline; 'what can I give to the world; `how do I do what I do,' where am I going; 'what holds back me from pursuing my purpose, values and ambition; `personal force field analysis," "how do I get there,' `integration into life,' and 'What represents my journey.'

Participants and the trainers after one of the sessions of the Self Leadership Backbone Seminar in Accra

Moral compass 

The Seminar Facilitator, Mr. Julian Geuder, said the training engaged participants in an in-depth self-reflection on how to be authentic leaders and how to lead with purpose. He added that through intensive practice, participants developed a moral inner compass that allowed them to make the appropriate decisions in the midst of complex challenges. According to him, effective leaders had an intimate understanding of themselves and were aware of their own inner strengths,values, purpose and direction. "Leaders who consciously cultivate self-awareness and personal mastery tend to be far more effective when facing organisational challenges, uncertainty, transitions, and even new opportunities," he explained.

First in Ghana 

Mr Julian Geuder, a consultant and coach, who is a specialist in designing, developing and facilitating change processes, explained that leaders ought to know themselves well to enable them to lead others. According to him, Ghana was the first country in West-Africa where the programme had been organised and he expressed the hope that the training would help the participants to make informed decisions in whatever they did. He expressed worry that many people were unable to do certain things in life due to long held beliefs or things they might have heard in their childhood or when growing up. He explained that people needed to do away with such limiting beliefs since they could hold back many people from realising their goals in life.

Essence of seminar 

The Chief Executive Officer of Axis Pension Trust, Mr. Afriyie Oware, said the seminar was organised by the company as part of its drive to help contribute to the development of the country's human resource. He explained that as a company with a mission to contribute to the socio-economic development of Ghana by promoting a culture of savings and creating retirement wealth for workers, training people in leadership skills would help them to become captains of their own ships. He said the training was a beginning of "how we can shape ourselves individually", noting that the company would soon organise another training in other areas. Mr Afriyie, therefore, implored the participants to make good use of the knowledge acquired at the training by influencing others in their respective fields. He also commended the facilitators for their dedication, pledging that Axis Pensions would continue to work with them. Some of the participants expressed their happiness about the training, pointing out that the training had helped them to discover many of their unknown potentials. For Ernest Elorm Attimah, Boni Solomon, Eric Tenkorang, and Esther Larweh, all participants, the Self Leadership Backbone training was necessary for everyone irrespective of what they were into. They, therefore, expressed the hope that the training would be organised for the benefit of many Ghanaians.