If you asked yourself, what’s the missing component in African leadership? Some could say honesty. Others may argue that it’s decisiveness. But leadership is beyond that. You can be decisive and yet not be called a leader. You can be honest and not be a leader. Leadership is beyond skills. It’s not something you learn in one day and wake up the next day with it.

There’s a missing link in African leadership and that link is about Trust. Think back to the managers you’ve ever worked under? Think back to your own parents? Think back to the people you think met the definition of great leaders. They are all conjoined by one key thing – they gave you trust. They trusted you. They trusted their team.

If there’s one thing that could immediately make an impact in one’s leadership journey, it’s learning to give trust. Trust is a gift. And as a leader, you must be able to give this. And remember, the people you lead can receive this gift or they can reject it. It’s your responsibility as a leader to create the environment that enables people to accept this gift.

That then calls for something more about the leader, it’s the character of that leader. We have been guided by a leadership based on the cardinal virtues of Prudence, Justice, Fortitude and Temperament. To these, we love to add Magnanimity and Humility. As such, these virtues aka the stable dispositions of character enable one to first, lead oneself, and then acquire the ability to lead others.

You must trust that your people will do the work. You must trust that they will figure it out in case they don’t know how to yet. And you must also trust that they will always return to confide in you when they face risks in this process. There’s no other magic to leadership rather than this trust factor. Leaders that lose the trust factor have lost the ability to lead. And when you lose trust, nothing can salvage it. Next Generational Leadership must consider trust as a pillar for the advancement of great outcomes.