When I arrived in Jeddah on August 15 for the Strategic Business Leadership Programme jointly organised by the Islamic Development Bank Institute (IsDBI) and Prince Mohammed Bin Salman College of Business & Entrepreneurship (MBSC), I expected to learn about strategy, decision-making and organisational leadership
But I left with something more profound: a renewed understanding that before we can lead organisations, institutions or countries, we must first learn to lead ourselves
That may sound like a familiar leadership cliché After all, Nigeria has no shortage of leadership conferences, seminars, motivational speakers and management courses.
But there is a difference between learning the vocabulary of leadership and genuinely examining the human being behind the leader
That difference became clear to me during this programme
The 2026 cohort brought together 30 participants from 15 IsDB member countries, including Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Yemen, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Indonesia, Morocco, Egypt, Ghana, Bangladesh, Niger, Somalia, Kenya and India
It was a fascinating classroom
Different countries Different sectors. Different cultures. Different leadership experiences.
Yet many of our challenges sounded remarkably familiar
That, perhaps, was the first lesson: geography may change the context of leadership, but the human questions remain remarkably universal
Leadership begins with the leader
One of the most profound parts of the programme for me was the session led by Professor Muhammad Azam Roomi
Professor Roomi did not approach leadership merely as a collection of techniques for managing people He took us deeper—into self-awareness, social awareness, emotional regulation, relationships, personality, behaviour, belief and what it means to win hearts and minds.
His teaching style was unusual
He could move from a professional explanation to a social interpretation and then into a spiritual reflection, often within minutes
As a space enthusiast, I sometimes felt as though I was touring the Milky Way galaxy—moving from one idea about human behaviour to another and discovering parts of myself I had not consciously stopped to examine
The lesson was uncomfortable in the best possible way
We often ask: What kind of leader do I want to become?
Perhaps the more important question is: Who am I becoming while I lead?
Nigeria’s leadership conversation often focuses on institutions, policies, elections, corruption, economic growth and governance These are important.
But behind every institution are human beings
And the quality of an institution cannot consistently rise above the quality of the people leading it
This is why leadership development cannot simply be about acquiring technical skills It must also involve character, self-awareness, emotional intelligence, judgement and the ability to understand how our behaviour affects others.
The politics we pretend does not exist
Another important lesson came from examining organisational politics
The phrase itself often carries a negative connotation We associate politics in organisations with manipulation, favouritism, alliances and hidden agendas.
But organisational politics is not necessarily synonymous with manipulation
Every organisation has competing interests, informal networks, influence, relationships and power dynamics
The real leadership challenge is understanding these dynamics without losing one’s values
Sometimes leadership means knowing when to step forward
Sometimes it means building an alliance
Sometimes it means influencing people towards a shared objective
And sometimes, perhaps most importantly, it means knowing when to hold back
This is a lesson that has relevance far beyond corporate boardrooms
It applies to newsrooms, government ministries, civil society organisations, businesses and even families
Leaders who pretend these dynamics do not exist often become victims of them
Leaders who understand them can navigate them ethically
The power of a secure base
Another concept that stayed with me was the idea of the Secure Base
At its simplest, it is the understanding that people are more likely to grow, take risks and venture beyond their comfort zones when they have someone who provides psychological safety, confidence and encouragement—while still challenging them to stretch themselves
It made me think about Nigerian workplaces
How many employees have the confidence to tell their boss, “I think we are getting this wrong”?
How many young professionals feel safe enough to propose an unconventional idea?
How many people are encouraged to experiment, fail, learn and try again?
And how many talented people remain silent because they have learned that speaking up carries consequences?
A leader should not merely be the person who gives instructions
A good leader should create an environment from which people have the courage to take the next step
This is particularly important for young Nigerians
We have an extraordinarily young and ambitious population If our organisations are designed primarily to protect hierarchy rather than encourage initiative, we will continue to waste enormous amounts of human potential.
Strategy is meaningless without execution
The programme also challenged us to think differently about strategy
Dr Farzad Khan explored motivation, storytelling and influence, reminding us that leaders do not persuade people simply by presenting facts People connect with stories, meaning and purpose.
Tarek El-Masry took us through the journey from Strategy Design to Strategy Execution and the Balanced Scorecard
And Professor Zeger Degraeve challenged our assumptions about decision-making through highly interactive cases
One question from the programme particularly stayed with me:
When to play and how to win
It is a deceptively simple question
Nigeria has never suffered from a shortage of ideas, strategies, policies or development plans
Our more persistent challenge has often been execution
A strategy that remains on paper is not a strategy that has changed lives
Leadership therefore requires the ability to translate vision into action, align people behind it, make difficult decisions and remain accountable for outcomes
What happens when leaders from 15 countries share one room?
Perhaps one of the most valuable aspects of the programme was what happened outside the formal curriculum
Thirty people from 15 countries became colleagues, friends and sounding boards
A conversation with someone from Pakistan could change how you viewed a challenge in Nigeria
A perspective from Indonesia could challenge an assumption you had carried for years
A colleague from Kazakhstan, Ghana, Somalia, India or Morocco could offer an entirely different way of approaching a problem you thought you understood
This is the often-underestimated power of diversity
Diversity does not necessarily give us one answer
It gives us more ways to see the question
We also had the opportunity to hear directly from senior leaders of IsDBI about how the institution operates, its mandate and how it works with and supports member countries It was an opportunity to connect classroom lessons with the realities of a major multilateral development institution.
The programme itself reflects a broader commitment by IsDBI and MBSC to develop leadership and human capital across IsDB member countries The partnership was established to combine executive education with practical approaches to strategic thinking, value creation, responsible governance and sustainable impact.
For Nigeria, this kind of investment in human capital should matter
We often talk about infrastructure
We talk about roads, electricity, technology, healthcare and education
But institutions are ultimately built and sustained by people
Human capital is not a soft issue
It is infrastructure too
The Nigerian leadership question
My greatest takeaway from Jeddah is therefore not a particular management tool or framework
What kind of leaders are we deliberately developing for Nigeria’s future?
Leaders who can manage people but cannot manage themselves?
Leaders who understand authority but not influence?
Leaders who can develop strategies but cannot execute them?
Leaders who demand loyalty but cannot create psychological safety?
Or leaders who understand that leadership is ultimately about people, purpose, responsibility and impact?
Nigeria does not lack talented people
What we need is a stronger culture of deliberately developing those talents into ethical, strategic, emotionally intelligent and courageous leaders
That development cannot be left only to chance
It must happen in our universities, newsrooms, businesses, government institutions, civil society organisations and professional bodies
And it must begin early
Because leadership is not something we suddenly acquire when we are given a title
It is something we practise long before anyone calls us a leader
I arrived in Jeddah expecting a great leadership programme
I left with knowledge, friendships, renewed self-awareness and a different perspective on what leadership demands
But perhaps the most important lesson was also the simplest:
Leadership is not only about leading organisations It begins with learning to lead yourself.
And for a country like Nigeria, perhaps that is where the next chapter of our leadership story must begin
Halima Umar Saleh is a Senior Editor at TRT Afrika