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Women charged to impact society through change, innovation

By Adelowo Adebumiti 
30 January 2020   |   3:36 am
To awaken the giants in them, women have been charged to start making a difference and impacting the world by leading change and innovation in their diverse calling and areas of passion.

To awaken the giants in them, women have been charged to start making a difference and impacting the world by leading change and innovation in their diverse calling and areas of passion. The Convener, Women in Leadership Conference (WILCON), Lolade Akande, who gave the charge at the WILCON 2020 edition, in Lagos, said the conference is about awakening the giants in women and getting them to take the lead. 
   
She said: “Women are already in place of leadership in the home, the space of influence. The conference was borne out of the desire to see women work in the full realisation of their potential that is leadership. Every woman has her sphere of influence. It is to awaken the giant within them; the awareness that they can do more intentionally with their leadership capacity.
 
“We are all born with the capacity to lead, and not putting that capacity to work will be an injustice to human race.“Over the last two decades working with my beloved husband, who is my mentor in leadership development, I have noticed women do a lot, but always in background. We need to come out and take the lead. We need to understand that we can do so much more.” Akande said the conference was also to impact many women entrepreneurs, because they need to understand themselves in order to lead others. 

 
“Leadership has gone beyond being intelligent anymore; emphasis has shifted on emotional intelligence. Emotional, because you have to put yourself intentionally, understand your emotion and make sure your emotion doesn’t work against you, rather it works for you. So, a leader must be emotionally stable to take good and relevant decision,” she said.
 
According to her, there are certain factors for women to note before taking the lead. Akande said women must embrace their call to lead.She also urged women to grow and develop the leaders within them. “If you are not growing, then extinction will take you over. Put yourself in the school of life. Leadership does not happen in a day, it happens daily. Try new things. It is too risky to play safe.

Don’t be afraid to fail. Learn and when you have learnt it all, learn more. Keep improving; the aim is never to get good, but to get better. After you have tried, failed, learnt and improved, get back in the game. Keep doing this until you gain mastery.”
She charged women to be problem solvers, saying leaders will always have their plate full of problems, but they must take up the responsibility to solve them.
 
Also, Co-owner, Doxa Digital Nigeria, Dayo Benjamins Laniyi, at the event, spoke about turning potentials exponentially into something much more and allowing innate abilities to manifest to the fullest. Other speakers included Chairman, Board of Directors, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Ibukun Awosika, and Lead Consultant and CEO, Be Causative Ltd., Bisi Soji-Oyawoye.

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