They still speak his name at town halls.
It has been nearly five years since he handed in his retirement letter, but his influence echoes in every corner of the institution in the way young leaders conduct team meetings, in the coaching rituals adopted across zones, and in how emerging managers carry themselves with confidence and clarity. His quiet legacy remains the most powerful endorsement of what great leadership development can produce; not just strong performers, but leaders who leave behind leaders.
He led one of the bank’s most complex divisions: high volume retail operations across six states, overseeing more than 120 branch managers. He was not loud. He did not command rooms with flair. But he wielded a different kind of power, the quiet conviction that his job was not to shine but to multiply light in others.
This is what effective leadership development looks like. It is not flashy. It is not built on personality. It is built on conviction, structure, and a deep rooted commitment to people development.
What Real Leadership Development Looks Like in Action
When he first assumed the Divisional Director role, the region had one of the highest staff turnover rates in the bank. Managers were burning out. Mid-level talent had plateaued. Internal promotions had slowed to a trickle. People were working, but few were growing.
He changed that.
Not with sweeping speeches or grand restructures, but by embedding one clear philosophy into the DNA of his division: “If you are not building leaders, you are not leading.”
He held coaching sessions with his direct reports every month not to review performance, but to review people. Who had potential? Who needed stretch assignments? Which team lead required mentorship? Who was ready for cross functional exposure?
He asked different questions; questions most senior leaders were too busy or too focused on numbers to ask. While others chased performance indicators, he developed capacity. While others rewarded outcomes, he recognised growth. And while others managed performance, he prioritised people development.
By his third year, the region had become the organisation’s top leadership development incubator. One out of every four senior branch managers across the country had emerged from his zone. Attrition fell. Internal promotions surged. The bank did not need to hire externally, they simply tapped into his bench.
People started asking what his secret was.
He would smile and say, “Your biggest result is not the product you launch or the numbers you hit, it is the leaders you raise. That is your true legacy.”
And he was right.
Across all my years supporting financial institutions throughout Africa, I have seen one pattern hold true: high performing organisations double down on leadership development. They do not just promote performers, they nurture potential. They do not wait for leaders to emerge, they build them. Water them. Coach them. Stretch them. Challenge them.
The difference between a good organisation and a great one is rarely strategy. It is who is trusted to execute it. And when you trace consistent success (quarter after quarter, year after year ) you almost always find a culture where leaders do not hoard influence, they replicate it.
From Talent Gaps to Talent Engines
We recall facilitating a leadership development session for a Tier One bank in Lagos. As we reviewed ten years of internal data, a curious trend emerged. One region; not the top performer, had produced more successors, more promotions, and more lateral moves than any other.
Why?
Because of one leader. A quiet, deliberate, slightly obsessive woman who believed her greatest achievement was not hitting her own numbers. It was ensuring others could. She had mentored over 35 managers. Twenty one became senior leaders.
Her secret? She never stopped asking, “Who are we building next?”
That question became their team’s rhythm. People grew under her. They did not just deliver work, they became better while doing it.
That is the essence of real leadership development.
Yet in many organisations, that culture is missing.
Leadership is still framed as individual performance at scale. “If I can hit my targets and manage my team, I am a strong leader.” But that is incomplete. Because real leadership is not about how much you do, it is about how much you empower others to do, even when you are no longer there.
We have all seen it, the high impact, charismatic leader who exits, and the team implodes. That is not legacy. That is dependence.
Great leaders leave behind systems, standards, and successors.
And that is what makes them the most valuable asset any organisation can have.
So why do not more leaders build other leaders?
Part of it is pressure, relentless targets, operational complexity, stakeholder expectations. But the deeper reason is cultural. Too many organisations still reward individual brilliance more than collective growth. Until that changes, we will keep seeing teams that perform today but collapse tomorrow due to leadership vacuums.
Building leadership pipelines must become a core strategic priority. Not a pet project. Not a side note. A measured, monitored, and rewarded commitment. Promotions should factor in not just what you achieved — but who you developed.
How to Make Leadership Multiplication a Measurable Mandate
At Workforce Group, we help organisations institutionalise leadership development accountability by:
- Making leader building a core performance metric for senior executives
- Embedding structured mentoring and sponsorship programmes
- Creating visible talent slates across departments
- Equipping leaders with coaching tools and frameworks
- Celebrating legacy builders, not just result drivers
One client; a mid-sized investment bank, even introduced an annual award for “Leadership Multipliers.” Not for revenue. Not for deals closed. But for leaders developed. For talent stretched. For pipelines strengthened.
The results were transformational. Engagement rose. Mid-level leaders became more intentional. And senior leaders saw talent not as a cost, but as a critical responsibility.
Because when leaders begin to see themselves not just as performers but as multipliers, everything changes.
Culture changes. Retention improves. Innovation deepens. And the organisation gains its sharpest edge in a volatile market: a resilient, well stocked leadership pipeline.
In a world of disruption, shifting customer needs, and rising complexity, the question every institution must ask is this:
Who are we raising now to lead us into what is next?
Because strategy can be copied. Technology can be bought. Products can be replicated.
But your leadership culture? That is your differentiator. That is your edge.
And here is what we know for sure:
High performing organisations bet on leadership development.
Not just the leadership of today — but of tomorrow.
They do not wait for stars to rise. They create constellations.
They do not reward isolated success. They reward replicated growth.
They do not just grow leaders.
They grow leaders who grow leaders.
And that is the only kind of leadership development that endures.
Ready to Multiply the Impact of Your Leaders?
If your current strategy is not producing successors, it is time to pause and rethink.
Are you building a leadership culture that endures beyond today’s performers?
Now is the time to institutionalise leadership development — not as an afterthought, but as a strategic asset.
Schedule a free consultation to explore how we can help you design a system that builds leaders who build leaders.
Send an email to hello@workforcegroup.com let us start multiplying your leadership impact.
Because your greatest return on investment is not in what you deliver.
It is in who you develop.
