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ISSN 2222-1719 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2863 (Online)
Vol 2, No.9, 2012

LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT IN THE NIGERIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT
COUNCILS

AJILA, C.O., AKANNI, A.A. and EKUNDAYO, O.O.

DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
OBAFEMI AWOLOWO UNIVERSITY
ILE-IFE, NIGERIA
ABSTRACT
The concept of managerial leadership permeates the theory and practice of work organizations. While most
definitions of leadership reflect the assumption that leadership involves a process whereby an individual exerts
influence upon others in an organizational context, leadership is by nature dialectical. It is socially constructed
through the interaction of both leaders and followers. Strategic planning and management are more than a set of
managerial tools. They constitute a mind-set, an approach that involves looking at the changes in the internal and
external environment that confront the Chairman and other members of the executive council of a LGC. By a
strategic approach to HRM, we are referring to a managerial process requiring human resource policies and practices
to be linked with the strategic objectives of the organization.
This paper critically examines the concept of managerial leadership and Strategic Human Resource Management
(SRHM). It appraises the strategic management process and factors affecting strategy in the Nigerian Local
Government Councils. It concludes with a simple example of SHRM using SWOT analysis. Crafting, implementing
and monitoring an effective strategy will assist LGCs to become very successful and stay successful.
KEY WORDS: Leadership; Strategy; Human Resource Management; Strategic Human
Resource Management (SHRM); Local Government Councils; SWOT
Analysis.
INTRODUCTION
In a management context, the word strategy denotes an activity that top-managers perform in order to
accomplish an organization’s goals. Nutt and Backoff (1987); Kamoche (1996); Bryson (1998); Kiggundu (1998)
define strategic management as that set of managerial decisions and actions that determines the long-run
performance of a corporation. Aktouf (1996) takes a similar view when he sees strategy as the maintenance of a
“vision of the future” that is constantly updated by data on both the internal and the external environment. Other
definitions emphasize the achievement of performance goals: A strategy is a specific pattern of decisions an actions
that managers take to achieve an organization’s goals. (a goal is a desired future state that the organization attempts
to realize). For most, if not all organizations, an overriding goal is to achieve superior performance. Therefore, a
strategy can often be defined more precisely as the specific pattern of decisions and action that managers take to
achieve superior organizational performance.
Implementing and executing strategy entails converting the organization’s strategic plan into action and
then into results. Like crafting strategy, it is a job for the whole management team, not just a few senior offices or
managers. While the organizations’ chief executive officers and the heads of major units are ultimately responsible
for seeing that strategy is implemented successfully, the implementation process typically affects every part of the
organisation, from the biggest operating unit to the smallest. Every officer has to think through the answer to “what
has to be done in my unit to implement my part of the strategic plan, and what should I do to get these things
accomplished?”. In this sense, all officers become strategy-implementers in their areas of authority and
responsibility, and all employees are participants.
Strategic approach concentrates on assuring a good fit between the environment and the organization. It is
oriented toward the future. It recognizes that the environment will change and that organizations should anticipate
events rather than simply react as they occur. They must be sensitive to the needs and demands of their constituents.

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Putting a strategy into place and getting the organisation to execute it well call for different sets of
managerial skills. And, one of such skills is the choice of leadership style which covers forces in the leader, forces in
the situation and forces in the followers. While the strength of each of these factors will vary from instance to
instance, the leader who is sensitive then can better assess the problems which face him and determine which mode
of leadership behaviour is most appropriate. The leader’s behaviour in many given instance will be influenced
greatly by the many forces operating within his own personality. He will of course perceive the leadership problem
in a unique way on the basis of his background, knowledge and experience. Other important internal forces affecting
him include his value system, his own leadership inclinations and his feeling of security in an uncertain situation.
The leader brings these and other highly personal variables to each situation he faces. If he can see them as force,
which consciously or unconsciously influences his behaviour, he can better understand what makes him prefer to act
in a given way. And, understanding this, he can often make himself more effective. Before deciding how to lead a
certain group, the leader will also want to consider a number of forces affecting his followers’ behaviour. He will
want to remember that each follower, like himself, is influenced by many personality variables. In addition, each
subordinate or follower has a set of expectations about how the leader should act in relation to him.
Leadership is best defined in behavioural terms as any act of influence on a matter of organizational
relevance (Porter,1974, Trandis 1994, Ajila & Adegoke, 1998, Ajila & Adekoya, 2006). This definition includes
many routine acts of supervision; but the essence of leadership, however, has to do with influential increment which
goes beyond routine, and taps bases of power beyond those that are organizationally decreed. These include referent
power which depends on personal liking between leaders and followers, and expert power which depends on the
knowledge and ability of the leader.
Adair (1970) enunciated that if leadership is concerned with achieving result through people, then the leader
should concentrate on three variables- the TASK, the GROUP and the INDIVIDUAL in the group. This is shown
diagrammatically in figure 2 below:

Source: Adair, J. (1970) Effective Leader. New York.

TASK FUNCTIONS include: Define the task, making a plan, Allocating work and resources, Controlling quality
and tempo of work, Checking performance against the plan and Adjusting the plan.
TEAM MAINTENANCE FUNCTIONS include: Setting standards, maintaining discipline, Building team spirit,
Praising, motivating, giving a sense of purpose, Appointing sub-leaders, Ensuring communication within the group
and Training the group.
INDIVIDUAL FUNCTIONS include: Attending to personal problems, praising individuals, giving status,
recognizing and using individual abilities and Training the individual.
The better the leader understands these factors, the more accurately he can determine what kind of
behaviour on his part will enable his subordinates to act most effectively. In his own contribution Caprey and

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Carr (1982) gave a triadic approach to a choice of Leadership Style Viz, Forces in the manager/leader; Forces in
the situation; and Forces in subordinates. This is illustrated below:

Source: Capey, B. and Carr, J. (1982). People and Work Organizations. London.

Generally the leader can permit his followers or subordinates greater freedom if the following essential
conditions exist:
• If the followers have relatively high need for independence
• If the followers have a readiness to assume responsibility for decision making
• If they are interested in the problem and feel that it is important
• If they have the necessary knowledge and experience to deal with the problem.
• If they have learnt to expect to share in decision making.
The restrictive effect of many of the forces will of course be greatly modified by the general feeling of confidence
which followers have in the leader. Where they have learned to respect and trust him, he is free to vary his behaviour.
He will feel certain that he will not be perceived as an authoritarian leader on those occasions when he makes decisions
by himself.
Human resource participates in strategy formation process by supplying information regarding the company’s
internal strengths and weaknesses Dessler (2002).
According to Pattanayak (2001), reciprocal interdependence between an organization’s business strategy and
human resource strategy underlines the approaches to the strategic management of human resource. This suggests
that human resource integrally affect the overall strategy of an organisation.
STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (SHRM)
Strategic HRM can be regarded as a general approach to the strategic management of human resources in
accordance with the intentions of the organization on the future direction it wants to take. It is concerned with
longer-term people issues and macro-concerns about structure, quality, culture, values, commitment and matching
resources to future need. Boxall and Purcell (2008) argue that strategic HRM is concerned with explaining how HRM
influences organizational performance.

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Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is to ensure that human resource management is fully
integrated into strategic planning, that HRM policies cohere both across policy areas and across hierarchies and that
HRM policies are accepted and used by line managers as part of their everyday work, opines Guest(1989).
The goal of Strategic Human Resource Management is to ensure that human resource management is fully integrated
into strategic planning. SHRM therefore is concerned with the following:
• Analyse the opportunities and threats existing in the external environment.
• Formulate strategies that will match the organistaion’s (internal) strength and weakness with
environmental (external) threats and opportunities. In other words, make a SWOT analysis of
the organisation.
• Implement the strategies so formulated.
• Evaluate and control activities to ensure that organizations objectives are dully achieved.

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES OF LEADERSHIP AND STRATEGIC HRM

Universalist theories of leadership search for the one key characteristic or a cluster of key characteristics
held by effective leaders, arguing that leaders with these traits will be successful regardless of the situation.
Universalist theories represent the earliest approaches to the study of leadership. Two of these theories are: The trait
theory and McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y. The general failure of the Universalist theories to isolate the
characteristics associated with leader effectiveness led to a change in focus. Rather than trying to measure
characteristics in the leader’s orientation or personality, researchers began to examine the actual behaviour of
effective leaders to determine what kinds of behaviour led to success (Riggio, 1990). In the late 1940s and
throughout the 1950s, two research projects, one conducted at Ohio State University and the other at the University
of Michigan, investigated the behaviours exhibited by effective leaders. Both projects arrived at some very similar
conclusions concerning leaders, their behaviour and effective leadership. The Ohio State University researchers
concluded that the two dimensions of leadership behaviour, initiating structure and consideration were independent
of each other, but that they are associated with effective leadership. Studying leaders in a number of large industrial
organizations, the Michigan researchers found that successful leaders tended to exhibit patterns of behaviour that
were labeled task-oriented (production-oriented) and relationship-oriented (employee-oriented). Task-oriented
behaviours are concentrated on performing the job that the work group faces and are thus similar to those of the
initiating structure factor. The leader is concerned with setting work standards, supervising the job, and meeting
production goals. Relationship-oriented behaviours are focused on maintaining social relationships in the work place
and thus resemble consideration behaviours. Relationship-oriented leader behaviours include showing concern for
employees’ well-being and involving them in decision making processes.
Contingency theories examine the interaction of characteristics of the leader and the situation, stating that effective
leadership depends on the proper match between the two. Many of the contingency theories do , however build on
the behavioural theories, using the leader behaviour dichotomies – task-oriented/initiating structure and
relationship-oriented/consideration – as a starting point. Contingency theories, however, recognize no one best style
of leadership behaviour. Rather, leadership effectiveness depends, or is contingent upon the interaction of leader
behaviour and the situation. Four of the more popular contingency theories of leadership are: Fiedler’s contingency
model, the path-goal theory, Vroom and Yetton’s decision making model, and the leader-member exchange model.
Fiedler’s contingency model argues that effective leadership depends on a match between a leader’s behavioural
style and the degree to which the work situation gives control and influence to the leader. In other words, the leader’s
style of behaviour must fit with the amount of control and power the leader will have in the work situation. The
path-goal theory states that a leader’s job is to help the work group attain the goals that they desire. The leader is
accordingly seen as a facilitator, or guide, who helps the group overcome the various barriers and roadblocks they
may encounter on the way to achieving their goals. To help the group reach its goals, the leader may adopt one of
four categories of behavior – directive,, achievement-oriented, supportive, and participative – the selection of which
depends on the characteristics of the situation. Vroom and Yetton (1973) have developed a contingency theory of
leadership that is based on the premise that leaders are basically decision maker. The decision making theory holds
that a leader can make work decisions using a number of strategies, ranging from acting alone (purely autocratic
decision making) to arriving at a decision on the basis of group consensus (completely participative decision
making). The leader-member exchange model takes a different approach and consideration that effective

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leadership is determined by the quality of the interaction between the leader and a particular work group (Dansereau,
Graen & Haga, 1975). According to this theory, the worker is the situation. The model states that the types of
one-on-one, or dyadic, relationships that develop between the leader and each follower will be somewhat different.
In any work group, the leader tends to develop better relationships with a few subordinates (the ingroup), while the
rest receive less attention or concern from the leader (the outgroup). The character of the leader-member exchange
can range from low quality, in which the leader has a negative image of the subordinate and the subordinate does not
respect or trust the leader, to high quality, in which the leader has a positive view of the worker and the worker feels
that the leader is supportive and provides encouragement.
Three theoretical approaches to strategic HRM can be identified (Torrington, Hall & Taylor, 2008). The
first, which is referred to as the Universalist approach, is founded on the concept that there is “one best way” to
managing human resources in order to improve business performance. In other words it is based on the premise that
one model of labour management – a high-commitment model – s related to high organizational performance in all
contexts, irrespective of the particular competitive strategy of the organization. The second, which is the Fit or
Contingency approach, focuses on the need to align employment policies and practice with the requirements of
business strategy in order that the latter will be achieved and the business will be successful. This second approach is
based on the assumption that different types of HR strategies will be suitable for different types of business
strategies. The strength of this model is that it provides a simple framework to show how selection, appraisal,
development and reward can be mutually geared to produce the required type of employee performance. Third, the
Resource-based approach, which is a more recent approach to strategic HRM, is derived from the resource-based
view of the firm, and the perceived value of human capital. This view focuses on the quality of the human resources
available to the organization and their ability to learn and adapt more quickly than their competitors. The
resource-based view of the firm is concerned with the relationships between internal resources (of which human
resources is one), strategy and firm performance. It focuses on the promotion of sustained competitive advantage
through the development of human capital rather than merely aligning human resources to current strategic goals.
The focus is not just on the behaviour of the human resources (as with the fit approach), but on the skills,
knowledge, attitudes and competencies which underpin this, and which have a more sustained impact on long-term
survival than current behaviour.

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PROCESS IN THE NIGERIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL

(LGC)
Although different authors (Millmore, Lewis and Saunders 2007; Reilly 2008; Boxall and Purcell 2008) have
identified and categorized the strategic planning steps differently, the following steps describe what the strategic
management process in a Nigerian LGC should look like:
• Agreement on and initiation of the strategic Management Process
The first step in the strategic management process in a LGC is to get agreement; not only to carry out the
process but also on how and when and by whom it will be carried out. Who should be included in the strategic
management process? At least three different types of individuals should be considered: (a) those officials who will
have direct responsibility in implementation of policy; (b) those who have a major stake in the outcome of the policy,
whether from within or outside the LGC, whether supportive or oppositional, clients or resources suppliers; and (c)
those with specialized knowledge that can add to the analysis of the policy to be decided or implemented. How
should the process be initiated? First, agreement to carry out and commitment to the process must be obtained from
one or more of the LGC’s key decision makers. Once such agreement and commitment is accomplished, then
decisions about what should be considered and who should be involved can be addressed.
• Identification and clarification of the organization’s mission,
objectives, and current strategic.
Once a LGC has agreed to engage in a strategic process, the first task is to determine what and where the Council is.
What are the needs that the Council attempts to satisfy, whose needs are they, and what is the value of satisfying those
needs? All too often LGCs develop a service or a product and then fail to periodically examine whether or not that
product actually satisfies a demand or whether satisfaction of that demand actually matters. Then these questions are
asked; who are the people that compose the Council, what are their values, and what needs does the Council satisfy for
them? What are the objectives of the LGC and how well do they match with the needs and demands of clients,
stakeholders and constituents? What strategies does the Council wish to employ to achieve the objectives it has set for

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itself? Is the LGC being asked to make fundamental changes in what it does, or in the kinds of clients it benefits? If so,
what are those changes?
• Identification of the LGC’s Internal Strengths and Weakness
One way to examine this is to look at the LGC’s resource base (skill base, capital or financial resources, etc). Does the
LGC have the wherewithal to achieve its stated objectives? What are the levels of internal resources possessed by the
LGC? How available are they? Analysis of resources by itself is not sufficient; the LGC must also look at its task
performance. What tasks does it do well which does it not? This will give a better idea of how the LGC’s resources are
organized and how effectively those resources are put to use. In addition to skills and resources, other elements of the
internal organization that need to be examined are: what is the nature of the organizational climate (are there cleavages,
are they conflictive?), how adaptable are the participants (would they readily take on new tasks, how long have they
been doing the same thing?), what is the nature and flexibility of the organizational structure (is it rigid, have
significant changes been made in the past, and what has been the reaction?), is there an informal structure (how does it
work and is it more cogent than the formal structure?).
• Assessment of the threats and Opportunities from the External Environment
While there is always a tendency of managers looking inward; political, economic, social, and technological changes
will influence the direction and shape of a LGC’s policies and objectives. What are the major trends that can be
detected in each of these areas that will have some bearing on the activities of the LGC? How might macro-economic
measures being instituted affect the financial resources of the Council? What is the nature of political support for the
policy under consideration? Is the leadership about to change? Will key officials within the cabinet be changed
and what will that mean to the development and implementation of the proposed policy?
• Identification of key Constituents/Stakeholders and their Expectations
The expectations and demands of constituents are key ingredients for decisions about what a Local Government
Council will do and how it goes about carrying out its tasks. Stakeholders or constituents are those who have a direct
interest in and are capable of influencing in some measure the outcomes or actions of the Council. Stakeholders
provide the primary base of political support for the Council. What do these particular groups want form the Council?
Are they satisfied with the current array of services and level of performance? Are their interests shifting? In which
direction? And if so, will the Council be able to react favourably?. In examining the interest of stakeholders, a
cautionary note is in order. There can be a temptation to try to consider every actor who might have some interests or
influence in the Council.
• Identification of the key Strategic Issues Confronting a Local Government Council
The information generated by the preceding steps should identify a set of fundamental questions or key problem
regarding the fit of the Council with its environment. These problems might concern the Council’s mission, its
services, its clients, management, or relationship to certain stakeholders. Strategic issues are the principal problem
that must be dealt with effectively or the Council can expect undesirable results. In identifying strategic issues or
problems, care must be taken in specifying exactly what the problem or issue is. Why it is a problem for the Council?
• Design/analysis/Selection of strategy alternatives and options to Manage issues identified
in step 6:
Once issues and problems have been identified, strategies to solve those problems need to be identified. Generally,
more than one option for dealing with the problem will be identified; then options must be examined for their
comparative viability, feasibility, and desirability. Can the strategy work from a practical as well as theoretical stance?
Is the Council capable of carrying out the strategy? Is the strategy acceptable to those carrying it out and to those to
whom it is directed? Does the Council have the human and material resources, does it have the know-how necessary,
and is the appropriate organizational structure available of implementing the strategy? Will the strategy accomplish
what the Chairman wants and benefits those intended? Can the strategy be sustained, and can it adapt to the projected
changes in the environment?
• Implementation of strategy
Implementation of a strategy is not an automatic process; there are two major parts to the process. The first step is the
development of an action plan, which is a statement of what, who, when, and how the actions necessary to carry out the
strategy will be done. Performance goals and objectives will also be specified. Much of the information needed to
develop the action plan will have been generated in Step Seven. The second part of implementation consists of actions
aimed at marshalling and applying resources. In the context of policy change these actions may consist of (but are not
limited to) changes in organizational structures, shifts and reclassification of personnel, the establishment of new

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outlines, tasks, and procedures; installation of new incentive systems; marketing of new services; development of new
financing mechanisms; organizing coalitions to maintain political, budgetary, and beneficiary support; and developing
collaborative mechanisms with cooperating Councils. It should be noted that the Chairman’s’ task is more than just the
internal operation of his Council; He must also manage its fit with the environment.
• Monitoring and Review of the strategy’s performance:
Strategic management assumes continual change. Therefore mechanism must be developed for monitoring and
analyzing the performance of the Council with respect to achieving the goals and objectives set in the action plan. As
the environment undergoes changes, as Councilors change, elections occur, or budgets go up or down, priorities will
also change. Resource flows may be uneven. All of these elements can alter performance, priorities, and the
desirability of certain policies. If the Council wants to maintain a good “fit” with the environment, it must first be able
to track these changes in order to adjust. The monitoring process should be continuous, regular, and capable of feeding
into the decision-making process. The Chairman, as a leader should develop control mechanisms to gauge the
efficiency of resources used and impact mechanism to gauge the effectiveness of its actions. Finally, it is vital that the
monitoring process be timely and usable.
FACTORS AFFECTING STRATEGY IN A TYPICAL LOCAL GOVERNMENT COUNCIL IN NIGERIA
Many situational considerations enter into strategy. The interplay of these factors and the influence that each
has on the strategy-making process vary from situation to situation. The underlisted factors are considered vis-à-vis the
operations of a typical Local Government Council in Nigeria:
- Social, political, regulatory, technology and citizenship consideration
- Competitive conditions and overall institutional attractiveness
- Market opportunities and external threats
- Resource Strengths, Competencies and Competitive Capabilities
1. Social, Political, Regulatory, Technology and Citizenship Consideration
All Local Government Councils in Nigeria operate within the broader community of society. What a Local
Government Council can and cannot do strategy wise is always constrained by what is legal, by what complies with
government policies and regulatory requirements, by what is considered ethical, and by what is in accord with societal
expectations and the standards of good community citizenship. Outside pressures also come from other sources:
special interest groups, a fear of unwanted political action, and the stigma of negative opinion.
2. Competitive conditions and Overall Institutional Attractiveness
A Local Government Council’s competitive conditions and overall attractiveness are big strategy determining
factors. A Local Government’s strategy has to be tailored to the nature and mix of competitive factors such as
programmes quality, performance features, services, and so on. When competitive conditions intensify significantly, a
Local Government must respond with strategic actions to protect its position. Competitive weakness on the part of one
or more rivals presents opportunities for a strategic offensive. Furthermore, fresh moves on the part of rival LGC, and
new technological developments often alter the requirements for competitive success and reconsideration of strategy.
3. Market Opportunities and External Threats
The particular business opportunities open to a Local Government Council and the threatening external
developments that it faces are key influences on strategy. Both points to the need of strategic action. Likewise, strategy
should provide a defense against external threat to the LGC’s well-being and future performance.
4. Resource Strengths, Competencies and Competitive Capabilities

One way to examine these is to look at the LGC’s resource base (Skill based, capital or financial resources,
etc). Does the LGC have the wherewithal to achieve its stated objectives or to put into motion its strategies? What are
the levels of internal resources possessed by the LGC?
How available are the resources?
Analysis of resources by itself is not sufficient. The LGC must also look at its task performance. What tasks does it do
well, which does it not? This will give a better idea of how the LGC’s resources are organized. What is the nature of the
organizational climate, how adaptable are the participants (would they readily take on new tasks, how long have they
been doing the same thing)? What is the nature and flexibility of the organisational structure (is it rigid, have
significant changes been made in the past, and what has been the reaction?), is there an informal structure (how does it
work and is it more cogent than the formal structure?), what is the nature of the incentive structure (is it designed to
encourage innovative behaviour, can it recruit and maintain a sufficiently high level of personnel?) Which elements

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facilitate and which impede performance of the organization’s tasks and which might facilitate or impede change in the
Local Government Council?
5. The Personal Ambitions, Business Philosophies, and Ethical Beliefs of
Chairmen, Supervisory Councillors, and Unit Heads

The Chairmen, Supervisory Councillors and Unit Heads do not dispassionately assess what strategic course to
steer. Their choices are typically influenced by their own vision of how to compete and how to position the council and
by what image and standing they want the Council to have. Both casual observation and formal studies indicate that
Chairmen, Supervisory Councillors and Unit Heads’ ambitions, values, philosophies, attitudes towards risk, and
ethical beliefs have important influences on strategy.
Strategic Human Resource Management of a department in a Nigerian Local Government Council using
SWOT analysis.

1. Analysis of STRENGTHS of a unit/department

STRENGTH - Well qualified staff
How to enhance the strength– education and training
How to protect the strength – Adequate remuneration, motivation and
reduction in the rate of staff turnover.
How to use the strength advantageously – Ensure that the staffers are
assigned duties in their areas of specialization
2. Analysis of WEAKNESSES of the unit/department
WEAKNESS – No enough office space for staff
What does it stop us from doing – It does not give the staffers
opportunity to carry out their duties effectively
How to eliminate and avoid it – Provision of enough office space
3. Analysis of OPPORTUNITIES that can be readily exploited by the unit/department.
OPPORTUNITY – Establishment of links with other departments.
Problems or hurdles in exploiting it – Lack of information about possibilities.

Strategy for exploring it – Goodwill of the Council in the provision of such information.
Time frame – Short term
4. Analysis of THREATS of the unit/department
THREATS – Space allocation and funding
How do they affect the Council – Crowded office space, poor
service delivery, low productivity.
Strategy for eliminating or minimizing the threats – Provision of more
office space,increased financial allocation
to unit/department
Duration of implementation – Short term.
Source: Field work (Ajila, Akanni & Ekundayo 2012)

CONCLUSION
The main essence of management is to get the work done by the people by directing in the right perspective.
It means subordinates should be led so as to be directed towards the common goal. The various leadership theories
suggest several possible interventions for improving leaders’ effectiveness. While the Universalist theories of
leadership search for one key characteristic held by effective leaders, arguing that leaders with these traits will be
successful regardless of the situation, the behavioural theories of leadership focus on the particular behaviours that
led to effective leadership. Understanding the three approaches to strategic HRM will enable HR mangers, board
members, Consultants and the like to interpret the current position of HR strategy in the organization, confront
current assumptions and challenge current thinking and potentially open up a new range of possibilities.

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Strategic planning and management are more than a set of managerial tools. They constitute a mind-set, an
approach looking at the changes in the internal and external environment that confront the Chairman, the
Vice-Chairman, the Directors or Head of Units. A LGC’s strategy is a game plan that Chairmen and members of the
Executive uses to stake out in the market, conduct operations, compete successfully and achieve operational objectives.
In crafting a strategy, management is saying, in effect, “among all the alternatives, we have decided to move in this
direction, focus on these programmes and client needs, compete in this fashion, allocate resources and energies in these
ways, and rely on these particular approaches in running the Council. A strategy does entail managerial choices among
alternatives and signals organizational commitment to specific programmes, competitive approaches and ways of
operating. Without strategy, Chairmen of councils have no prescription for running the council, no road map to
competitive advantage, no game plan for pleasing participants or achieving good performance. Regardless of the
LGC’s size and whether implementation involves minor changes, the most important leadership trait is a strong,
confident sense of what to do to achieve the desired result. Knowing what to do comes from understanding the
circumstances of the LGC as a whole. Chairmen of Local Government Councils and their Executives will be able to
perform well when they know what to do. By anticipating the future, Local Government Councils can help to shape and
modify the impact of environmental change. Crafting, implementing and monitoring an effective strategy will assist
LGCs to become very successful and stay successful.

References
Adair, J. (1970). Effective Leader. New York: Harper and Row.

Ajila, C.O. & Adegoke, A.A. (1998). Achieving Effective Leadership in Nigeria. In the Proceeding of the Journal of
the Faculty of Social Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.
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