- The peak performance, borne out of passion and mission, prompted President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi — the ‘sobriquet professor of politics’ — to appoint him as the pioneering principal of Sunshine Secondary School in Nairobi.
- Later, the Ministry of Education (MoE), appointed him as the acting Vice Chancellor of Moi University, which was a short stint. Now, he is the Vice Chancellor of Daystar University. He has won the Kenya’s Vice Chancellor of the Year Award.
- The good professor with an illustrious career in teaching and tutelage remembers that industrious culture and viable ideas thrusts the institutions he leads to the epic peak and crest of great achievement.
As a peripatetic speaker, who interacts with school arrowheads in around 40 counties in Kenya, I recommend to them this tome: The Art of Institutional Leadership — a heroic book penned by the pious Vice Chancellor of Daystar University — Prof. Laban Peter Ayiro.
This legendary leader has climbed the ladder of life as a teacher, a principal, and now a Vice Chancellor. The polymath specialises in leadership; policy development and implementation; curriculum development; research methods; quality assurance and pedagogy.
While reading his heroic book, I picked plenty of leadership lessons that can help principals to steer schools to the stunning shores of success. These lessons oscillate around four useful co-values or culture principles loved by the polished professor, who is the arrowhead at Daystar University: Christ-centredness, soft hearts, strong minds and serving hands.
It is instructive to note. Prof. Ayiro is a humble human being. He is a senior scholar who can dine with kings, and eat with commoners alike. When Prof. Ayiro was still a young teacher, TSC deployed him at Ingotse High School to teach Chemistry. He was later transferred to go start Kegoye Secondary school — a decimal day school where classrooms were made of mud. It was void and devoid of offices, books, laboratory, et cetera. Everything was humble and simple. The only thing the staff and teachers had was the good gift of life.
Meaning, Prof. Ayiro found himself in the zone of doldrums. He only found solace and peace in the wise words of his grizzled grandpa: “It is better for someone to give you an emaciated cow to take care of than a healthy one. For any improvement in terms of milk yield or body weight, will be due to your causation. That ‘skinny cow’ will help build your reputation. It can never get worse.” This, therefore, taught the professor the value of owning a mission. These humble beginnings planted in his contrite heart a ravenous desire to prop up the low self-esteem of students. Four years later, one student matriculated into university. It left him elated.
Again, the giant leap in academic performance at Kegoye Secondary School led to his promotion to Lubinu Boys School in Mumias. Relentless effort and laser-like focus polished the pale walls of the small school. There was a positive deviation. It moved from position 1210 to position 56 in the national ranking 1994 KCSE.
The peak performance, borne out of passion and mission, prompted President Daniel Toroitich Arap Moi — the ‘sobriquet professor of politics’ — to appoint him as the pioneering principal of Sunshine Secondary School in Nairobi.
Through God’s grace, Sunshine Secondary School got its shine and sheen. When they presented their pioneering class for the 1998 KCSE, the school emerged as position 6 nationally. Sunshine Secondary School rose like the fabled phoenix because the deft management of the school borrowed best academic practices from shining stars such as Kamuzu Banda Academy in Malawi and Eton in England.
Progressively, Prof. Ayiro moved from Sunshine Secondary School to become the Provincial Director of Education in charge of Western Region. Then, he served as the Senior Deputy Director at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD). He also served as the Deputy Vice Chancellor in charge of Administration and Planning.

Consequently, the Ministry of Education (MoE), appointed him as the acting Vice Chancellor of Moi University, which was a short stint. Now, he is the Vice Chancellor of Daystar University. He has won the Kenya’s Vice Chancellor of the Year Award.
Ideally, while reading his heroic book, I picked plenty of leadership lessons that can help principals to steer schools to the stunning shores of success. These lessons oscillate around four useful co-values or culture principles loved by the polished professor, who is the arrowhead at Daystar University: Christ-centredness, soft hearts, strong minds and serving hands.
- Christ-centredness
In fact, Prof. Ayiro succeeds as a leader because he is Christ-conscious. He relies on aegis of Jesus. He is a leader who reveres God without a scintilla of charade. Somewhat, leaders must conceptualise that they should be psycho-socially and spiritually sound. Similarly, the fear of God shapes the core of personal beliefs and values, as well as an understanding of social structure and infrastructure in leadership. Professor confirms that the ultimate test of true leadership is the reward that the leader receives in serving God and His chosen people. Meaning, spirituality and leadership meet and interact, where the calling, values and actions intersect.
- Soft Hearts
Actually, Prof. Ayiro believes in Emotional Intelligence or Intra-personal skills. In his humble preamble, he acknowledges that his late mother introduced him into the realm of Emotional Intelligence (EQ) — Intrapersonal Skills — as displayed by her level of self-awareness. Also, inter-personal skills — as evinced in how she was empathetic, optimistic, responsible, flexible and adaptable. High levels of EQ legs up the sense of intuition and effectiveness in leadership. It holds the matrix of leadership principles, practices and approaches or éclat. It also helps them to choose right people for specific jobs. Professor posits, leaders should put premium on professionalism and efficiency.
Elsewhere, Dr. Daniel Goleman breaks down Emotional Intelligence (EI) into five important areas. One, self-awareness. Two, self-regulation. Three, motivation. Four, empathy. Five, social intelligence. Emotional Intelligence is equal to intra-personal intelligence. Likewise, Emotional Intelligence is tantamount to wisdom. Ideally, 66% of our success depend on our levels of Emotional Intelligence. Meaning, leaders ought to understand three things. One, there is temperament, which is a natural disposition.
The four major temperaments include: Sanguine, melancholic, choleric and phlegmatic (Buckingham, 2002). Two, there is personality, which is the combination of temperament and experiences that form our long life traits. Three, we focus on Intelligence Quotient (IQ), which is the person’s ability and speed to grasp issues.
- Strong Minds
In a broader sense, leaders should have strong minds because they have a royal responsibility before God: to constantly get better, brighter and smarter. Leaders achieve that bit by being ravenous readers.
No wonder, Harry S. Truman sagely said, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.” Great leaders read avidly classics and new releases like this tantalising treatise I am reviewing.
Reading is important because it is the conduit of inspiration, incisive insights and information. Reading multiplies leaders’ expertise and experiences. Reading allows leaders to spend time with smart people right at their comfort.
In retrospect, Prof. Ayiro has a riveting rehash of his childhood days, and profusely quotes the Jewish Phenomenon by Steven Silbiger, which talks about The Seven Keys of Enduring Wealth of a People. Jews are wise and wealthy because they understand that real wealth is portable: It is knowledge and skills. So, when Professor was still young, but with an impressionable mind, he developed ravenous reading habits, which have remained indelible.
- Serving Hands
Lastly, nothing comes through a silver platter. We have to toil and moil. Or else, success will always elude our grasp.
The good professor with an illustrious career in teaching and tutelage remembers that industrious culture and viable ideas thrusts the institutions he leads to the epic peak and crest of great achievement.
Then, he believes with every fibre of his being on what in 1899, Theodore Roosevelt called The Doctrine of the Strenuous Life, whose oeuvre focuses on the virtue of hard work. This is how it reads: “I wish to preach, not the doctrine of ignoble ease, but the doctrine of the strenuous life, the life of toil and effort, of labour and strife; to preach that highest form of success which comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.”
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