Is Your Leadership Driven by Vision - or Vanity?

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What legacy are you really building?

I used to believe that a ribbon-cutting, a glossy press release, and a viral photo were proof of leadership. For a long time I mistook visibility for value. Then I started asking a harder question: when the cameras leave, what remains?

This edition of Strategic Content 4 Impact is for leaders who want more than applause. It’s for the ones who want an imprint - not just an Instagram moment.

The difference between activity and impact

There are two kinds of public leadership:

  • The kind that performs - big launches, high-profile projects, declarations, awards. They look good on billboards and LinkedIn feeds.
  • The kind that yields results - quietly fixing systems, investing in sustainability, turning money into service that lasts.

One makes headlines. The other makes history.

Simon Sinek put it plainly: “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it. And what you do simply proves what you believe.” That truth separates showmanship from stewardship. (Goodreads)

A local problem with global echoes - Nigeria’s white elephants

We don’t need imagination to see empty monuments to vanity. Across Nigeria and other African countries, multi-billion-naira projects have been critiqued as “white elephants” - expensive works with little or no public benefit. Projects like the Ajaokuta Steel saga, the Tinapa complex, and several state airports that struggle to sustain operations are not only financial burdens - they’re reputational ones. These projects often cost far more than their social return. (Daily Trust)

Take the Ebonyi (Chuba Okadigbo) Airport: launched amid fanfare but criticized as ill-conceived and non-functional - with major sums spent and limited public payoff, prompting civic frustration and questions about priorities. Reports estimate very large amounts committed to it between 2019–2024, raising the classic question: who benefits? (This Day Live)

This isn’t only a Nigerian story. Across the continent, costly projects with limited value have repeatedly shown that grand is not the same as good. A 2024 review of such initiatives even compared modern misbegotten projects to the “white elephants” of past decades. (ROAPE)

Trust is evaporating - and vanity accelerates that loss

People are tired of spectacle without substance. Global trust in leaders - whether corporate or political - has been under pressure for years. Recent trust studies show growing skepticism: many citizens now believe leaders deliberately mislead the public, and trust scores for institutions and CEOs are slipping. When trust drops, the cost of performative leadership is high: fewer votes, lower buy-in from teams, harder partnerships, and shrinking social licence to operate. (Axios)

When trust diminishes, legacy gets defined by what you left undone - or worse, what you broke.

Three quick stories (so this isn’t just theory)

  1. The governor who loved ceremonies more than market access. A state spends heavily building an “international” airport touted as a prestige item. Local traders still travel by road because the airport opens once every blue moon. The local economy gets none of the promised multiplier effect. (Multiple Nigerian investigations and opinion pieces document similar outcomes.) (The Guardian Nigeria)
  2. The CEO who reinvested in systems, not selfies. A mid-sized company publicly cut back on flashy marketing and used the savings to improve customer service systems and staff training. Within 18 months revenue and retention rose - quietly - but sustainably. (Not every success is reported in papers; often it’s measured in metrics.) - anecdotal, but aligns with the Trust-at-Work insights. (Edelman)
  3. Community pushback that changes the narrative. Citizens and journalists have exposed wasteful projects and demanded accountability. That pressure has turned some stalled projects into audits and redesigns - showing that accountability can reorient vanity into value. (See investigative coverage and civic discourse on white-elephant projects across Nigeria.) (Fij)

Five signs your leadership is veering toward vanity (and what to do about it)

  1. You measure success by events, not outcomes.
    Action: Replace the press-release KPI with one or two impact KPIs (jobs created, service uptime, percentage of intended beneficiaries reached).
  2. Your projects are top-down and insulated from scrutiny.
    Action: Introduce independent reviews and community consultations before committing capital.
  3. You prioritise optics over sustainability.
    Action: Budget for lifecycle costs (maintenance, operations) not only construction.
  4. You confuse symbolism for systems change.
    Action: Ask: does this reduce friction for citizens/employees or simply advertise power?
  5. Your legacy is a vanity metric (plaques, statues, named buildings).
    Action: Create a public “legacy dashboard” that tracks long-term social and financial returns.

A simple 4-question legacy test (for leaders, now)

  1. Who benefits most from this decision - the people you serve, or the people who fund/approve it?
  2. Will this still deliver value five years from now? Ten?
  3. If auditors or journalists probe this next week, what will they find?
  4. If you could only achieve one outcome from this initiative, what would it be - and how would you measure it?

If any answer is vague, pause. Redefine. Re-budget.

Words that cut through

“No legacy is so rich as honesty.” - William Shakespeare. Honesty in leadership means aligning visible actions with accountable outcomes. When leaders match what they say with what they do, they change the story - for their organizations and for the nation. (Brainy Quote)

Closing (and a personal ask)

I love the idea of leaders who leave footprints - not just footprints in sand that wash away at the next tide, but pathways other people can walk. I want to see leaders who choose plumbing over pomp: functioning schools, reliable power, transparent budgets, living wages.

If you lead - or counsel someone who does - ask yourself: are you building for applause, or for architects who will walk the city and quietly say, “this was well done”?

If this piece landed with you, do one of these now:

  • Share this edition with a leader who needs it.
  • Reply with one leadership vanity you’ll replace with a vision-driven habit this quarter - I’ll read and reply.
  • Subscribe to Strategic Content 4 Impact for more essays that push leaders from show to service.

leadership legacy, performative leadership, white elephant projects Nigeria, vision vs vanity, accountable leadership

#LeadershipForImpact #VisionNotVanity #AccountableGovernance #LegacyMatters #StrategicContent4Impact

— Mary Ewere | Strategic Content 4 Impact | Mary Conzultz


Welcome to Strategic Content 4 Impact — a space where storytelling meets strategy, and words become tools for influence, visibility, and transformation. I'm Mary Ewere, a strategic writer, content strategist, business consultant, and author with over 15 years of experience working alongside professionals, executives, thought leaders, NGOs, and brands. Through this platform, I share: Insights on career growth, leadership, branding, and visibility Stories that inspire, educate, and challenge perspectives, Strategies to help professionals, authors, and organizations build authentic influence and achieve sustainable success. Every article, every guide, and every story is designed to empower you — whether you’re scaling your business, building your personal brand, growing your leadership visibility, or seeking fresh, strategic writing insights.✨ Let’s build impact, one story at a time.�� Connect with me at maryconzultz@gmail.com | +234 815 5573805

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