Courageous leaders who routinely communicate about their core beliefs and values - personal values as well as universal human principles they endorse - have discovered a great source of organizational energy - Doug Lennick & Fred Kiel

Our beliefs determine our values, our values our attitudes and our attitudes our behaviours. Therefore, if all goes according to plan, our behaviour is supposed to mirror our beliefs, we live authentic lives and our societies will be harmonious, peaceful and full of goodwill – even when culturally and religiously diverse. Irrespective of the diversity of religions and cultures, people all over the world largely share the same moral values. What people believe about how we as human beings should behave and relate to one another, is very similar throughout the world. So, for instance, did a study comparing American children with Indian children show that their moral codes were virtually identical. Both groups of children believed that it was wrong to lie, cheat, or steal, and both thought that it was important to treat the sick or unfortunate with kindness. In another study researchers found the following principles espoused in common by all or most religions, as well as by secular organizations including American Atheists, Inc., the American Humanist Association, and the United Nations Declaration of Rights:

· Commitment to something greater than oneself;

· Self-respect, but with humility, self-discipline, and acceptance of personal responsibility

· Respect and caring for others (that is, the Golden Rule)

· Caring for other living things and the environment



The diversity of cultures and religions does therefore not explain why we often feel we can’t believe the inhuman things that other people are prepared to do.

Somewhere between our beliefs and our behaviour people, ourselves included, become immoral. Choosing among competing desires is the essence of morality. Since we always have the free choice to choose what we are going to do and what we are going to say, even if it contradicts our espoused beliefs, the question about morality is how firmly we are anchored in our beliefs. Do we want our words and deeds to be congruent with our beliefs? If so, we would be prepared to say what our core beliefs are and be held accountable for congruent behaviour. If not, we probably would prefer to avoid the subject of beliefs.

Against this background and the above quote from Lennick and Kiel, how easy or how difficult is it to talk about our core beliefs in the workplace? Is the democratic South Africa with her different religions inhibiting us from saying what we believe or is it liberating us to say what we believe? Does it make a difference to not only say what we believe, such as ‘I believe in absolute honesty at all times’ but also why we believe in it? When is it harmful to go to the level of our beliefs in the workplace? When is it harmful never to say what we believe? How do our answers to the above, impact on the morality of our society? … I’d like to hear/read your thoughts (or experiences)!

Leadership strengths and weaknesses

After the assessment of 70 leaders from different organisations by 420 colleagues - using my New Era Leadership 360° assessment instrument - the results indicate that in most organisations, leaders’ levels of commitment to the achievement of results are high. They also adhere to high ethical standards and show respect to people irrespective of race, culture belief or standing (although they rate themselves much higher on this than others rate them). On the downside, leaders don’t fare well in the facilitation of others’ participation, such as through brainstorming, don’t value the importance of strategic planning and are not as open, transparent and team-oriented as highly effective leaders would be. The biggest differences, on average, between the leader’s self assessment and the assessment of his/her colleagues (where the leader rated him/herself higher) were in the answers to the following questions:


· I express my views consistently, irrespective of the situation or audience (we would like to believe that we are consistent, yet others easily pick up the inconsistencies – we need the levels of trust that would allow feedback about our inconsistencies)

· I encourage openness and transparency by being an example (this determines the levels of trust)

· I show respect to people irrespective of race, culture, belief or standing (our disrespect can be very subtle, yet it hurts all the same)

· I facilitate better understanding by encouraging team members to share their different views (the leader’s trap: moving on to decisions assuming no-one has anything to say or contribute)


African Renaissance: Education


It is good to learn of the efforts and progress on the vital issue of Africa’s educational challenges:


First announced in 2003 at the Africa Summit of the World Economic Forum in Durban, the NEPAD e-Schools Project focuses on providing end-to-end ICT solutions that will connect schools across Africa to the NEPAD e-Schools network and the Internet. Solutions also include the provision of content and learning material and the establishment of health points at schools. In each country, the programme aims to transform all African secondary schools into NEPAD e-Schools within five years of implementation start date and all African primary schools within ten years of implementation start date. In total more than 600 000 schools across the continent will enjoy the benefits of ICT and connectivity to the NEPAD e-Schools Satellite Network upon completion of the project.

The AMD, HP, Oracle, Microsoft, and Cisco Systems consortia and a number of other private companies are sponsoring the demonstration project, consisting of six schools in each of the 16 participating countries, for a period of 12 months. Participating countries are: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda.



Best wishes for the month of October