The responsibility trap; African leadership model

For some reason, when we go into a new year, I always remember my promoter at Unisa one December saying adamantly that he decided not to go with the usual flow of the festive season but plan to work through into the new year as if nothing changed. As I say, I can’t explain why I decided to remember this and not the other more intelligent and wise things he said – probably because I subconsciously disagreed strongly while I consciously thought I am supposed to agree with his thinking. (It is quite an interesting exercise to try and analyse why you remember certain, apparently insignificant incidents, for years and years.) Well, although I am a bit skeptical about new year resolutions just because it is a new year, I do like the idea of rhythm in life. Such as a time to work hard and a time to relax well, a time to move fast and a time to move slowly, a time to concentrate and a time to celebrate, a time to act and a time to reflect etc. So, at least I hope that you also could enjoy a different rhythm during December and can return invigorated for what lies ahead in 2006!

I would like to invite you to have a look at the New Era Leadership website: www.neweraleadership.co.za. If you find something there that you would like to discuss or comment on, please feel free to do so.

Leadership and development

As I am sure you are aware of, there are many traps a person in a leadership position can fall into. One that you possibly also can relate to is the responsibility trap. Do you end up doing things yourself because others don’t seem to have the same sense and appreciation of their responsibility to contribute to the bigger whole? Of course leaders are people who assume responsibility for what is going on in the organisation. That is not the trap. The trap is that one can loose sight of the process while focusing so much on the results. As a result of our own impatience and sense of responsibility we end up doing things ourselves and loosing our belief in others’ abilities or commitment. If we don’t achieve the results we hoped for and feel responsible for, we also might start feeling that maybe we are not good enough leaders. The trap is that we often assume responsibility for the organisation’s performance without assuming responsibility to develop others in a planned and disciplined way. The result is that we miss the opportunity to grow personally as well as to reproduce leadership.

A good start in avoiding the trap would be to think through the most important leadership lessons that you personally have learnt and how you can coach others with it. Secondly, you have to make sure that you stay ahead with your own leadership development.

African Renaissance

An African Renaissance will be built on good leadership that balances global leadership requirements with the strengths of African leadership models. According to professor Hellicy Ngambi, after studying chieftaincies (one of them the Fungwe chieftaincy of Zambia, started in the 16th Century) African leadership has, amongst others, the following characteristics:

• A dream in which all members find their place and all members of the community are shareholders
• Creation of disciples, not followers, through trust, integrity and reliability
• Communicate through stories and dialogue – sharing wisdom
• Build relationships based on the ubuntu (I am because we are) philosophy
• Share responsibility and accountability
• Lead from shared values and beliefs
• Creation of a culture of celebration that encourages the heart

The challenge for us is to put these leadership practices in place in a modern business organisation. Clearly, much work has to be done to lift the lid on Africa’s leadership potential. Hopefully, by the end of this year, we have made progress towards a better and healthier South Africa and Africa.

… and hopefully our cricket team will give us a good start in building our self-esteem by winning the Aussies!

Kind regards