New Era Leadership April 08

We now can do what we want, and the only question is what do we want? At the end of our progress we stand where Adam and Eve stood: all we are faced with now is the moral question. – Max Frisch

 

In recent months two beautiful and talented young women, both acquaintances of my family and on occasion visitors at my home, were attacked by robbers. One was killed and the other one paralysed (fortunately she is making good recovery). At the funeral of Estee van Rensburg, my son’s partner at his matric function a few years ago, there were no words to describe the utter sadness and grieve over the loss of a beautiful life full of joy, love and potential. Talking to my sons about these tragedies I am also at a loss of words to describe or give any meaningful perspective on what is happening and what is still to come in our country.   

 

I share this with you because it has become so much part of South Africa’s reality and the society we are part of. There is a good chance that you can tell similar stories from your immediate circle of family, friends, community or colleagues. What is the crime and violence in our streets and homes of recent years doing to our psyche? Apart from the natural response to look for more and better forms of security (including the option of leaving the country), apart from praying for God’s intervention, apart from demanding action from government, how do we respond internally? Can we still take on the roll of ‘dealers in hope’ as Napoleon described the role of leaders? Can we still do so responsibly or is it a matter of blind faith in the future?

 

Let us for a moment look at the bigger picture of man’s efforts to find solutions to the challenges of life. Even though there is a mixture of pre-modern, modern and postmodern mindsets in South Africa, I think most of us are somewhere between the modern and postmodern mindset. As such we struggle with the after effects of the modern mindset while new ways of thinking are almost forced upon us. Collectively we suffer today from major disappointment and disillusionment if you consider the following explanation of the typical modern project:

 

The modern project postulated the possibility of a human world free not only from sinners, but from sin itself; not just from people making wrong choices, but from the very possibility of wrong choice. (Zygmunt Bauman)

 

Relying on scientific solutions, ways of control and our reasoning abilities we believed that legislation and the design of ethical codes for society will prevent evil. Morality will be secured by the law makers, law enforces, state institutions and experts.   In effect, the focus of moral concerns has been shifted from the self-scrutiny of the individual to the philosophical/political task of working out the prescriptions and proscriptions of an ethical code. Moral choice is simplified to the straightforward dilemma of obedience or disobedience to the rule.

 

As we know today, the national and modernist project in South Africa during the apartheid years was in more ways than one also a cover-up operation of evil. (As Bauman says: ‘Modernity did not make people more cruel; it only invented a way in which cruel things could be done by non-cruel people. Under the sign of modernity, evil does not need any more evil people. Rational people … well revited into the impersonal … network of modern organization, will do perfectly). Transformation in South Africa in 1994 and onwards, apart from a new political dispensation, also introduced a major shift from controlling choices to freedom of choice. Are we better off now? More specifically, is there more or less morality? Probably the best answer is yes and no. Yes in some respects and no in other. In whatever way you feel to answer the question, with South Africa’s transformation, we are for all practical purposes increasingly confronted with a postmodern situation.  

 

Amongst other things you will recognise it in the sense of a world that seems less solid than it used to be (or than we thought it to be). It has lost its apparent unity and continuity - when various aspects of life could be tied together into a meaning­ful whole, and what happened today could be traced back to yes­terday's roots and forward to tomorrow's consequences. In this world it would appear as though morality is privatised – no-one is looking over your shoulder to see if you are following the agreed set of moral rules. But does it make sense? Doesn’t morality imply concern and care for others? Bauman asserts:

 

‘To take a moral stance means to assume responsibility for the Other; to act on the assumption that the well-being of the Other is a precious thing calling for my effort to preserve and enhance it, that whatever I do or do not do affects it, that if I have not done it it might not be done at all, and that even if others do or can do it this does not cancel my responsibility for doing it myself ... To be a moral person takes a lot of strength and resilience to with­stand the pressures and the temptations to withdraw from joint re­sponsibilities. Moral responsibility is unconditional and in principle infinite - and thus one can recognize moral persons by their never quenched dissatisfaction with their moral performance; the gnawing suspicion that they were not moral enough.’

 

It implies involvement and commitment – qualities that are not typically postmodern. The moral question is not going away however and in a sense it is the main question that we are faced with today  - as in the quote above: We now can do what we want, and the only question is what do we want? At the end of our progress we stand where Adam and Eve stood: all we are faced with now is the moral question.

 

It is a question that everyone and in particular leaders need to face with all sincerety and dedication. What is my moral responsibility in this country? What/who sets my moral radar? How do I make sure that my moral conscience is alert and reinforced? What is my responsibility to alleviate poverty? What is my responsibility to criminals? What is my responsibility to fellow citizens who are in dispair?

 

At Estee’s funeral her parents appealed to everyone to donate to six different organisations fighting crime against women and children. One of them is ‘Alpha for prisons’ (peters@alphasa.co.za) , an organisation who claims that their program succeeds in bringing the percentage of criminals who again do crime after jail down from ± 80% to 15%. I applaud all the wonderful people in South Africa who have committed themselves to make a positive difference. Can we do more? Surely, there is much more that can be done.

 

I close with an excert from Dave Knowles’ (principal of St Stithians High School) speech that is circulated for its inspirational message:

 

Finally, here is my resolve and my truth:-

·         To be positive

·         To stop whingeing

·         To stop blaming

·         To ignore the doomsday jokes sent out by people who want you to feel as bad as they do

·         To read the Good News website regularly

·         To join the "stop crime, say hello" campaign

·         To find goodness in people

·         To commit, regularly, to this beautiful country of ours

·         To believe in God's plan for us

I know this – that if I do not work to create the life I want, I will have to endure the life I get.

 

Warm regards

 

Gerhard

 

_________________________________________________

Gerhard van Rensburg (Phd, MCom leadership)

Leadership and Executive coach

Cell: 0834556513/Fax: 0865016020

Email: gerhard@neweraleadership.co.za

Website: www.neweraleadership.co.za

 

New Era Leadership -

Unlocking potential through leadership

and organisational development

 

 

Golf, success and surrender

Yesterday, as part of a team building weekend, I had the opportunity to play a round of golf. The parallels between golf and life were once again highlighted for me. The analogies are countless. I can quickly think of the following as examples. Even though you have people around you, participating in the same game, you are ultimately on your own. I mean this in the sense that you obviously cannot blame other players on the golf course for how you played a particular hole – which doesn’t exclude that you sometimes wish you could! In truth, it is all up to you. On the other hand, even if you are perfectly happy with your strategic thinking (choice of club, kind of stroke etc.), your setup and your swing, you still cannot predict with hundred percent certainty that the outcome will be a perfect one or even one that you will be satisfied with. A gust of wind can blow your ball in a different direction, a small stone can influence the bounce or, to be fair, sometimes one’s judgment can be influenced by an optical illusion which is forgivable. Life is no different. When things don’t go well and we feel the pressure, we look for others to blame. Sometimes we feel that we have done everything right, yet we don’t get the results we hoped for or feel we deserve.

 

Furthermore, it doesn’t help you one bit to walk there on the course wishing you had the natural talents of Tiger Woods and cursing your genes. What is happening and what is going to happen for the rest of the game, all of it, comes down to that moment of impact between the club that is in your hands and the ball that lies motionless and innocent on the ground. As long as we play the game it will be our own choices and actions that become the story of our round of golf. What is behind us, is behind us. What we can take with us forward to our next shot as learning we must take with us and apply or else expect the same results – with perhaps a bit of luck here and there. Lastly and most importantly, the amount of enjoyment we get from playing is determined by our attitude to the game. And this is true for Tiger Woods as much as it is true for the weekend golfer as much as it is true for life in general!    

 

Scott Peck wrote a book worth reading even if you are not a golfer, Golf and the Spirit – lessons for the journey. In the book he takes the view that there are a lot of spiritual lessons to be learned from the game of golf. In one illustration he speculates that the intense attraction we feel to the flight of a well hit ball (golfers will understand this!) can be explained as a taste of glory – ‘not the false glory of the world but that which can only be an attribute of God’. He also quotes Arnold Palmer who said: ‘Golf is deceptively simple and endlessly compli­cated. It satisfies the soul and frustrates the intellect. It is at the same time rewarding and maddening...’  Is it not true of life as well? Life can be so simple and naturally flowing when you play with your children or grandchildren, admire nature or something that is created beautifully. It can be so satisfying to the soul to do your own creative work in something that you know you are good in and is an expression of your genius. But then it can be so complex, so difficult, frustrating and maddening if you try to make things work for you and your family while there are power cuts, traffic problems, annoying colleagues, criminals and murderers, all threatening your life and well meant efforts. Yes, life can also be sheer agony and hardship.

 

Life is paradox, but can it be that we can get more enjoyment and fulfilment out of life if we don’t allow ourselves to get stuck in the rough simply because we want to force and power our way forward with some idea of success as the goal? Is it not possible that life can be very different if we are prepared to surrender to an unplayable lie, take the penalty and make a fresh beginning? Lloyd Reed in Success to significance wrote: ‘For most of my first half of life, it did not matter how I felt about my work; what mattered was my effectiveness. While I happened to love the strategy and creativity of developing real estate, I had not searched for what made me passionate. At the end of every day and every project, I benchmarked myself not on how enjoyable the experience felt, but solely on my productivity. I did not understand that the two are inextricably connected.’

 

The problem is that our passions can be buried so deep after years of striving and struggling for success that we don’t know what our passion is anymore. Bob Buford suggests that in life we go through four phases if we indeed grow to a life of significance: The first phase is one of struggle which is trying to be successful, however you form that in your mind. The second is success, which is that you’ve indeed reached that point – something most people can achieve through focus, effort and determination. The third is significance which is using your experience and knowledge to be helpful to others. Then there is a fourth phase which ironically is the opposite to the first phase. No more struggling for personal success or even significance but surrender. To surrender means to admit defeat – like declaring your golfball unplayable. ‘I cannot control life’; ‘I cannot control relationships’; ‘I cannot please everyone’; ‘My idea of “the ultimate” and my idea of victory was stupid and empty of meaning’; ‘My need for acceptance and recognition was petty and narrow-minded’. It is at this point that a person can experience a spiritual encounter, a new calling to his/her life and rediscover the true passion and meaning in his/her life. Peck relates the story of Jacob of the Old Testament in this context.

 

The most critical moment in that story comes when Jacob leaves his family for a little peace and quiet and goes to camp out alone for an evening on the other side of a river. In the middle of the night, however, his peace and quiet are shattered as he is accosted by a stranger for no apparent reason. He wrestles with the stranger hour after hour in the

darkness. The stranger seems to have almost superhuman strength.

Nonetheless, just as the first faint light of dawn is coming over the hori­zon, Jacob feels that he is gaining the upper hand. He throws his last bit of energy into the fight. But at that moment when he feels closest to victory, the stranger reaches with a little light touch and yanks Jacob's thigh right out of joint and breaks it.

At this point Jacob clings to the stranger - not to continue the struggle, because by now he knows he is totally defeated, but because he realizes he is in the presence of divinity. “Don’t leave!” he pleads. “Don’t leave without giving me your blessing!”

The stranger not only obliges but renames Jacob, saying, “Hence­forth you shall be called Israel, meaning ‘he who has wrestled with God.’” The stranger then vanishes, and Jacob, wounded and defeated and broken, limps off into the dawn to become the father of a nation.

 

Does the above have any relevancy for the challenges we face as a nation in 2008? I believe so. As far as I can see the group of pessimists about South Africa who are singing along with the Rapport newspaper’s heading this past Sunday: Ons is op die Zimbabwe-pad, are growing. In golf terms they are on the fourth hole and they believe that an ever strengthening wind will blow against them for the rest of the tournament. We can look at the wind and decide it’s a lost cause or we can focus on doing the best we can with our next shot – determined not to repeat the mistakes of the past. What is behind us, is behind us. The test is the quality of leadership we respond with to what has happened in the past. Nothing is so discouraging as leaders who constantly deny responsibility and try to put the blame elsewhere. The moment leaders begin to qualify their responsibilities they become political. They become rulers rather than leaders. They try to force their way through the rough and would not accept an unplayable lie. They try to save their reputability by concentrating on the power of their positions. If they fight the idea of surrender deep within themselves, they will not learn from their mistakes, failures or indiscretions and they will repeat them again.       

 

May we all grow the character strength to admit to our failures and human limitations. This in itself will give hope. May we then have the will and wisdom to apply the lessons from the past … so that there will be light!    

 

Warm regards

 

Gerhard

Who is the better leader, Thabo Mbeki or Jacob Zuma?

In the beginning of this new year, few things are probably as topical as the different styles, qualities, track records and prospects of the leadership of Thabo Mbeki and the recently elected ANC president, Jacob Zuma. We al have our views, opinions, doubts, hopes and fears with regard to the most powerful leadership position of our country and the possible effects that a new president will have on the future of South Africa. I’ve heard (or read) many people say they definitely are going to leave the country if Zuma becomes the president. Apparently, whilst they are already very unhappy with the crime situation in our country, Mbeki’s leadership in a number of cases and the overall performance of the government, they will loose all faith in South Africa’s future if Jacob Zuma becomes the president. Why? Obviously because of his questionable character after the earlier rape charges and ongoing charges of corruption and fraud.

 

However, since it became clear that ANC members are frustrated with Mbeki and were starting to place their hope in Zuma to bring the changes the majority wants to see, there suddenly appeared a lot of articles in the media suggesting that Zuma could possibly after all be a better option than Mbeki. Why? Because Zuma according to these accounts has a democratic leadership style, is willing to listen to arguments that challenge the status quo and has proven in the past that he can lead well in situations of conflict. He is a man of the people and will take better care of the issues of the people.    

 

To me, all of the above only indicates how clueless we are in the absence of knowledge of the truth and how dependent we are on the media’s reporting and perspectives to grow our knowledge and insight. It is frustrating because one always suspects, in fact one knows, there is more to the stories than what we read and can understand. This frustration often leads people to stubbornly stick to their perceptions of a person irrespective of new developments or knowledge. Another effect of our frustration is to fall back on general beliefs we might have. Such as a belief that Africa, in any case, is doomed and incapable of getting out of the morass of corruption, poverty, incompetence and poor leadership. Neither Mbeki nor Zuma is able to change that fact.    

 

Perhaps the more intelligent and useful response, rather than having endless debates about our limited perceptions, is to go to our direct area of influence. Firstly to do a self assessment: How trustworthy am I? What is my character and moral strength in perhaps more difficult situations with more temptations than what I am experiencing at the moment? Furthermore, how conscious and aware am I of the quality of relationships with all the stakeholders in my life? How well am I listening to what others are trying to tell me? And what am I really prepared to do about it if I realise that my attitude and behaviour is not what it should be – if I realise there’s a good chance that my poor relationships or ignorance can come back and bite me when I least expect it or can afford it. Lastly, rather than out of frustration, disappointment or fear, threaten every time things go wrong to leave the country, rationally consider when, in what circumstances, will it be the right time for me to make such a drastic change.

 

Since I asked a question about leadership – who is the better leader? - I would like to point out that an increasingly common position, encountered in both scholarly and popular literature, is that the essence of effective leadership is ethical leadership. Of course, there are many dimensions to ethical and moral leadership. Where transactional leadership is all about the cooperation between leaders and followers on the basis of self-interest in pursuit of mutual gains, transformational leadership seeks to rise people to higher levels of motivation and morality, beyond everyday wants and needs. Transformational leaders aspire to reach more principled levels of judgment in pursuit of end values such as liberty, justice, and self-fulfillment. John Gardner, in The Moral Aspect of Leadership, argues that leaders should "serve the basic needs of their constituents," defend "fundamental moral prin­ciples," seek the "fulfillment of human possibilities," and improve the communities of which they are a part. To Gardner, like other contemporary commentators, men such as Hitler and Stalin can be considered rulers but not leaders.

 

Who is the better leader, Mbeki or Zuma? You be the judge. Fact is that I do not really have a choice in who will be our next president. I can however pray that his strengths, whoever it is, will have the optimum positive effect on our country and that he might overcome his weaknesses. Hopefully we will have a real leader and not merely a ruler. As for myself, I can keep on working on my contributions to a better society and country by demonstrating solid, trustworthy, insightful and ethical leadership.

 

I truly wish you a fruitful, healthy and peaceful 2008. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to meet and synergise our efforts to build something significant.      

 

Warm regards

 

Gerhard

New Era Leadership December 07

Every man has enough power left to carry out that of which he is convinced.

 

Johan Wolfgang von Goethe

 

We’ve come to the end of 2007 (in a few weeks’ time) and I’m wondering what this year was like for you? What were the highs and the lows and of which did you have more? I’ve heard many people saying that things (life) with time only become tougher/worse, just as the pace only becomes faster. The challenges are becoming more, and more daunting. Is it our imagination? Is life indeed more difficult today than what it was in any other time of our history – or is it only different? Were people happier in the past? Do we have more bad news in our lifetime than previous generations? Is it possible that the answer to these questions is more determined by a person’s outlook on life, either positive or negative, than by any set of conditions? And that the split between positively minded and negatively minded people, across religious and cultural differences, is constant?

 

Many questions … no clear-cut answers. What is more clear-cut is the recent findings (141 respondents) of our 3ddiagnostic stress audit (read about this diagnostic at www.3ddiagnostic.co.za).  Close to 35% found themselves in the moderate distress, burnout (22%) and breakdown zones of the Moch Stress Curve. On average, people feel exhausted 64% of the time! These certainly are serious warning signs about our disability to counter the challenges of modern life.  

 

In leadership we need positively minded and mentally strong people. A rugby team going half time to their change rooms exhausted, could have all the skills and potential in the world but will struggle to stay positively minded about winning the game. Leaders have to be mentally and spiritually fit. They are in the position to either add to the stress that people experience at work or to buffer the stress and create an environment that will reduce stress. One critical area is the communication of expectations. 68% indicated that they experience the absence of communication about management’s expectations as a stressor. It is obvious that we need to be sure ourselves of what we want from our team before we will be able to communicate expectations with any clarity and conviction. Often the truth is not that we don’t have the time to communicate, but the fact that we are not clear ourselves on what exactly we want to communicate. With things drifting in the absence of direction, it also adds to people’s stress.

 

Which brings me to the wisdom of our quote: Every man has enough power left to carry out that of which he is convinced. How convinced are you of what you are doing or trying to do? It is the strength of our belief in what we want to achieve and where we are heading that fuels our own and others’ positive energies. How can you fill your own tank of positive energy in preparation for 2008?

 

I can think of at least four commitments you need to make. 1) Allocate the time you need for deep reflective thinking/meditation – and double it 2) Use the time to seek solace, peace and quiet, spiritually 3) Read something inspirational or educational 4) Share your thoughts, doubts and hopes with someone you feel comfortable with 5) Write down your commitments to those top 3 actions you are going to take in 2008 that you truly believe will make 2008 qualitatively better than 2007 – at work, family and personal levels .

 

 In addition I share with you the following helpful ideas:       

 

Wise people recognise that they are where they are today because of the thoughts that have brought them there, and they know that the outcome of tomorrow will be determined by where they allow their thoughts to take them. There are 9 basic similarities in the way achievers choose to think:

1.      They are less sensitive to disapproval and rejection than the rest of us. This doesn’t mean they don’t care, it just means that they don’t carry the baggage of what others think, around with them.

2.      They think ‘bottom line’ – first they want to know the result, and then they ask for the highlights.

3.      They focus on the task at hand – you simply can’t sidetrack them – they are consumed with what they are thinking about.

4.      They are not superstitious. They believe that nothing happens because of some omen. Developing a mental routine can be helpful, but attributing performance to superstitious habits is not only detrimental, but a waste of energy.

5.      They refuse to equate failure with self-worth – when they do make mistakes they rebound easily and put their mistakes behind them. They adopt the attitude that a failed project is not a failed person, and have therefore learned not to personalise failure.

6.      They don’t restrict their thinking to established rigid patterns. In fact, they don’t think traditionally at all, being highly optional in all their approaches. They also realise that winning comes down to doing the little things well.

7.      They see the big picture. They ‘play’ for today but ready themselves physically and mentally to stay in the game for the long haul.

8.      They welcome challenges with optimism. As a result, they find challenges where most of us can’t even imagine them hiding, and then unearth the opportunities buried under them. They live by the principle that having an optimistic attitude is totally within their control.

9.      They don’t waste their time with unproductive thinking, recognising that unproductive thoughts only divert attention away from the ultimate objectives.

 

Mental toughness is all about deciding what we are going to think about! (Seasoned Campaigner)

 

I trust you will enjoy a rejuvenating December, Christmas and Festive Season.

 

Warm regards

 

Gerhard

New Era Leadership November 07

Out of clutter, find simplicity.

From discord, find harmony.

In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity.

 

Albert Einstein

 

What do you think is expected from you in your work, what is expected from you as a member of your family, a member of your church community, a citizen of this country, as a human being? Seriously, think about it and try and answer the question. It can be overwhelming and paralyzing. Right?

 

Now let me ask you a different question. What do you believe you have to offer to other people? What of yourself, would you like to give to others?

Do you sense the difference in emotional energy that you experience when answering this question? There is that lifting feeling of potential. Even if it is with some trepidation that one ponders the answer. When I ask this question in my coaching sessions I invariably get the feeling that people want to reply: do you really think I have something special to offer over and above the demands of my job? It reminds me of Marianne Williamson’s insight: ‘Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful … We ask ourselves who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually who are you NOT to be? . . .’

         

Where the first question evokes thoughts and feelings of clutter and discord, the second question simplifies and harmonize. Most of us were brought up with a lot of instructions and demands to conform to others’ expectations. And of course, for society to be functional there has to be a significant degree of conformity. However, abiding to the country’s laws is one thing, but conforming to imagined ideas about what is acceptable, what is in, hip, cool or right, is another. Richard Tarnas in his book The Passion of the Western Mind describes this aspect of modern life well: ‘The great overriding impulse defining Western man since the Renaissance - the quest for independence, self-determination, and individualism - had in­deed brought those ideals to reality in many lives; yet it had also eventuated in a world where individual spontaneity and freedom were increasingly smothered, not just in theory by a reductionist scientism, but in practice by the ubiquitous collectivity and conformism of mass societies. The great revolutionary political projects of the modern era, heralding personal and social liberation, had gradually led to conditions in which the modem individual's fate was ever more dominated by bureaucratic commercial and political superstructures. Just as man had become a meaningless speck in the modern universe, so had individual persons become insignificant ciphers in modern states, to be manipulated or coerced by the millions.’

 

My first questions about others’ expectations has an ‘outside – in’ direction. What demands does the world put on us? The question is not meaningless or without value. It makes us aware of many things. However, to quote Tarnas again on the kind of world we live in today: ‘An unprecedented broadening of horizons and exposure to the experience of others coincided with a private alienation of no less extreme proportions. A stupendous quantity of information had become available about all aspects of life ...  yet there was also less ordering vision, less coherence and comprehension, less certainty.’ We only sense ordering of vision, coherence, comprehension and certainty once we can comfortably answer the second question which is an ‘inside – out’ question. What sprouts forth from my spirit towards the world around me?

 

To be able to answer the second question positively, I think belief in the following as fundamental truths is required:

 

You are unique. Not only genetically but more so as a result of life situations (good and bad) you found yourself in, how you responded to them, what you have learned from them, the discoveries you made about your own abilities, things you enjoy doing and do with ease, and memories of your life journey. Even if a lot of the above could be very similar to another person, there is a unique quality, a unique X factor that makes you you.

You are created to relate. As much as you are a unique individual, you can only appreciate that uniqueness and love yourself in relation to others. You are created to relate to God, to others and to the world as a whole. To grow these relationships is to grow yourself and through that simplicity, harmony and opportunity. It means that we constantly have to open the door of our being to the outside, to God to others and to nature.

Whilst life is difficult, your life has meaning. That life is difficult, is a truth based in our experience. That your life has meaning, is a belief. If we believe our lives have meaing we will find opportunity in the middle of difficulty.

 

I wish you all the best in overcoming your difficulties and trust that by answering the ‘inside-out’ question you will find simplicity and harmony in all areas of your life.   

 

See my published article (Beeld, October 23rd) below about the kind of leader we need with the forthcoming ANC leadership election in mind.  

 

Warm regards

 

Gerhard

 

Beeld, Dinsdag 23 Oktober 2007

 

Gesoek: Dienende leier met morele, menslike integriteit

 

Met die oog op die ANC se vyfjaarlikse nasionale konfersie in Desember in Polok­wane waar onder meer ‘n partyleierskorps verkies gaan word, bied Gerhard van Rensburg 'n perspektief op leierskap.

 

 

Daar is klaarblyklik deesdae meer belangstelling in leierskap, belangstelling wat verder strek as die verkiesing van 'n nuwe president.

Ek hoop my waarneming is korrek, want om te fokus op lei­erskap, is om te fokus op die dinge wat die goeie en die beste in mense na vore bring. Dit is om te fokus op onontginde po­tensiaal.

 

Miskien het die groeiende be­langstelling in leierskap onder meer daarmee te doen dat vorige persepsies en teorieë dat leier­skap by geboorte aan sekere mense toegedeel word en dat dit herkenbaar is in groot, sterk en dapper manlike helde se cha­risma, nie die toets van die tyd deurstaan het nie.

Ook die beperkende leierskap­teorie waarvolgens leierskap op­gesluit is in die konsep van be­stuur, met die klem op posisio­nele gesag (wat verwerf kan word deur funksionele be­kwaamheid) en die sluit van oor­eenkomste of transaksies met be­loning of straf as gevolg, het uit­gedien geraak.

Die insig dat leierskap sy be­ginsel in interpersoonlike in­vloed het, lei tot groter identifi­kasie met die idee van leierskap as vermoe en vaardigheid wat enige mens kan hê.

Ons kan en wil almal ons in­vloed laat geld.

Die vraag is hoe 'n mens dit beter en doeltreffender kan doen.

 

<<< 

 

As die beginsel van leierskap in interpersoonlike invloed lê, dan hang die invloed se uitbou­ing in 'n groot mate saam met die gehalte van insig in die kom­pleksiteit van die uitdagings wat voor die leier lê en die moed om die uitdagings met visie te pak.

Verder is volhoubare goeie lei­erskap nie 'n gegewe nie en word die leier se karakter en

morele integriteit al meer ge­toets in die mate wat hy/sy gro­ter mag en geleenthede tot die misbruik daarvan kry.

Ons uitdagings lê in die kon­teks van Suid-Afrika, daarna Afrika en die res van die wêreld.

Vir die vorming van ons ge­dagtes oor leierskap en vooruit­gang het wit mense vir die eer­ste sowat 300 jaar 'n kulturele kortpad na Europese en later Amerikaanse idees en kennis ge­vat.

Wat betref politieke leierskap het ook Afrika-leiers na kolonia­lisasie die Westerse outokratiese leierskapstyle gevolg eerder as tradisionele Afrika-leierskap­style met inheemse strukture.

Die klem wat pres. Thabo Mbeki sedert sy verkiesing op 'n Afrika-Renaissance geplaas het, het die kollig laat val op die soort leierskap en leierskapidees wat nodig sal wees om so 'n Re­naissance werklikheid te maak en die potensiaal in Afrika te ontsluit. Suid-Afrika kan beskou word as die enjinkamer en dryf­veer vir 'n Afrika-Renaissance.

Sy leierskap is daarom vir ver­skeie redes onder die vergrootglas:

• Sal dit daarin kan slaag om eenheid en die beginsels van demokrasie in Afrika gevestig en deurgevoer te kry?

• Sal dit terselfdertyd daarin kan slaag om 'n Afrika-identiteit en -trots te versterk?

• Sal dit daarin kan slaag om ubuntu en tipiese Afrika-gemeenskapswaardes te balanseer met individualistiese waardes wat persoonlike aanspreeklikheid, dryfkrag en resultate beklemtoon?

• Sal dit daarin kan slaag om vir veral die tegniese vaardighede wat groeiende 21ste eeuse ekonomieë vereis, teen 'n vinnige tempo te ontwikkel?

 

Die literatuur oor 'n Afrika-Renaissance en oor Afrika-leierskap laat blyk die tyd het aangebreek waar Afrika-leiers nie langer wil bakhand staan by die Weste nie. Afrika was immers nie altyd die armsaligste en patetieste van vastelande nie. Vorige Afrika-beskawings se prestasies en hoë standaarde word vandag opgediep en gee die nodige selfrespek en trots aan die vasteland.

Wat leierskapmodelle betref, het daar vanuit die VSA in die laaste paar dekades, met Robert Greenleaf as die grondlegger, diensleierskap na vore getree.

Studies van sekere tradisio­nele Afrika-gemeenskappe toon die diensmotief by hul leiers is deurslaggewend en diensleier­skap is in werklikheid eie aan die tradisionele Afrika-kultuur.

Die klem val dan op kenmerke soos medemenslikheid, respek vir andere, geduld, nederigheid, morele verantwoordelikheid en gerigtheid, rentmeesterskap en plig teenoor die gemeenskap.

In sy eie woorde was dit juis sy wil en passie om diens aan sy mense te lewer wat oudpres. Nel­son Mandela gedryf en motiveer het. Dit was die krag agter sy lei­erskap. In 'n nuwe Suid-Afrika kon hy sy dienswilligheid verder verruim deur uit te reik na groepe en gemeenskappe wat voorheen sy vyande was.

 

<<< 

 

Die tragiese voorbeelde van Afrika-diktators van die laaste klomp dekades het 'n skewe beeld gegee van egte Afrika-leierskap.

So belangrik soos wat bekwaamheid ook al is, bly grootste toets vir leierskap versoekinge wat aan die “eie ego” gestel word.

Daarom sal karakter en spirituele diepgang altyd deurslaggewend wees.

As daar dan charisma by ‘n leier moet wees, laat dit dié wees wat spruit uit menslikheid en morele integriteit.

As materialisme en statusbeheptheid in Suid Afrika in toom gehou kan word, het ons ‘n groot geleentheid om vanuit die divesiteit van ons samelewing (met die beste deel van Afrika- en Westerse waardes) leiers te kweek wat in Mandela se voetspoor sal volg om só ons en Afrika se kollektiewe potensiaal te ontsluit.

< Dr. Gerhard van Rensburg is 'n private konsultant en skrywer van die boek The leadership challenge in Africa.

 

Living your priorities in a complex world

The world is not to be put in order - the world is in order. It is for us to put ourselves in unison with this order.

Henry Miller

 

I suspect that most people feel that they are not living their own priorities ... and that the biggest excuse in our modern day is the busy-ness of our lives. An analysis of the answers we give to the commonest of all questions we ask each other, ‘How are you doing?’, I believe will reveal that we feel out of control of our own lives. Life is too busy. The pace is too fast. The demands we experience simply don’t allow us to live according to what we believe is right and best. It explains what we hear so often: ‘I know I am supposed to …, but …’

 

However, at least in the way it appears, our busy-ness does not necessarily equate being active and productive. How many hours do we for instance spend traveling? If you had a ‘devil’s advocate’ who knows your every action and thought and challenges the usefulness and effectiveness of it for a week long, how will it change the picture? Again, I suspect, that the ‘busy’ feeling sometimes has more to do with what is going on in our minds than the reality of our commitments or actions. I wonder if it is not another way of saying that we feel confused and overwhelmed. But then that would be too close to sounding like being incompetent or a failure – the worst thing that can happen to us!

 

What we cannot dispute is the fact that we are more exposed to knowledge stress today than ever before. Knowledge stress can lead to a sense of confusion and being overwhelmed and restless. Knowledge stress as it typically manifests in the business world and impacts on leaders, has two main drivers: ‘The incessant drive to acquire and use knowledge before one’s competitors and the increasingly sophisticated workforce who have distinctive views and attitudes about the role of the leader, their work, and themselves.’ (The Leadership Triad – Dale Zand). Leaders and their staffs face turbulent, complex global situations each day. Forces around the globe interact, affecting product, market, and investment decisions. Ever had the following experience as you are driving to work: As you are trying to figure out what your next step should be you get the feeling that it is like searching for a black cat in a dark room when you're not sure that the cat is still in the room? The fact that you are not sure how much real effect your efforts have, adds to your confusion. While some outcomes can be linked to things you initiate, others happen despite what you do. Clearly, the complexity of our lives and the exposure to endless information and views about anything one can think of, impacts negatively on the clarity of our thinking and orientations in life – if we can’t find a way to process and distill the information to a point where our minds and hearts can find rest and peace. We crave for simplicity as we believe that we simply don’t have the time to organise our minds and determine our priorities.   

 

The way I see it, things will only change for us once we admit that we indeed do live our priorities. We live the way we do, because we have prioritised in that way. Perhaps not consciously, yet with detail analysis we have to admit, we ultimately choose the things we do above other options. Moreover, our priorities become evident in our actions of the past, not in our ideals or future plans. It’s too easy to come up with a list of ideals and resolutions year in year out and then tell ourselves we have prioritized. The test of our priorities is our actions of today, yesterday, last week, last month or year.     

 

Can there be anything more serious and important than to take time out and to empty your mind from all the external stimuli? Since, in our modern lives, we are not used to doing so we naturally fear the consequences. What if I discover that I don’t like myself the way I am? Will I have the courage to make the necessary changes? What if I discover that I am a coward? Again it’s a choice to face the truth and trust the fact that you can only be better off by discovering the truth than continue living a lie. Furthermore, taking out time to empty your mind and determining the essence of who you are, who you want to be and who you can trust to sustain you and put your faith in, needs to be a habit rather than a once off exercise. Only then can peace, serenity and clarity of thoughts and priorities triumph over busy-ness, confusion and flurry.    

      

Remember – life will only settle down if you choose to settle it down.  We don’t see things the way they are, we see them the way we are.

 

Best wishes

 

Gerhard

 

Perhaps you or someone you know would like to make use of my 2 bedroom apartment at Keurbooms (The Dunes)- situated between Plettenberg Bay and the Tsitsikamma National Park (±1 hour’s drive from George airport, ± 2 hours’ drive from Port Elizabeth). The Dunes offers you 8km of pristine beach, peace and tranquility surrounded by unspoilt indigenous coastal forest. Mountain bike riding, horse riding and golf nearby.  For more information and pictures visit  http://www.dunepark.co.za/ and for special tariffs and bookings contact me personally.

 

 

Leadership, the good and the evil

It is not our part to master al the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.

R.R. Tolkien

 

Typical of leaders is the will to make improvements. After all, we are not enjoying the gift of life to see how quickly and effectively we can destroy it. We know, even though we don’t like to think and talk about it, that we are all going to die some day. That knowledge however does not persuade us to commit suicide as human species. We not only try to survive as long as possible but to also enjoy doing so. Perhaps precisely for the reason that we know life is temporary, we live life with the hope to live it to its fullest. And to live it to its fullest includes the idea that something of what we do with our lives will live on after our death.   

 

Not many people will disagree with the statements above. But to stay in such a positive frame of mind, is a different matter. We often disappoint ourselves. We have good intentions about managing our own lives. We want to live more healthy, more caring, more disciplined, more spiritual, more productive, to name a few. But we often fail. Whilst we have good intentions, we find that we have a fight on our hands when we try to make it happen. If it is such a battle to do the good things on our personal agenda, how can we hope to do anything that will make a positive and lasting difference? If we look at the world, we see too much evil. At times, it really is overwhelming. Since we at least have good intentions and see ourselves as basically good rather than basically bad or evil, we expect to see signs of goodness rather than of evil in the world. We therefore often wonder, ‘why is there evil in the world?’. But, as Scott Peck suggests, perhaps we should wonder why there is good in the world. In terms of what we know of science, it is easier to explain evil. ‘That things decay is quite explainable in accord with the natural law of physics. That life should evolve into more and more complex forms is not so easily understandable…If we seriously think about it, it probably makes more sense to assume this is a naturally evil world that has somehow been mysteriously “contaminated” by goodness, rather than the other way round.’      

 

In fighting the wrongs of the world, in trying to ‘uproot the evil in the fields’,  we need help. To avoid evil is not as easy as we might feel it is. It depends a lot on our making the right choices over long periods of time. Choices that takes courage. My parents might have taught me that it is wrong to cheat in exams, but when I see my friend cheating, it takes more than the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong, it takes a lot of courage to go and report him/her. Then it is a matter of consistently acting in accordance with our moral conscience. From a psychological perspective Erich Fromm explains: ‘The longer we continue to make the wrong decisions, the more our heart hardens; the more often we make the right decision, the more our heart softens-or better perhaps, comes alive.... Each step in life which increases my self-confidence, my integrity, my courage, my conviction also increases my capacity to choose the desirable alternative, until eventually it becomes more difficult for me to choose the undesirable rather than the desirable action. On the other hand, each act of surrender and cowardice weakens me, opens the path for more acts of surrender, and eventually freedom is lost ... Most people fail in the art of living not because they are inherently bad or so without will that they cannot lead a better life; they fail because they do not wake up and see when they stand at a fork in the road and have to decide. They are not aware when life asks them a question, and when they still have alternative answers. Then with each step along the wrong road it becomes increasingly difficult for them to admit that they are on the wrong road, often only because they have to admit that they must go back to the first wrong turn, and must accept the fact that they have wasted energy and time.'

 

In principal we do have free choices but then the unavoidable question is, in who’s interest do we make our choices. A question that can only be answered by oneself – since other people cannot know one’s deepest motives. In this regard, Scott Peck in his attempt to advance a psychology of evil concludes there are only two states of being: submission to God and goodness or the refusal to submit to anything beyond one's own will -which refusal automatic­ally enslaves one to the forces of evil (from his book: People of the Lie). He defines evil as ‘the exercise of political power – that is, the imposition of one’s will upon others by overt or covert coercion – in order to avoid spiritual growth’.

 

Indeed, to ‘uproot the evil in the fields that we know’ requires more than will power and focus on personal success. It requires spiritual depth and resilience. The fact that our history is full of atrocities committed in the name of God and religion, is proof that the lie does not limit itself to the secular world. What people say is one thing, what stands the test of time in terms of improving our world, is another. The challenge of the quote that I’ve given as the heading, is ultimately one for every person to answer to him or herself. In the role of leaders we might sometimes fall in the trap of thinking that we can ‘master al the tides of the world’ – at least as far as they can effect us. With such a mindset, disullusion is our foreland. Fighting the evil we know – the lies, the injustices, the immoralities, the hyporicies - in submission to and dependence upon God, surely makes life meaningful in all respects.    

 

I wish you a wonderful spring and happy September.

 

Best regards

 

Gerhard