Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough - Og Mandino

If we look back on what we view as our successes in life, we know from own experience how true Mandino’s statement is. The more satisfying, the more significant, the more life changing our efforts in life, the deeper we had to dig for that little extra endurance, determination, ‘vasbyt’ or inner strength to come through with success. If I could listen to your story of the most significant challenges you had to overcome, I know that it will have a unique quality about it. Even though there might be similar stories, the uniqueness of being you comes through precisely in those times when it seems as though the whole universe has turned it’s back on you. Success, therefore, should be seen more as a state of mind than the external criteria that we sometimes use to describe success: wealth, qualifications, power, influence etc. We will find much more direction by remembering how we worked our own way through tough challenges than by trying to follow others’ definitions of success.   

 

I think the same applies to becoming a ‘successful’ nation. Failure will never overtake us if our determination to succeed is strong enough! Imagine the sum total of the stories of determination of the different peoples in our nation. As is the case with individuals, the different groups of people in our rainbow nation had unique challenges at different times in their past. Together, since 1994, we had unique challenges. There are many reasons to believe that we can work through our current ones. However, the determination to succeed has to be a collective one.

 

If we are success driven by the rules of external popular criteria, it will inevitably lead to more competition amongst ourselves for more status, more wealth, more recognition and more power. We will only be effective in dividing our nation into winners and losers, have’s and have not’s. Failure, says Mandino, is man's inability to reach his goals in whatever they may be. As a nation, we no doubt would want to work towards the goals of higher standards of living for every citizen, respect for all people irrespective of race, gender or social status, increasing opportunities for previously disadvantaged people, increasing constructive influence in the world and particularly African affairs, decrease in all violence, crime and corruption, and a general environment of harmony, peace and prosperity for all. A strong economy will help, foreign investment will help, good governance, democracy and economic stability in our neigbouring countries will help, but ultimately success will be determined only by our collective determination to be successful and our commitment to the attitude and habits needed to get closer to our goals.

 

Does the last part sound easier said than done? Indeed. Even when we have all the commitment and determination we need, we sometimes feel at a loss when there are so many different perspectives on how to solve the problems we encounter. This is where success as an individual can be easier than success as a society - I know what I think and what motivates me but how can I know what others think and what motivates them? We then need exceptional quality leadership. Michael Armour and Don Browning wrote a book Systems Sensitive Leadership. Based on the theories of Clare Graves they explain how the "systems within us" have an immense bearing on the "systems between us." Differentiating eight different systems of thinking they give insight into much of the dynamics we experience daily and see the sometimes tragic, sometimes frustrating and often confusing results of in our newspapers. Where for some the quest in life is mostly about safety (systems 1 and 2) and the most elementary needs of a human being, for others it is about power (system 3), for others about truth (system 4), others achievement (system 5), others intimacy (system 6), and others holistic solutions (systems 7 & 8). Imagine the conflict of opinions between system 3 thinkers and system 6 thinkers.

 

Two key things emerge from the above. We can never stop sharing our determination to succeed as a nation and secondly, we can never stop learning (in the business organisation as much as in other types of organisations) the sensitivity and skill to lead well in diversity.   

 

Warm regards and nights in front of the fireplace.

 

Gerhard

 

Society is undergoing a fundamental shift from "mate¬rial want" to "meaning want," with ever larger numbers of people reasonably secure in terms of living standards, but feeling they lack significance in their lives - Gregg Easterbrook

 

Do you think people in South Africa, on average, are happier today than fifty, hundred, or two hundred years ago? Are you as happy as you hoped to be when you were younger and dreamed of ‘one day’? What, ultimately, do you think determines a person’s happiness? Can one live a fulfilled and meaningful life without necessarily being happy most of the time?

 

You might think the questions above are at best interesting for philosophical debate. Happiness is subjective and contemplating the subject doesn’t lead to anything. But perhaps there is something to learn about our modern lives and the set of assumptions that most people seem to have about the preconditions for happiness. After all, people would often say ‘I just want to be happy’ and they therefore plan their lives according to what they believe will make them happy. It is what drives them, and ultimately it plays out in our culture – the things we value, work for, plan for, dream and talk about. As always is the case, leaders have the responsibility of evaluating the direction we are going, charting the course and of influencing for a better future. Are we leading in the right direction?

 

According to Gregg Easterbrook (The progress paradox) life is getting better but people are feeling worse. If you consider the hardships that people lived through four generations ago and compare it to, let’s say, the typical life of a Westerner today, you might agree with Easterbrook when he says that our great-great-grandparents would have thought that we live in utopia. One example of progress is that in 1900 life expectancy in the United States was forty-one years, while today it is sixty-six years for the entire world. For essentially all of human history until the last few generations, the typical person's lot has been unceasing toil, meager living circumstances, uncertainty about food, rudimentary health care, limited education, little travel or entertainment; all fol­lowed by early death. The typical 21st century person today can enjoy a life of abundance and comfort compared to the past. The irony is however that people feel more depressed today than in previous generations and what’s more, they believe that life is getting worse. ‘The condition in which a person simply always feels blue, is today ten times as prevalent as it was a half century ago…We live in a favoured age yet do not feel favoured.’

 

It is not uncommon to hear people aspiring to more wealth with the expectation that it will increase their happiness and enjoyment of life. The vision is about all the things rich people can do that others can’t. The truth is however that the list of experiences rich people can have that the average person cannot, has shrunk steadily through the past century. By the standards of history, the differences between rich people’s lifestyles and the lifestyle of a typical person are nothing compared to previous chasms in food, shelter, health care, and education. Yet, if you ask an American how much he must earn to ‘live well’, regardless of how much he is earning currently, he will tell you that he needs twice as much. Clearly, at some point in our so-called progress, greediness takes over.

 

In his book Easterbrook analises various aspects typical to modern, in particular American, culture that help to create the impression of things getting worse. One of them is the role of media. ‘Western life is methodically made to sound perilous or precarious by media spin, which emphasizes the negative aspects of developments while downplaying the positive.’ By obsessively focusing on smaller and smaller risks like brain damage from cell phones, extremely rare allergies or toxic drinking water, they create anxiety. We have our own, uniquely South African, examples.    

 

One message we get from a study, such as the one by Easterbrook, of the apparent contradiction between scientific, material and technological progress together with the advantages of market economies on the one side and people’s inability to live satisfied and fulfilled lives on the other, is the need to constantly put things in proper perspective. However, psychologically we find it very difficult to do once we get used to living with an attitude of entitlement and once we start justifying why we can never forgive others for the harm or injustices they caused us. Even religious people, if they are honest with themselves, find it very difficult to live with gratitude and forgiveness in their hearts. The fact of the matter is that those two key virtues do not come automatically or as a once-off inspiration. They are things we need to practice consistently and consciously for as long as we live. The one (gratitude) ultimately implies to be open to God – how else can I be grateful for the beauty of nature, for the gift of a grandchild or the blessing of good health? The other (forgiveness) implies acceptance of forgiveness, forgiving oneself and then to live as a matter of principal from a basis of love rather than fear and retaliation.    

 

If Easterbrook is correct in stating that society is undergoing a fundamental shift from ‘mate­rial want’ to ‘meaning want’, then it is time for leaders to truly value the importance of and responsibility they have to see people and organisations holistically. People won’t respect a leader who sees them as no more than an economical asset. There is an obvious challenge, namely to create workplaces that people experience as meaningful to them. Emphasis on gratitude for what we have and the willingness to forgive would be a good start.     

 

I wish you a happy month of May

 

Warm regards

 

Gerhard

 

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.

 

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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.