SA hungry for genuine, effective leaders

By Kriss Mukenge

We want more because we sense at the core of our beings that proper leaders bring about positive, true and lasting change; we want more because our memories tell us that the greatest developments and innovations of our times were possible thanks to great leaders who dared to dream more, believe more and do more than was required of them.

Probing minds inevitably ask: What really is leadership? There are many definitions of leadership, and in my opinion most of them are right. But I prefer this simple and uncluttered definition: leadership is influence. By this very definition one can almost naturally infer that leadership (influence) is either positive or not so positive, even destructive. To some people, Hitler was a leader. To most us, Madiba was certainly a great leader. The difference is, the results and the impacts of their leaderships. Fellow South Africans, I urge you that we judge our leaders not by the outer layers of their personas, but by the results they produce, and their impact on the future of our mother nation.

My question to you is how did our leaders come to be? Who or what made them leaders? Maybe I have an answer. Our leaders were once among us, they were with us, they were like us. Then one day they “saw” something they cared about, something that touched them and stirred them to action. They were determined to make a wrong right or simply to change something that mattered to them. They stood before us and led the way; under our cheerful acclaims they marched resolutely towards a vision that moved us, even to the point of laying their own lives for something they considered greater than themselves. Is that not the reason we elect them and vote them into power? We choose them because they strike a chord that resonates with us, something we believe in.

But what happens after a while? The very leaders we applauded and voted into power no longer care about the things they cared about (please excuse the generalisation). They suddenly speak another “language” that we, the masses, do not understand at all; they look a bit more elegant than before but somewhat detached from us. They fiery glow we once saw in their eyes disappears, the raw emotions we once sensed in their voices vanishes. And we wonder, where are the heroes of our struggles, the men and women who pledged to die for our freedom?

The truth is, power has a strange way of alienating leaders from their own people and the causes they once served. Once leaders taste the honours, the privileges, the financial rewards and the glories that come with power, many of them lose their passion and devotion. Up under the pressures of duty, and faced with challenge of political games, they lose sight of the vision that kept them awake at night and they become deaf to the cry of their people. They now think so much of themselves and their inflated egos replace a former sense of purpose and humility

What really happens is that after a while they forget the pain of being at the bottom. They forget what it feels like to be marginalised, to be against the wall and their instinct of survival is put to sleep. Perhaps, they think, the people who are at the bottom deserve their fate, after all these leaders have worked hard to make a difference. Now, they “talk big” and their flawed decisions inevitably reveal their inner detachment from the cause, from the vision and the people. These leaders lose what made them leaders in the first place.

While the cycle of the fallen leader perpetuates, our communities and our nations are going to hell, the marginalised and the suffering people find themselves even further into the outer layers of our society.

The important question is, what can we do about it? Here are the lessons we can all learn. As the present and future leaders of this nation, let’s make sure that:

1. We stand for something bigger than ourselves; something that transcends our political parties, our ethnicities and our generations. We must stand for an ideal that will stand the test of time. The total belief in a cause gives the leader the aura of inner power, it fuels their energy and ability to continue when everything else gives in.

2. Commit to your values and not to the game: The environment in which we work, the people that surround us, our circumstances eventually change. But our values shouldn’t really change; they anchor us in pursuit of our own truth. We must stay connected and committed to our values, because our values will keep reaching in good and bad times and will help us maintain our authenticity.

Kriss Mukenge is a certified chartered accountant and business strategist specialising in organisational change and development.