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Sack the advisers and appoint me Minist... Breaking down excellence in education re... |
Followers influence quality of leadershipLEADERSHIP is a pressing issue in SA at this time. In almost every human enterprise, leadership is vital. Leaders define reality. They sketch a vision and a sense of future, and map out where the group concerned is headed. To the extent they do their jobs well, leaders in formal positions help a complex society function through speaking for others in important processes. They ensure that such processes are not paralysed through waiting for mass approval and endorsement on each matter. Though not all leaders are democratic - in fact, many lead precisely because they are individualistic - all connect strongly with supporters. And leaders fail. Where those in formal positions fail to deliver, or constantly misjudge followers' moods, they weaken the organisations concerned.
On the political terrain, SA faces tough leadership issues. Top political leaders are better off - even where they lack day-to-day contact with the wider following, they can rely on the mass media platform. But those on lower echelons find leadership hard work. They have to be "there", physically. More than others, they need organisational machinery to maintain support. Since 1994, organisations of workers, women, youth, and so on within the black community have suffered twin blows: they have experienced leadership loss and organisational weakening. Many leaders are no longer "there", having been deployed elsewhere or gained "mobility" away from where the mass constituency lives. Many interest group members feel unsure about who their leaders are. A feeling of being unled and unrepresented is contributing to a sense of non-integration. Many black youth reportedly have allegiance to no political or community leaders; sports stars and local gangsters provide role models instead. There is also an inordinate dependence in the black community on top national leaders. They are expected not only to account (as they should), but also to resolve smaller community matters. Ministers are trucked in - sometimes as a first resort - to solve school problems, negotiate labour strikes and deal with student protests. There is an urgent need to recreate faith in the role of local leaders and institutions in problem solving. Political leadership in the white community remains a vexing question. The biggest party, the ANC, cannot speak for the white community - many of whom, though not all, perceive it as an advocate only of the disadvantaged. Which leaders then assist the white community to interpret the transition, build a vision of inclusion, and formulate strategies of integration? The main opposition political parties, it seems, take the Western definition of their role too seriously. They believe their main task is to punch holes in the ruling party's policies, to constantly lobby for alternatives, and wait for the swinging pendulum to invoke their turn in power. They fan opposition to all ruling party policies. Notwithstanding the usefulness of this approach in keeping the ruling party on its toes, it results in an unmet need for additional and different leadership to serve the white community. Recently some newspapers, using "editorials", have begun to take on the mantle: their leadership provides some antidote to the wave of white pessimism about democracy. Business leadership affords a special contribution to understanding leadership. Business is fired by competitiveness, by a culture that lauds naked ambition and by the insatiable desire for profit. In the business world more than elsewhere, leadership rests on performance. At company level, it is about ensuring a group works together to achieve success and to ensure shareholder profit. It is often also about leading edge brands, products and concepts that are ahead of the field. This ripples out into industry-wide leadership. Beyond this is the wider role of linking business to challenges of society building. This platform attracts those with an awareness of business's impact on society's development - how forms of doing business, producing goods, enrolling labour and serving customers remake society. SA's old guard business leadership is generally conventional, although it includes some outstanding entrepreneurs and innovators. This entrenched way means most businesses are struggling to transform, to become more competitive, to exploit international market opportunities and to adapt ahead of time to changing regulatory environments. Government has weighed up business leaders and found they could do much more. It wants them to give stronger leadership in the battle to seriously jumpstart job creation, and to overcome the problem of limited investment in what government has defined as budding economic sectors. Overall, SA business seems short of the philosophical leadership associated with business elsewhere - the kind which promoted industrialisation as a social change process; which shapes stakeholder-based management in Europe, and which in South East Asia tackled microprocessor and vehicle production as part of national development.
But a discussion of leadership is not complete without the responsibility of followers. We followers are expedient; we support leaders only to further our own goals. We strongly influence leadership quality and performance. We get better leaders when we are conscious rather than passive. I believe followers should be open to donning the leadership hat, as opportunity permits or the situation requires. And followers should take their eyes off their big heroes now and again to give backing to fledgling and cub leadership. In this way, we help to replenish leaders and sustain the cascading tiers of leadership that are required to boost quality at the top.
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