Leading 201 - Visionary Leadership

I am sure you are aware of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine on 24 February 2022.?The decision by Vladimir Putin to invade, as he put it, was to “protect people from eight years of Ukrainian bullying and genocide”.?I am not sure that Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the 17 000 dead and 130 000 injured citizens feel the same way.?I wonder who the real bully is?

This “invasion” has gone on for more than 400 days and I am not sure what will be left when the two countries reconcile, if they ever do.

The reason for this context is leadership!?Two country leaders, seemingly doing the right thing in their own eyes, have caused large scale loss of life and massive damage. Are these leaders visionary or are they being short- sighted??

Are they winning the battle yet losing the war?

Meanwhile,14 000 km South of the Ukraine, we have another leader Cyril Ramaphosa making what seems like similar leadership decisions.?His focus, as I see it, is on the short term outlook.?Some say he is preparing for the 2024 General Election next year.?

What is the long term impact of his decisions??

A visionary leader looks ahead, plans accordingly and executes plans with the team pulling in the same direction.?In doing so these leaders build trust and inspire others to follow.?I cannot imagine what the long term benefit will be for South Africa to associate with a country which so easily “invades” another country. Russia has also shown little respect for international law.?You may not know that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has accused Putin of a war crime.?According to them he is responsible for deporting hundreds of Ukrainian children to Russia. South Africa is a member of the ICC so we need to uphold their principles.?

What does this mean?

Vladimir Putin is scheduled to attend the BRICS summit in South Africa in August. By default therefore South Africa has an obligation to arrest Putin when he lands in the country.?The South African President has had to make other short term decisions to circumvent this arrest.

This is similar to when Sudanese President Al Bashir was also indicted by the ICC for allegedly directing a campaign of mass killing, rape, and pillage against civilians in Darfur.?He was not arrested in South Africa in 2016. Fortunately, he was overthrown in a Military Coup in 2019 and arrested.?

Ramaphosa indicated that the ANC said South Africa need to resign as a member from the ICC. Subsequently, this has been cited as a “communication error”.?The confusion on this issue is concerning as I try to understand the leadership principles and the role of a visionary leader.?

Politics to me is confusing at the best of times. People shift from one political party to another at the drop of a hat.?What are their principles or is it all about personal gain??Decisions seem to be very selfish and short term with individuals having personal agendas that are more important than those of the country. It fascinates me that the South African leadership can be so torn between decisions about Russia and the current relations our country has going forward.

This article is not meant to be a political discussion. My focus is to investigate and simplify leadership so that many more great leaders can be developed.?Unfortunately there are very few good examples of great leadership to choose from.

The question is, what can we do as ordinary citizens??

Hold your leaders accountable!?Look for those with vision, preferably long term vision, and support them!

We are all leaders in our own right.?We also need to have a long term vision for our own lives, our families, and the teams and organisations we lead.?Short term decisions are as important; however, visionary leaders inspire confidence and believe in their teams.?We need many more great examples of leadership, especially for the younger generation.

This is your time to be a visionary leader.?We do so by focusing on the metaphorical “war”, where we impact starvation, peace and human dignity, to name a few, even if it means we lose a battle or two.