To Take The Lead

When you think of leadership, where does your mind wander to? Does it see Barack Obama on that chilly day on Capitol Hill, making history, right hand aloft, tripping over the words as he recited the oath of office? Could you picture a newly emancipated Nelson Mandela? Right hand aloft, eyes almost shut from the wide smile that comes with personal and nationwide emancipation fought for on the backs of him and his fighters for liberation? Maybe your mind settles on the faces of those who have come after him. And when it does settle on these faces, feelings of disappointment, disbelief and perhaps even contempt arise alongside them.

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Regardless of what image comes to mind when we think about leadership, one thing we can all agree on as a people is that there have always been leaders. Since the dawn of time, one organism has continuously advanced to the point of being better than another and then trying to successfully impose its thoughts and ideals on the other in varying forms.

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?As human beings in the information age, many of us are in a privileged position our ancestors were not afforded. We have information at our fingertips at a moment's notice. The internet has an answer to every question you could think of answering. Not only does it have an answer, but it also has a few options for you to choose which answer better defines or suits your “truth”. Unlike older methods of communication: cave paintings, smoke signals and carrier pigeons, we have the internet. This allows us to microscopically dissect everything down to its atom if we are interested.

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Because of this advent, we have no excuse not to upskill ourselves. Especially when it comes to the leaders we choose to follow and trust. In all honesty, it is sad and sobering to read news reports in which the figures highlight that we are being made to take a ride on the worst roller coaster in the theme park. Hard-working men and women leave their houses every day as leaders of their households only to get fleeced by the people who took oaths to put the nation's priorities first and foremost above any personal progression.

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In Ryan Coogler's much-anticipated sequel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”, Micheal B Jordan surprisingly makes a cameo and reprises his role as Erik Killmonger. He introspectively says to Shuri, brilliantly played by Letitia Wright, that when tragedy happens, one should not trouble themselves too long with the “how” of why the tragedy occurred. Instead, he says the best way to deal with tragedy is to ponder why it transpired. When I think of the mismanagement of funds and resources that have caused so many plagues to befall our beautiful country, I do not linger too long on how it happened. It’s simple. We have been betrayed by the people we were told to trust. They have benefitted themselves through kleptocratic ideals and lined their pockets. It has happened, and we are here now.

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Taking Killmonger’s advice to heart, I more fervently focus on why it happened. We as a country now have one of the grandest opportunities with the world watching us. This is because we can band together the way only we South Africans know how to. The same unity propelled us through a revolution that should have seen more bloodshed than was shed. The same unity that we get commended on when foreigners say South Africa is one of if not the most friendly countries they have visited. The same unity that sees a country housing twelve official languages stemming from our differences in cultures, yet all the while, we as a nation of people on the ground can work together daily to reach our goals despite the lack of adequate leadership. It is this unity that we need to amplify and use to call those into account that have wronged us.

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In its simplest definition, “Leadership” is “The action of leading a group of people or an organisation”. When I asked where your mind wanders when you think of leadership, the first person you should think about is yourself because you are a leader. Every human being can hold a leadership position in a way that is beneficial to their fellow man.

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Take up the mantle any way you can to lead your household and community. Reach out to projects that you could get involved in. Empower those that possess a spark within them. If you cannot donate money, donate your time. Give an ear to somebody who may need advice, whether in their business or personal capacity.

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In the spirit of service, let us try to move forward incrementally so that, as a nation, we can empower ourselves and use the misgivings of those as an inspiration so that when we look back one day, we forget “how” it happened but focus more on the fact that “why” it happened is the reason we created a better country for each other.

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Yours in leadership

Muziwethu Mtshali

CEO – Entreprenerdy South Africa