“In a world that is running low on empathy, the call to lead with compassion is timely.”

Earlier this morning (19 December 2023), I was joined by highly esteemed colleagues in launching our new book, “Leadership with Compassion.”

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We were joined by:

·????? Unopa Makanyanga – the Founder and Director of Harambe Trust,

·????? Samuel Wadzai Mangoma – the Founder and Director of Vendors Initiative for Social Transformation,

·????? Gwen Mushonga – Founder and Director of Alive Albinism Initiative, and

·????? Deprose Muchena – Amnesty International Senior Director for Regional Human Rights Impact.

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What a joy is has been to work with these and others who could not join today but whose voices were very present on the call. Golden Maunganidze publisher of TellZim and Nkosana Mazibisa CEO of Mazibisa Inc.

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The book, Leadership with Compassion is a collection of 6 stories from 6 emerging leaders from different sectors, brought together by one thing – the desire to help communities to wage a good fight against COVID-19 and emerge from it stronger. Our stories are not stories of heroes but students of compassion, learning how to serve our communities from a place of love.

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During the launch, we heard something. This is what we heard today.

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Four principles stand out for me from the conversation today, tying together the thread of Leadership with compassion.

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1.???? While we lead, we cannot social distance our hearts. Leadership in a crisis drives us to many spaces and while we try our best to do no harm including to ourselves, our hearts have to be in it with the care, pain and sacrifice that comes with leadership.

2.???? Leadership with compassion grows not by amassing power, but by sharing it while prioritising the needs of the people and the communities.

3.???? While we lead, we must not forget to celebrate those not celebrated among us, to show love as a key attribute of leadership.

4.???? Crisis moments are often the birthplace for creative and inspirational leadership. Leaders with compassion give more than they take during a crisis while insecure leaders take more than they give, all the time.

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These principles came out today and they reinforce the experiences of the storytellers.

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In her reflection, Gwen told us that when she started documenting her story, she told herself that she is not a writer. I remember during the writing seminar, Gwen asked her daughter to read her story and it was the most touching moment of the seminar. That moment showed the beauty and purpose of storytelling, that the coming generations expect this from us and they depend on us telling the stories.

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Deprose Muchena told us, “There are many books out there on leadership that we are reading, but there is a book that we are not reading. This is the book called you, your own stories of leadership.”

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We took up the challenge and I concluded the launch today by reflecting on storytelling and its transformative power.

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We are not writers, yet, but no one can tell our stories better than us. When it comes to telling my story, I am the best storyteller. So is you, and everyone else. Tell your story. No apologies. ?So, the call to action – we will be telling more stories but as we wait – here is a story that you must read. These are the stories of ordinary people, courageous enough to step forward and get the work done, but also courageous enough to stand up and tell the story. If you missed the launch, we have kept a recording here for you https://youtu.be/eOp96YCUO20 . If you need a copy of the book, grab your copy here https://lnkd.in/dWcH5kJz