Lift As You Rise — Speeches and Thoughts on Leadership

There’s a saying: “When you give money, you give a lot, when you give time, you give much more and when you give of yourself, you give everything.” To me, leadership is about giving of oneself.

A leader does not set out to be a leader but becomes one by the quality of her/his actions and the integrity of her/his intent. In the end, authentic leaders are much like eagles — they are not found in flocks; you find them one at a time.

Authentic leadership is about talking straight, extending trust, starting first with the “Who” and then the “What”. It is about growth, collaboration and performance. It’s about the acceptance that we are all motivated by, among other things, affiliation, achievement and power — for self, but for true leaders, most importantly, for greater good.

Leadership does not just happen; it is about a heightened level of curiosity, being very deliberate, conscious, purposeful, thoughtful, insightful and reflective with an astonishing sense of inquiry. Because the best among us, lead with the heart of a servant. The “essence of leadership” is that an authentic leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions and the compassion to listen to the needs of others.

I believe that leadership is about being genuinely obsessed with the development of others, which by its very nature is other-centric.

If I compare and contrast it with management, management is about getting things done through other people. It’s about the effectiveness and the efficiencies in climbing the corporate ladder of success.

Leadership, on the other hand, instead of being self-centred and egocentric is being other-centred. When you talk about servant leadership, it is actually tautologous, because leadership implies two things: you need to invoke followership and you need to have some sort of compelling vision. Therefore, it’s more than just getting things done through other people. It’s about saying:

“How do I wake up every day, every hour, every minute wanting to catch my people doing the right thing — in the act — then highlight and celebrate them, because I’m so at peace with myself that I’ve stopped worrying about the self? Now I am looking at being in the presence of genius and excellence.”

When we say “servant leadership”, if you’re a politician, you may think it means a leader who has many servants, whereas it’s supposed to mean a leader who serves others. And when you say “serve”, it means “I will always act in the best interest of others, never for self-enrichment, and therefore never self-consumed”.

True leadership is when you have paid your school fees, and you begin to operate in a higher realm where you start doing things for others. When you do things for yourself, we call you selfish. When you do things for others, expecting something in return, even if it’s just recognition, we say you are unselfish. Servant leadership is about being selfless. You will do whatever is required for the betterment of mankind — you will do that when nobody is watching. You will do that in the middle of the night. You will do that even if you never get recognition.

It’s like the sun consistently rising from the east and setting in the west, whether it’s appreciated or not, whether people notice or not. Whether it’s sunny or cloudy, the sun doesn’t care, it just does its job because that’s what it’s here to do. It’s the four seasons that come without fail. It’s the moon that gives the sun its purpose.

If we don’t do the things we are born to do, the things we are able to do and the things that are right to do, we deprive ourselves of the true joy that one gets from the absolute triumph of having helped another human being.

That is real leadership. We could achieve so much if we did not care about who takes the credit. DM

Bonang Mohale is CEO of Business Leadership South Africa. Lift as you Rise is published by Tracey McDonald Publishers.