Good leadership

Good leadership
By Editor
Tue 05 Jan. 2010, 04:00 CAT

We enjoy listening to and reading what Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu says. His thoughts on many issues bring us infinite pleasure.

In today’s edition, we carry a story in which Archbishop Mpundu is expressing his views on leadership. And a bit of it goes like this: “Good leadership is about building people. A good leader goes much further than just making people follow and do what he wants. Good leadership does not dominate but promotes others. It does not stifle but enables others. It is not oppressive to succeed, it’s supportive.

When you meet a leader, you really feel good. Here is someone who respects you and sees the potential in you. He supports you and it comes naturally to this leader; it’s not pretended but genuine… It is unfortunate that those who aspire for political office no longer think of what they could do for the country, but what they could get out of it.” What a penetrating thought! How unassuming! What modesty! That’s what Telesphore has. He is always thinking about the people.

Truly, the basis of good leadership is honourable character and selfless service to one’s people. In the eyes of the people, leadership is everything a leader does that affects the people’s objectives and their wellbeing. Respected leaders concentrate on what they are – their beliefs and character – and what they do, such as implementing, motivating and providing direction. Of all the properties which belong to honourable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character.

And people want to be guided by those they respect and who have a clear sense of direction. To gain respect, a leader must be ethical. And a sense of direction is achieved by conveying a strong vision of the future.

When a person is deciding if he respects you as a leader, he doesn’t think about your attributes, rather, he observes what you do so that he can know who you really are. He uses this observation to tell if you are an honourable and trusted leader or a self-serving person who misuses authority for personal gain or aggrandisement. Self-serving leaders are not as effective because people only obey them, not follow them. To be a worthy leader, you must be trustworthy.

It is important to understand the fact that it is the followers, not the leader, who determine if a leader is successful. If they do not trust or lack confidence in their leader, then they will be uninspired. To be successful, you have to convince your followers, not yourself, that you are worthy of being followed.

If you are a leader who can be trusted, then those around you will grow to respect you. You must have an honest understanding of who you are, what you know, and what you can do. Probably this is why it is said that “leadership is doing what is right when no one is watching”. People do not follow uncommitted leaders.

Clint Eastwood once observed that “it takes tremendous discipline to control the influence, the power you have over other people’s lives”. And Lord Macaulay concluded that “the highest proof of virtue is to possess boundless power without abusing it”. It is said that “power is the ability to do good things for others”.
The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet. Leaders must evoke an alchemy of great vision. The whole world steps aside for the man who knows where he is going. It is said that a leader is one who knows the way, goes the way and shows the way. And reason and judgment are qualities of a leader.

Mahatma Gandhi once said: “A leader is a good role model for his followers. They must not only hear what they are expected to do. We must become the change we want to see.” Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing – follow the grain in your own word.

You do not lead by enriching yourself from public resources, by hitting people over the head – that’s corruption, that’s banditry, that’s assault, not leadership. The Mobutu Sese Seko type of leadership will not do for our country as it had failed to work for Zaire.

You can’t lead anyone else further than you have gone yourself. It is not fair to ask others what you are unwilling to do yourself. It is immoral for a leader who is not working hard, who is spending his time in merriment – drinking beer and roasting meat every afternoon and every weekend – to ask his people to work hard. Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions.

The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people. A leader must always mull over things and consider the feelings of the people.

Clearly, leadership is very vital to the future of our nation. But in the end, putting aside all the theories and concepts, good leadership will be achieved, not by the formality of structures, but by the integrity of the participants and by the willingness of the individuals to work together and be inspired by a larger vision.

What the Zambian people are seeking is genuine leadership, leaders who are servants of the people and not their masters. And for us to construct a good leadership, we have to have intelligent, honest and humble people who see leadership as a vocation to serve the people and not the vultures, vampires, hyenas and jackals that today dominate the political leadership of our country.

No one deserves to be elected to any leadership position unless they have demonstrated to be selfless people. We say this because leadership is very important for the promotion of justice, fairness, humanness, peace and development in our country. Leadership is a way of building up society for the common good. And that’s why leadership needs people with high credibility.

Today we have a crisis of leadership in our country because political leadership is seen as a way to enrich oneself; it is seen as a high paying job with a lot of opportunities for self-advancement. Leadership is not seen as a service to one’s people. If all our leaders would pay just a little attention to what the Bible teaches about leadership, we would have a wonderful country and a very successful nation. In Mark 10:14, we are given guidance on what a leader should be: “Whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.”

Leadership is needed to guide the energies of all towards the common good. And those who take up leadership positions should be conscious of their specific and proper role in the political community.

And the mark of great leaders is the ability to understand the context in which they are operating and act accordingly. It has also to be borne in mind that life is like a big wheel: the one who is at the top today, tomorrow is at the bottom.

We need a leadership that realises the need for peace and prosperity, tranquility and security. But it’s important also for the leadership to know that peace and prosperity, tranquility and security are only possible if these are enjoyed by all without discrimination on any basis, political affiliation or otherwise. The great lesson of our time is that no leadership can succeed if it acts above the heads of ordinary citizens of the country. Today we live in a country where intolerance, intimidation and naked coercion will not do. We live in a society in which the acceptance of the inevitability of conflict as well as the necessity for tolerance is inevitable.

And coalition building is the essence of leadership today in our country. We need a leadership that teaches our people to negotiate with others, to compromise and work within the constitutional system. By working to establish coalition, groups with differences learn how to argue peaceably and ultimately how to live in a country of diversity. There is also need for those who aspire to leadership to realise that today, our country is trying to pursue a system that is founded on the deeply held belief that government is best when its potential for abuse is curbed, and when it is held as close to the people as possible.

And judging by the record of the past few years, the two most decisive factors affecting the future of our country will be economic development and political leadership – economic development makes democracy in our country possible; political leadership makes it real.