What kind of a leader are you?
Our mining community requires good and strong leaders, especially in turbulent times. We need leadership that knows when to get involved and when not – a characteristic that comes only from leaders who are flexible and mature. Let us look to a leader famous for his integrity – former president Nelson Mandela – for some answers.
In his book Conversations with myself, Nelson Mandela writes: “Only armchair politicians are immune to committing mistakes. Errors are inherent in political action. Those who are in the centre of political struggle, who have to deal with practical and pressing problems, are afforded little time for reflection and no precedents to guide them and are bound to slip up many times. But in due course, and provided they are flexible and prepared to examine their work self critically, they will acquire the necessary experience and foresight that will enable them to avoid the ordinary pitfalls and pick out their way ahead amidst the throb of events.”
The idea of walking your own path and not swaying to the ideas, beliefs and agendas of those around you, although difficult, is the only way in which you can maintain your integrity and ensure the best outcome for a situation. A deep understanding of those who surround you is required for that and a backbone made of steel. While it may not make you the most popular of bosses short-term, it will form the foundation of a great leader long-term.
A leader also cares for unity and cherishes relationships. In another passage from Conversations with myself, Nelson Mandela gives his take on being a peacemaker: “[I don’t]...interfere in the affairs of others, unless I’m asked. Even when I’m asked, my own concern is always to bring people together.
Even as a lawyer, when... a man or his wife comes to me to institute divorce action, I always say, ‘Have you done everything in your power to resolve this problem?’... Some people welcome that, and in fact I have saved marriages in that way. And then some people of course resent it. She comes to you because they have quarrelled... and she feels bitter, and when you say, ‘Can I call your husband?’ You see? Oh, she gets terribly agitated... You see she wants you to adopt exactly the same position which she adopts. It becomes very difficult. But the point is that I have always tried to bring people together, you know?... But I don’t always succeed.”
