Dr Reuel Khoza speaks on leadership

Posted on April 02, 2012

Khoza, Chairperson of the Nedbank Group, said there are times when people in leadership positions have to lead from the front, but the complexity of situations in the business world or within large organisations asks a good leader to coordinate and not to control.

“Only if you have built a strong team, you can lead from the front, knowing that you correctly understand the situation and that you can bank on their support,” he added. According to him good leaders are born and made: “Both nature and nurture are needed for a person to emerge as a true leader.” Being a leader on the world stage in the 21st century demands more than intellect, knowledge and the ability to read with a thorough understanding of the political economy; it also demands integrity, since people want to be led by someone with pure intent.

The distinguished 63-year-old also emphasised that a good leader does not only understand a people’s destination, but also knows what their sense of destiny is. In this regard he said that there was an urgent need for President Jacob Zuma to go back to where African humanism began. According to the philosophy of ubuntu, we are a relational species and one person cannot be all-knowing.

In conclusion Dr Khoza said, “But ubuntu is inclusive and equitable and not egalitarian. It does not mean that the industrious must work on behalf of the lazy.”

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