I have had the pleasure of exploring South Africa over the past few weeks and I wanted to express some of my observations and related opinions of this colourful and contrasting land and people.
I visited Soweto today and immersed myself in the journey of this young country and its numerous ‘growing pains’ over the last 150 years. There have been many justifiably aggrieved parties, most of all the blacks and coloureds. There have been numerous atrocities committed against all races and religions throughout the recent years in South Africa. There is every reason for bitterness and un-forgiveness reign but somehow I don’t think that this is the case – at least judging by the opinions of the previously segregated and victimised people that I spoke to.
A word that came up was a word from the Bantu language – Ubuntu. Bishop Desmond Tutu described it as “the essence of being human”. Ubuntu speaks about the fact that you can’t exist as a human being in isolation. It asserts that we are all interconnected.
On running the meaning of Ubuntu through the filter of the in8model I realised that it is a function of Quadrant 4. This Quadrant is connected with the universal mind and transmits and receives the information of the surrounding field that we are immersed in.
Nelson Mandela addressed this concept from this position. “Ubuntu doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t have self interest” said Mandela, “but are you going to do so in order to enable the community around you to be able to improve? These are the important things in life”
The lesson in leadership that Ubuntu brings us is that we all send out ripples from us into the wider community; our actions affect everyone, not just us. You have an effect upon everyone on your circle of influence and in fact way beyond that.
It was through, in part, the actions of Mandela and others who embraced the principles of ‘Ubuntu that South Africa got through a very ugly period of its adolescence.
If you are currently experiencing ‘difficult’ situations or have ‘difficult’ people in your life have a look at this most valuable lesson in leadership.
