I have just come back from a fantastic holiday in South Africa. What a beautiful country and what a land of opportunity. But it seems there is a problem. Unrest and crime continues, power black-outs are the norm and economic growth is disappointing.
There is no shortage of people who will complain about what is wrong and who are waiting for someone to fix it – the government, their company, their managers or even God. Finding blame is easy, especially in a country that has such an appalling political history. And then there are those who are making a difference. They can see what needs to be fixed, they gather a (virtual) team around them and they do something positive – those people are the true leaders! South Africa could be the most promising of all developing nations, if the national mindset was to improve things, rather than commentating on how bad it all is, and blaming others.
Mother Theresa was asked once how she hoped to help so many millions of people in poverty. Her answer was inspiring: “'Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.'
I am running a leadership course in a few weeks for Level 1 staff (non management level). Why do they need leadership training? Because leadership is about change. Non-leaders see a pile of empty boxes strewn by the front door, and complain that someone should sort it out. A leader finds out why the problem exists, makes a plan to sort it out, and communicates to everyone that needs to know what is happening to fix the problem. A leader changes the outcome!
All businesses need managers – it creates order out of the chaos, and all businesses also need people who lead - not necessarily leading a major project or functional area – but just helping to improve things, one at a time and starting with those right in front of them!
There is no shortage of people who will complain about what is wrong and who are waiting for someone to fix it – the government, their company, their managers or even God. Finding blame is easy, especially in a country that has such an appalling political history. And then there are those who are making a difference. They can see what needs to be fixed, they gather a (virtual) team around them and they do something positive – those people are the true leaders! South Africa could be the most promising of all developing nations, if the national mindset was to improve things, rather than commentating on how bad it all is, and blaming others.
Mother Theresa was asked once how she hoped to help so many millions of people in poverty. Her answer was inspiring: “'Never worry about numbers. Help one person at a time and always start with the person nearest you.'
I am running a leadership course in a few weeks for Level 1 staff (non management level). Why do they need leadership training? Because leadership is about change. Non-leaders see a pile of empty boxes strewn by the front door, and complain that someone should sort it out. A leader finds out why the problem exists, makes a plan to sort it out, and communicates to everyone that needs to know what is happening to fix the problem. A leader changes the outcome!
All businesses need managers – it creates order out of the chaos, and all businesses also need people who lead - not necessarily leading a major project or functional area – but just helping to improve things, one at a time and starting with those right in front of them!
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