What I wish you knew: My reflections in leadership for other aspiring leaders
Leadership is both an art and a science. It is a complex construct that always has to be unpacked based on it’s various styles. What makes it difficult to understand is that each leadership style has it’s pros and cons. One style may give better results based on the culture it builds everyday it is given a chance. Another inherent component, which I believe is part of leadership is that one’s in-born personality greatly influences what kind of a leader they are likely to be. Not to discount that many aspects of leadership are learnt but many other critical components are also in-born. Ever heard of “she is a natural leader”? This tells of the general traits that one has and get nurtured through life for them to just be able to command leadership.
There are many other aspects of it that border on nurturing, unlearning certain ways of doing or viewing things and stepping in and up to leadership opportunities. Looking back using the lens of my journey, I am surprised at how I have navigated the complex field of leadership as a woman. It is more complex as a woman to grow in leadership and it has made me reflect on a few aspects and lessons I have taken along the way to be able to share with others, both men and women.
A little bit about my personal journey in leadership. I was thrown in the deep in my early twenty’s by the organisation I first worked for. Fresh from college, the only experience I had was having interned for a not-for-profit while at college. With only my first degree and waiting to graduate with my Masters, I went to lead an office and a whole regional programme portfolio. Applying for the job was daring, it took self-belief on steroids and off course a word of mouth fulfilling what they say about self-prophecy. If you believe in yourself, others are likely going to believe in you. Years later, my interviewers for this job told me that I had an aura of confidence and humility they believed in and they took the risk to deploy a freshwoman from university to lead their important work in that specific region.
Fast Forward, in my early thirties, I was once again entrusted to lead a whole programmes department. The title was big, I was called a Programmes Director. We may have not had much in terms of financial resources by that time but it was a turn around moment for me and the organisation. This was a promotion and when I moved into my new role, I was told I had shown some level of grit, strategy and leadership even though I wasn’t to close to the “centre”. By the way I pioneered a flagship “army of soldiers” for social and economic justice that now runs into thousands with many proudly identifying as social and economic justice ambassadors. I wanted a lasting movement and we got it.
I served for a few years in this role but I learnt a lot about the importance of zooming in and out and learning across sections. I learnt about influence, about voice, service and some more about grit and strategy. Possibly about dreaming and not settling too. In this role, I moved for us to go through a whole organisational evaluation since its operations began, that was for a 15 year period. I could sense there were some clogged valves and some plugs were misfiring but we needed some scientific function to assist us in the diagnosis. My boss then, honored me and we did it in spite of the little resources we had. I am grateful that the evaluation process gave me such a worldview of the organisation I was soon going to lead as it’s Executive Director.
Soon, my boss then, decided to retire and there was an opportunity to rise on the professional ladder and I offered myself. It was such a difficult process. For this one, there were some who thought I wasn’t ripened for the role and there are some who believed I could do it. Note that I used those who “thought” and those who “believed”. Usually thoughts are made by people who occupy the cheap-seat and are not fully developed themselves so they hold opinions but as you know opinions don’t matter. Beliefs on the other hand are more deeper, they are held by those who manage horizon conflict in them with maturity. They see the long horizon but not oblivious of the immediate issues but take the risk to support and hold their breathe as their amateur take charge of the cockpit. I led a whole organisation by my mid thirties and I poured myself into it. I made mistakes too- that is for another day to share.
As I stepped into that role, I knew, I was young, a woman and a mid career professional who still had a lot to learn. The most important thing for me was to use my observant, curious, adventurous character to map a way to re-ignite the passion, the cause and the agency of our organisation. With this I discovered and followed the previous trails that had been made previously. With each trail I was learning, discovering the barriers and figuring where those trails ended and from there we began to map a new trail. That was the most exciting period of my leadership journey. It was an understanding that each previous leader left some sort of “tyre tracks” and they were for me to learn. It gave me perspective as to the new tools we needed to continue on the journey. I learned that a leader must have the capacity to follow and learn. I did.
Looking back as I signed off from the role as the Leader for that great organisation I worked for and served for years, I have so wished to share my key takeaways that every young leader could also make use of. I wish especially for women, both young, old and not so old to know and always push the boundaries laid down the leadership lane. Here are my key learnings of the short leadership journey I have traversed;
- Talkers and walkers deliver different results. A talker gets to no destination a walker shifts from their original position and find themselves on the other side of their point of origin. Walking in the professional world requires rigor and has to be done early in life.
- A grit that cannot be mistaken for busyness is a must. Most people still seek busy over focused grit. Bring wholeheartedness early in your professional life, it propels you way ahead of your peers. Grit is noticeable, even from afar.
- Follow the trails. You take longer to get to where you are going if you totally decide to re-invent the wheel. Following tyre tracks of leaders before you quickly assist you to navigate the leadership journey. You can see the potholes, the wild animals to avoid, the lay by to pull over and rest and all the signpost with information, mandatory signs and the warning signs to show you wherr areas of high leadership accident zones are. A leader is conscious that they are a follower of those past.
- Self belief and humility deliver the best pudding. Believing in yourself is different from pomposity and stupidity. Self- belief makes you take the biggest challenges with an open mind and a humility to learn from those around you, both big and small. You build an inner confidence that is attractive and you attract a circle that sets you up for success and you will always serve the best leadership pudding.
- Know the difference between holders of opinions and beliefs. I have seen people dragged by opinions. Opinions are cheap seat, they don’t matter. They can be used to inflate your ego and greater will be your fall or they will be used to bring you down. They set you for failure both upstream and downstream. While holders of belief in you are willing to set you up for success and catch you when you fall, because they know it is not failure, it is learning.
- Learn about others, believe in others. This helps you create a tight circle of leadership. This is your ever-giving fountains. It is a pool to draw from, give you strength and make succession issues easier to handle. A leader must see leadership and recognise it.
Still on the leadership journey, I recently started on a new leadership journey with the Southern Africa Trust. It has been a month and I am learning a lot about personal leadership, new ways of working and the feeling is that I am just starting on an exciting trip and I take it, the results between talkers and walkers are different.
Leadership blessings!