New Book Puts South Africa’s Leadership Potential in ‘Perspective’

Quoted in a timely and revelatory new book entitled Perspectives: The Search for Tomorrow’s Leaders, Otto Scharmer says that “leadership is not about filling a gap, it is about igniting a field of inspired connection and action”.

Launching the book in front of a full house at The Book Lounge, Cape Town, last Thursday morning (June 14^th),  editor and Tertiary School in Business Administration founder, Leigh Meinert reiterated that, as far as she was concerned, any current despair about South Africa’s apparent “leadership crisis” was “just not (her) experience”. The book, she said, is an attempt to “share hope” that the constituent parts required for a broad and substantial “field of inspired connection and action” are already there.

To that end, Perspectives comprises of 25 chapters, each focusing on one top South African game changer or thought leader. The 25 innovative individuals, both young and old, hold high positions in a wide range of different areas and fields. To name a few, there is Fred Swaniker, the CEO of the African Leadership Academy; Jonathon Jansen, Rector and Vice Chancellor at the University of Free State; Shaun Johnson, former journalist and current head of the Mandela Rhodes Foundation and Joy Olivier, co-founder and director of Ikamva Youth.

Whatever their different specialties, the main point is that all those covered in the book are, in some way or other, looking to use their qualifications, experience and positions of leadership to positively influence the wider South African community, and encourage a new breed of purpose-driven leadership.

As co-editor Janet Jobson said, these individuals are looking to create interconnected spaces and “crossover” points that help all South Africans to interact and become more responsible, proactive and united citizens and, in doing so, to realise their own collective leadership potential (at just 28 years of age, Jobson herself is a leadership portfolio manager for the DG Murray Trust and is also featured in the book).

Meinert referred to this as the “third wave” of leadership in South Africa’s democratic development, leaving behind protest and struggle leadership (the first wave) and, post-apartheid,  leadership as an individual endeavour and triumph that both illustrates and is facilitated by previously inaccessible opportunities and avenues (the second wave). Leigh went on to say that she was “privileged to be in a space where she can see the third wave emerging”.

Also speaking at the launch was the former struggle activist and acclaimed national commentator Dr Mamphela Ramphele. She said that leadership in South Africa is still too often viewed “with a very traditional lens” and that continuing to always look to “traditional” leaders of the past like Nelson Mandela or Desmond Tutu was not productive going forward.

In the spirit of encouraging all those at the launch as well South Africans at large to be more proactive and “forward-looking”, this new book, published independently by TSiBA Education, contains blank pages which, according to Meinert, are for readers to make their own jottings or notes, and begin to formulate their own plans and ideas for the future. The overall message of the book and the launch was summed up by Ramphele: “You don’t need to go hunting for leadership” she said, signalling the audience with both hands, “It’s right here!”

Photographer: Marcus Viljoen
Image 1: Co-editor Janet Jobson
Image 2: Editor Leigh Meinert
Image 3: Dr Ramphele signing autographs

Perspectives: The Search for Tomorrow’s Leaders is available for R150 at The Book Lounge