I recently asked the top speaking bureaus in South Africa what their most requested topic is. There was no hesitation: "Leadership" came the reply. Although this answer surprised me at first, it made more sense on reflection. All team results depend on quality of leadership. Without visionary leadership there can seldom be sustainable results. And in our country there is constant talk about a genuine skills shortage and leadership shortfall. Why?
This is because, as obvious as it may sound, leaders need to know how to lead, and many don't have a clue - which brings up the question "are they really leaders?". In real business promotion to positions of responsibilty are out of necessity linked to performance. However, "Leaders to be" in government and monopolies very often arrive at the top by playing the political game. When they are faced with the opportunity to really lead, they carry on doing what they did to get there - playing games. Leaders who spend their time playing politics seldom have time or the focus to lead. These people never make the transition to leadership in the true sense and remain politicians only.
Can politicians be leaders? Yes they can and indeed some are, if they have integrity and learn to apportion the bulk of their time on leading and not politiking. But you can't lead effectively unless you want to and you believe you can, nor will you know if you can until you genuinely give it a shot.
Last June I was given the opportunity to lead the South African professional speaking community for 14 months. I was fortunate to experience the guidance of a leader who had gone there before, and at that time was leader of the world body. The advice he gave me was simple, yet critically effective to me. Paul Bridle told me: "Take what your predecessor has done and put your stamp on it. Above all, be your own man."
My term taught me some important points and confirmed others that I'd heard but not had the opportunity to try out:
These are big, bold statements. But here comes the biggest one of all. I learned a long time ago that the best players don't necessarily make the best coaches and that the best salesmen don't necessarily make good managers. It follows then that those that speak on leadership are not all effective leaders themselves - indeed perhaps they will never need to be. The best leaders are the doers, the ones that delegate the small stuff so that they can get on with the important stuff. The ones that show up, arrive first and leave last. You see, you can't keep a good leader down. Eventually they simply emerge.
But beware of making the mistake of assuming that the CEO or President is the leader. They may be, and equally likely, they may not be. Leadership can only be real when you've earned the respect, established your influence, and paid your dues - it doesn't come with the title alone.
Paul du Toit.
