A Visionary Leader is Someone who Gives Back

Reinventing Sport Leadership - Part 9 of 16

Photo credit - Unsplash

My recollection of leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Desmond Tutu, Winston Churchill, Bill Gates, Patrice Motsepe, remind me of what is written in Luke 12: 48 –

“When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more, will be required.”

The verse tells us that significant responsibility accompanies the resources, talents, and gifts that each person has. It seems that the greater the gifts, the greater the responsibility to use those gifts to benefit others. In a daily devotional that I read every morning, it is stated in the reading for 29 August 2020 that some of us have received and been entrusted with much in the way of opportunities, education, knowledge, skills, and resources. The questions to ask then become, (a) What is required of us in return, and (b) What are their obligations to others who have certain needs that can be provided by someone else who has greater blessings in the form freedom, vision, voice, wisdom, financial resources and so forth?

In my work and profession, and in all organisations in which I have served as a leader, I have always asked myself two questions when I started: “Why should anyone be led by me,” and “what skills do I bring to the leadership positions I am occupying?” These questions have always brought me back to earth very quickly by making me realise that “hey, I am not in it for myself.” I am in there to use my knowledge, skills, resources (these do not have to be financial), voice, freedom, vision, wisdom, energy, health, courage, and so forth to keep my promise to serve others to the best of my abilities. I quickly learned that to be an excellent leader and of service in the true sense of the word to others, I must be a genuine leader.

It takes a lot of things to be a leader who can payback for having need give much and entrusted with much in terms of education, knowledge, skills, and talents. I am forced to go back to my upbringing, education, and work background. Things that were not significant to me when they happened are now significant. Alas, those things were preparing me for leadership roles and responsibilities. They have served me well over a period of over 35 years. Those experiences, informal and formal lessons gave me much and led to me being entrusted with much as well throughout my professional careers and civic life.

My story began when I was born to two educated people, my dad, and my mom. Both did not have it easy to get to where they were able to give and entrust me with much. Both have shared with me the hardship they went through to get to be professionals able to invest in me. Theirs are stories of hardship and perseverance. My father told the story of having to travel a long distance every day to attend secondary school, wearing a single patched pair of trousers all the time. He persevered and became quite successful in his professional career. My mom’s father was a wealthy man with many shops. However, he sent my mom, a young girl then to school. One year she had to miss school for a host of reasons. However, my grandfather made plans to send her back to school until she became a professional. This was at a time that girls were not encouraged to go to school. Years later, I was my mom’s Standard 2 (Grade 4) pupil. That year was the hardest one in both lower and higher primary school education. I was given no favours and the best was expected of me at all times. I learned to be like all other children in everything for my mom did not show any favouritism to me. Therefore, I learned to be up to date with my homework and all school activities. There was nowhere to hide at school and home.

That is not all. Both my parents expected their children to do house chores. As we were only boys at the time, we did every house chore that needed to be done – cleaning the house, cooking, baking, gardening, polishing shoes, washing the car – you name it, we did it. In the process, we learned that there was no men’s work and women’s work. The latter has become a strong element in my armour of skills in that I am an advocate for women's rights for equality. I also learned to take responsibility for everything that I was expected to do. I learned to work hard and to ensure excellence, for if it was not done properly, I was going to do it again. Though I did not know it until when I was an adult, I was learning that:

“it takes less time to do things right than to explain why you did it wrong”

(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow), and:

“if you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over”

(John Wooden). I learned to organise my day into a routine with the urging of my parents- this also taught discipline. The routine in my life as a youngster taught all of when to do something before something else. For example, after school, I knew to do the house chores first before going out to play. I learned timekeeping because I needed to be at home at a specific time to prepare for the evening activities such as dinner, bathing, and studying. And I read a lot. I started reading the Sunday Times cartoons at an early age. Denis the Menace was my favourite cartoon. By reading I traveled the world from my tiny village in Limpopo. I got the knowledge, perspective, and information about a million things – good and bad. In this case, I learned discernment.

Later in life, I worked in a very toxic work environment where I learned to be patient and how to pick my fights. My life’s journey has been very full of support from others, so enriched by my interactions with others, and I have been influenced continuously by great people I have come across each day of my life. The people and experiences have given and entrusted much on me such that I cannot shy from my responsibilities in those situations I lead in and have myself as a leader.

I do not want this to be an autobiography, a time is coming soon for that. Let me move on to why I contend herein that many of us, actually anyone who is reading this article, have been given and entrusted with much during their lives. I am challenging you to take what you have been endowed with for the betterment of others and our beloved South Africa. Wherever you are, you have been given and entrusted with knowledge, capacity, skills, talents, and experience to lead your organisations and people to success and sustainability. Like me, you have been empowered with knowing right from wrong such as not having favourites in the workplace and/or organisation that you are leaders. Like me, you know that people are equal for we are all human beings. You and I are responsible people who work hard in the service of others. We value excellence and hard work for they bring just rewards. We are disciplined people who understand the value of decent work, pursuing our dreams (both personal and organisational), and achieving our goals.

Without knowing it, we are adhering to the advice of Martin Luther King, Jnr. Who stated that

“All labour that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence?”

Indeed, leaders’ work of creating the vision and directing the organisation they lead, learned through various life experiences that give and entrust us with much, is to be taken seriously. Other than educational qualifications, we use that which we have been given through our upbringing, knowledge, talents, and skills to do more for our communities and organisations. The price of being privileged as you and I are, through the efforts of others and great opportunities that came our way, we have a lot to offer in changing lives and society. Being privileged and able to stand on our own; hold a job or run a business; having traveled the world physically, through books, TV, and other tools, requires that we work longer hours, work harder than anyone else in our organisation or community, give more of knowledge and resources, and so make our sport organisations better at serving those still acquiring their privilege due by us having been given and entrusted with much by those who came before us and all the opportunities we have had.

In my little world as a leader, a tiny spark in this huge universe, I have always tried to give the best of my abilities to empower others. I have not always been successful for various reasons such as my faults and shortcoming as a human being. But every time I have fallen short, I have gotten up to live life to the fullest and to pursue my dream and help others pursue their dreams.

Now, what does this mean for leadership in sport in South Africa? There are a few lessons I want you to take with after reading this article:

· We must identify what we have been given and entrusted with and begin to use it in our leadership position. Each person to his/her own whatever he/she has been given and entrusted with. For myself, I have identified a couple of things: not having favourites in professional settings (lesson gifted to me by my mom), gender equality (also lesson learned at home from both my father and mother), being responsible with resources and opportunities that come my way in life, and so on.

· We must make a conscious effort to apply that which we have been given and entrusted to us. It might appear to be a drop in the ocean but could make a big difference in the life of our sport organisations and its members. As it is said, if not you, then who? If not now, then when?

· We might be leaders elected to these positions, heads of departments, or those who do not occupy leadership positions. It does not matter because you do not need a title to be a leader. You have been given and entrust with talents, knowledge, skills, and resources.

Kenneth Hall, an author writes that:

“your gifts are not about you. Leadership is not about you. Your purpose is not about you. A life of significance is about serving those who need your gifts, your leadership, your purpose.”

I cannot find a better way of describing leadership that is informed by what I have been given and entrusted with the expectation to give more in return, than this statement by Hall.