Sawubona! I see you! Thank you for joining me and taking the risk on this journey of discovery on leadership and management. You should know that you are brave and good and that you have the potential to become an even greater leader and manager. Otherwise, why read this book at all? Those who think they are good do not waste their time reading books. They think that they know everything, so why bother? It is those like us who accept how little we know (and that we will never know enough) that seeks to know more and more. For development has no end. In a rapidly changing world the knowledge of today becomes obsolete tomorrow. What works today may not work tomorrow. What is relevant today can become irrelevant tomorrow. Today’s high standards are tomorrow’s mediocrity.
The mere fact that you are reading this book means you are doing something right or wants to know what the right thing to do is. It means you are open to learning, an important quality of authentic leadership. This book will aim to build your awareness on the things you are already doing right and further guide you how to do the right things right.
Did you know that
This book will examine and explore the source of this discomfort. In a world of transition, confusion and chaos, especially in countries of the South, the tasks of leadership and management are becoming more and more taxing. In fact, to lead and to manage is more than just a task. It is a calling. It is a mission! Are you up to the challenge?
Remember, in a rapidly changing world, the practice of leadership is becoming more and more vital to the future sustainability of human society. It is a platitude to say that an organization rise or fall on leadership. Change the leader and you can change the organization. This same platitude holds true for our human society.
It is my firm belief that the new leadership to manage our changing world will largely emerge in the countries of the South, in particular on the African continent. Just like
There is a common misconception that the new society we strive towards will emerge on some magical day. This is dangerous thinking and an unconscious abdication of responsibility of leadership. The fact is that the new society we want to see is being created before our very eyes every single day. It is primarily created in the myriad of organizations in which we find ourselves. At home, in our schools, community groups, non-government organizations, organs of state, businesses, etc. Each organization, a place where groups of people come together consciously to achieve common objectives to build a better life, is in actual fact a reflection of the society we want to create. In this society we are all responsible, we all contribute and frankly, nobody is neutral. For you either build this society up or you break it down, whether you do it consciously or not. You either co-create it or you co-destruct. You either help to integrate it (bring the various parts of society together) or you promote separation and hence fragmentation and destruction.
This book is a small attempt to guide those who have assumed positions of organisational leadership to understand and manage the demands placed upon them, to understand the seriousness of the tasks that face them. It examines the requirements of leading from within (yourself) and without (others).
I argue strongly that being effective in your personal life does not necessarily become a passport to assume leadership over others. It is however, a necessary requirement. On the other hand though, a lack of effectiveness in your personal life can never qualify you for effective organizational leadership. For you first need to travel within before you can travel without.
This book is not written to provide you with the final answers to the practice of leadership and management in a non-profit organization. It would have been foolish and unrealistic of me to attempt this. This book is aimed at providing you with a foundation to begin to understand the practice of leadership and management in a non-profit organization. It is like any driver of a car who will tell you that it was only after they passed out for their driver’s licence that they only started to really learn the rules of the road. Studying the rules of the road in the comfort of your home and later passing your learner’s test is fine. But it is not enough. It is only all part of the process.
So, regard this book as a learner’s guide to provide you with a foundation of understanding about leadership and management in a NPO before you seriously sit behind the wheel of your organization to drive it into the future. And make sure that after you have studied this book that you find yourself a mentor, a guide or a coach to help you on your journey to lead and to manage. That is, of course, if you don’t have one already.
The tragedy in the countries of
As I said, this book is not aimed to provide any final answers. In this world of complexity there can never be final answers to anything. There can only be many ways of looking at things. And this is what I have tried to do, looking at certain leadership practices differently. You may agree with some of the ideas and differ with others based on your own experiences. That is fine. Take from this book what can work for you and discard the rest. In a process of continuous co-creation final answers can only amount to utopia, to the only right way of seeing the new world that is unfolding. And utopia always leads to fundamentalism, a form of absolutism that swears allegiance to only one truth. The violence perpetrated on millions of innocent people all over the world today is a direct result of such warped thinking and organizational practice.
This book amounts to the totality of my own experiences in many organizations over the past 26 years. It includes the readings I have done and discussions with many people, most of them great leaders in their own right. And they came from all walks of life. I will always remain indebted to all of them for my learning and mentoring.
Although everybody who is in leadership can benefit from this book, it is really aimed at the more aspirant leader or the one who just tasted the realities of leadership. People who work with NPO’s like those in government and the corporate sector will also benefit as they will learn to appreciate the dynamics and complexities confronting non-profit organizations.
The first part deals with defining the practice of leadership and management and what it involves. Part two deal with the environment within which leaders and managers operate internally and externally. It is here where I try to show the source of the discomfort of leaders and managers. Parts three and four deal with the practical skills and responsibilities you need to develop as a leader if you wish to run an effective and efficient organization. Part five deal with you as a leader and your personal development. I regard this as the most crucial chapter because this is where I believe authentic leadership is built. I have included some inspiring poems and slogans throughout the book to stimulate your thinking around yourself and the practice of leadership. Each chapter also ends with an exercise. The purpose of the exercises is to allow you to reflect on the content of each chapter and relate it to your work in your organization. I hope that in this way you will be able to check for yourself the strengths and weaknesses in your own organization and evaluate your own practice of leadership.
If my research has been correct, then according to my knowledge, this is the first book in the world that covers comprehensively some of the most important knowledge, skills and understanding that leaders and managers should have when leading a non-profit organization. Ironically, it was a book that I searched for in vain when I started out on my own journey of leadership more than 26 years ago. All the books that I am aware of dealing with the subject of leadership and management in non-profit organizations only cover a certain aspect. This is why I committed myself to write this one and share it with you. (See list of books in the bibliography) The one that is the closest to dealing with the subject matter comprehensively, is “Managing the Non-Profit Organization” by Peter F. Drucker and one that I highly recommend.
I have also included a list of useful books at the end for you to follow up if you need to read and study more about the practice of leadership and management. In writing this book I came across many useful articles and manuals dealing with the subject of leadership and management. The authors of some of these are unknown and wherever I quoted from them I noted this. I have also noted that on some instances ideas from these articles or manuals come from other books that crossed my desk but where the original author was not acknowledged. I have tried to note this as well.
Readers will note that I have tried strenuously to keep this book free from intellectual jargon and as simple as possible. This was deliberate. This book is aimed at ordinary people doing extraordinary things to better the lives of others on the ground. I trust that these people will find this book useful as a resource in their daily struggles to sustain their organizations.
I have been very much aware of other books with no or little gender sensitivity and that constantly refer to “he” as if “she” does not exist as leader and manager. I have tried to avoid this by using “he” and “she” or “her” and “him” interchangeably. This is to allow for an easier reading of the text. If I have used the one more than the other, then this was not deliberate.
I will not be honest if I also confess that I also decided to write this book because of the ease with which non-profit organizations are destroyed after struggling for years to be built up from scratch. I had a similar experience and you will find numerous references to this. Although this is changing, NPO’s in the African context have long been known for being the repository of individuals who dropped out at university, found the private sector too harsh for their liking, got retrenched in the public sector or struggled to get into government for a plum job. Certain dubious leaders therefore see NPO’s as stepping stones into these spheres and some even start their own NPO’s as a means of job creation. In pursuing their own personal agendas they wreak havoc with the organization to the point where they also destroy themselves. Hopefully this book will help to uncover such individuals and protect our organizations on the ground.
A final note: Some people may be pissed off and even angry with some of the ideas that I have penned in this book. But that is their problem and not mine. I have long ago learnt that when I meet a new client/partner and they don’t feel uncomfortable when I leave after my work is done, then I don’t actually deserve to be paid. Why is this so? Because I believe consultants are paid to say the things you don’t want to hear! If we keep telling you what you want to hear then you will never learn to think and think critically. Margaret Wheatley said something to the effect that we need to learn to disturb one another. This is another purpose of this book. To disturb, make you think, question, criticise, debate, enquire, etc. All over the world (and in
As you travel this road of exploration with me in this book, remember the following quotation from the “I Ching”. Remember it especially when you are faced with difficult decisions or choices.
“To become a centre of influence holding people together is a grave matter and fraught with great responsibility. It requires greatness of spirit, consistency and strength. Therefore let him who wishes to gather others about him ask himself whether he is equal to the undertaking…”[2]
