Leaders as ‘brokers of hope’
With lockdown now firmly in place in South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa has received widespread praise for the “firm and decisive” action he has implemented to curb the spread of Covid-19 in this country.
By balancing South Africa’s desperate need for economic growth with the threat of losing thousands of civilians to a healthcare crisis, the president has made an incredibly difficult decision and by so doing, created hope among South Africans that somebody is taking charge.
His extraordinary leadership in this difficult time is in line with Kyocera’s philosophy that “The most pure and noble deed a human being can accomplish, is to act for the sake of others. In general, we tend to think of ourselves first, but in our hearts we all seek the ultimate happiness of helping others.”
The reality is when the world is feeling as Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous as it is currently, leaders need to be brokers of hope by modelling and encouraging activities that build hope.
As business leaders, we need to take responsibility for the reality in which we find ourselves. I found helpful advice on how to manage in difficult times in the following articles, Take control of your career in an uncertain world and Why Leaders need to be our ‘Brokers of Hope’, which suggest that we essentially need to:
- Recognise that uncertainty is the reality and to consider the potential opportunities the current zeitgeist represents.
- Understand that as we move through life (from school to university to work etc) there is an increase in uncertainty and what we are unable to control. By reflecting on how we have successfully handled uncertainty and harnessed its potential in the past, we know that we are able to do so once again.
- Avoid trying to impose structure on those things we essentially cannot control and rather keep up-to-date with technological or vocational skills that can be transferred.
Most importantly, hold onto hope and remember that “[Hope] is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out” – Philosopher, poet and politician Vaclav Havel.
Lee-Ann Kellner - Channel Sales Manager - KYOCERA Document Solutions South Africa
