Leadership

I expect to pass through this world but once; any good thing therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again. (Ettiene De Grellet)

Is this perhaps what defines the leadership qualities in each one of us? The last time I looked at this quote was in the memory of my Late Great Aunt Sadie Blankenberg (Nee Williams, nee Naik). She did not have much learning from books, but in my mind she had inherent strength to lead from the bottom up. She could follow through and deliver, giving selflessly – in the family and in the community. It is in this context that I connect with the understanding that my hiatus from the formal structure of the world of work does not really call upon me to take leadership in the grand scheme of things. Maybe one of the things that can explain why I am ‘commanding’ rather than caring or shouting rather than sharing... Sorry.

One topic I have not thought much about in a while is LEADERSHIP. An issue generally close to my heart and often I am faced with the ideas on whom or what constitutes a good leader or leadership. What made me think about it? Another story about the conflict between personal ambition or even insecurity and the ability to grow other people frizzling out to something that is often described as ‘they had a personality clash’ or ‘women just simply cannot get along in the work place’. Yet, it should be about leadership and in the process of taking leadership creating an enabling space for the development and growth of those with talent, potential and passion. Even though I am not in a full-time workplace I can still come to grips with petty insecurities and show leadership practice in being kind, compassionate, supportive and care. (This one from the archives just after I first started writing again.)

Women’s Leadership… Why?
When do we first meet women’s leadership?
Is it when we are born?
Our human being
A choice by a woman to bear us

Is it a real choice or an accident of circumstance?
Many would argue
That choice to be a luxury
Others would say
It is a curse!

In the face of poverty,
AIDS and oppression
You name it!

We first meet women’s leadership
Of the greatest kind
When we watch our mothers and grandmothers raise families
Often the first
Lately the second and third generation

Standing strong
Coping with life’s harshness
Working hard, earning too little
Fighting relentlessly, sometimes indulging too much
Being proud, not willing to ask for help
Having dignity,
Fighting them, but still protecting male mediocrity
Standing tall, falling down, but often
Dying too early

Yet, that is not how we look at women’s leadership

We look for it
Up the corporate ladder
Where many women become men
To survive in a man’s world

Up the public sector ladder
On the Political Party agenda
In the Parliamentary echelons

Up the Institutional ladder
Of the World Bank
The international NGO (Non-Governmental Organization)

Up the academic ladder
Of the University Senates, Research Committees
For academic recognition

In the prayer rooms
Of the Mosque, church, temple and the Synagogue

On the battlefield
Amongst the Generals

Not on the ground being raped
Not at home, protecting it from the bulldozers
Not by the river, looking for the water
Not in the forest, carrying the firewood
Not in the fields, tending the crops
Not in kitchen, cooking to feed the nations
Not in the schools, teaching the next generations

That is where we are!
Give us a decent wage
Give us a fair chance
Create an enabling environment

Break the barriers
Of negative cultures
Inhibiting our growth

Topple the ivory towers
Keeping us in chains

Break the glass ceilings
Keeping us in

Let us take the tools
To control our own lives
The voices, the money, the spaces

Most importantly
Respect us!
Being women, showing courage and leadership
Give us the recognition and the just rewards!

Written by Simone Noemdoe, Monday 1 August 2005