Promise of Leadership sessions focus on leaving a legacy in Africa

Session four focussed on the need for leaders to ensure their legacies

March 21, 2009 – Day two of the Promise of Leadership started with the Nelson Mandela Foundation’s CEO Achmat Dangor asking people to reflect on the intense debates of yesterday and bear those in mind when debating today’s topics.

Dangor said that it was of particular significance that the day’s dialogue sessions, which focused on Africa’s past and future, occurred on the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and on the annual Human Rights Day in South Africa.

The morning’s two sessions of the dialogue’s second and final day looked at the issues of legacy and dealing with the past in order to address the challenges facing Africa.

Jump to sections:
Session 4: “Leaving a Legacy: Is it about Leadership?”
Session 5: “Dealing with the Past: Making Peace”
Reflections

Session 4: “Leaving a Legacy: Is it about Leadership?”

Session four, the first session of the day, entitled “Leaving a Legacy: Is it about Leadership?” began with a panel discussion before moving delegates split up into smaller groups.

The panel was made up of African Leadership Initiative (ALI) Fellow Ali Mufuruki, businessman Reuel Khoza, and businesswoman Futhi Mtoba. ALI Fellow Dele Olojede moderated the session.

Olojede, the first African-born winner of the Pulitzer Prize, asked the panellists to look at their own lives before discussing what legacy meant to them.

Mtoba said that in her experience, good leadership is a necessity for sustainable business and highlighted the impact leadership has on people.

Participants of the table discussions captured their conclusions in each session

“How often do we as leaders consider our impact?” Mtoba asked, before adding that leaders at all levels of society need to consider the examples they are setting.

Furthermore, she argued, you can only leave a legacy if you adhere to the values you wish to leave behind.

“It’s not about leaving a legacy, it’s about living a legacy,” Mtoba said.

Khoza suggested that there could be no legacy without challenge.

“If you aim at nothing you are sure to hit it,” said Khoza “If you want to hit something of substance, aim a little higher.”

Khoza said this was true whether you were talking about business or talking about leadership. In addition to aiming high, Khoza continued, leaders need to remain focused on their goals in order to achieve them. Khoza mentioned Nelson Mandela and President Chissano as two leaders who had left a legacy by aiming high and remaining focused on their goals until they had achieved them.

Mufuruki said legacy was often wrongly attributed to one person who had achieved something. “Leadership is a collaborative effort,” he said.

The session then moved onto the table-based discussions where tables were asked to debate the session’s topic based on the following guidelines:

1. There may be many, but list four to six African leaders who have benefited us with their profoundly significant leadership.
2. What are the top six to 10 common qualities/attributes that these leaders have exhibited?
3. Without the constraints of humble deflection, please speak candidly about how you consciously craft your legacy – if at all? (Do you simply leave it up to chance? Do you encourage others to do the same?)
4. Why do some of Africa’s leaders (in all social arenas) fall short of achieving a positive and enduring legacy? What are the consequences of us not achieving a collective, enduring legacy of leadership greatness for Africa? How can we address that problem – especially with emerging leaders?

Some of the reflections were as follows:

• Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nelson Mandela, Steve Biko and Beyers Naude were just some of the South African leaders mentioned as African leaders that the delegates felt had benefited Africa through their leadership.
• Leadership needs to be accountable and dialogue needs to happen between leaders and the people who have voted those leaders in.
• Having the courage of your convictions was highlighted as a key attribute for leaders who wished to live a legacy.
• Self-reflection and the ability to be open to criticism were highlighted as necessary traits for anyone who wished to leave a positive legacy.
• Mufuruki’s thought that legacy was a collective responsibility resonated with a number of tables, with many of the delegates agreeing legacy required a collective effort.

Download a document of the themes from Session four’s table-top discussions (in PDF format).

Session 5: “Dealing with the Past: Making Peace”

The day’s second session started with a panel discussion around the topic: “Dealing with the Past: Making Peace”.

The panel comprised of the executive director of the Foundation for Human Rights Yasmin Sooka, ALI Fellow Professor Yemi Osinbajo and Leon Wessels from the South African Human Rights Commission, with ALI Fellow Raenette Taljaard moderating the session.

Lead facilitator Pat Pillai opened the session by noting that currently 44 countries in Africa are hosts to refugees. “Dealing with the past and making peace,” Pillai said, “is serious business.”

Pillai introduced Taljaard, who in turn introduced the panel.

Lead facilitator Pat Pillai began the day by sharing some of the themes that had arisen in the previous day’s discussions

Taljaard spoke of how the “fissures of the past” continue to inform the present and may continue to influence the future unless we deal with the past and make peace with it.

Sooka suggested that what was most important was building “positive peace, rather than negative peace”, by determining the underlying causes of previous conflict.

Osinbajo said institutions had failed the people at critical moments, which had led to violence. Osinbajo said that the electoral commission in Nigeria had potentially headed off political violence during its last election, while the electoral commission in Kenya had clearly failed the people during its last election.

Wessels said you have to look back at the past, “look the demon in the eye”, before moving into the future, without being a captive of that past.

The session then moved into the table-based dialogues, which were guided by the following questions:

1. What have we done really well in advancing a better environment for peace? List the best, sustainable examples of that in Africa.
2. What are your personal views and hopes for a peaceful Africa?
3. Is there a role for truth and reconciliation commission in Africa? Why?
4. Can we build lasting peace? How? What needs to be in place to reap lasting peace?

Participants were encouraged to move to new tables for each session, to engage with new and unfamiliar people

Reflections coming out of the table-based dialogues included:

• While there have been some achievements, the peace process has been very slow in Africa.
• Peace is not simply the absence of war, Africa has a lot of “graveyard peace”, said one delegate, where “things are quiet but there are a lot of problems underground”.
• There is still a role for truth and reconciliation commissions in order to acknowledge the impact previous wrongs have had on current society.
• Economic empowerment was highlighted as a necessary condition for any peace process in Africa.
• Lasting peace was seen as something that was unlikely as conflict was argued to be part of the human condition.

Download a document of the themes from Session five’s table-top discussions (in PDF format).

Pillai adjourned the sessions for lunch.

Reflections

Yasmin Sooka – director, Foundation for Human Rights

The session was really fascinating. It was interesting to hear the young person’s description of the challenges that are facing young people today. It’s true that they are fighting a different battle. We need to take these dialogues to more young people. All in all, it was a great exchange of ideas.

Leon Wessels – commissioner, South African Human Rights Commission

I enjoyed this session. It was great to establish the cross-cutting themes that we had. We were given similar questions but people looked at those questions from a different angle and we all came out with different themes.

Raenette Taljaard – director, Helen Suzman Foundation, ALI fellow

The session was so inspiring. In my group we focused on humility as the quality that the leaders we nominated shared. It was also interesting to hear the narrative voice of the youth telling us that previous leaders fought against apartheid and the youth of today is fighting against HIV/AIDS, crime and so forth. It was a reminder that as much as our history is important, our current challenges are key to the future.

Ali Mufuruki – chairman and CEO of Infotech Investment Group, ALI fellow

We had a productive debate and I think that all the issues that needed to come out came out. I am really happy.

This is the first event of its kind and I am really impressed with the Foundation’s choice of panellists and the themes that they chose and how those themes fit into the legacy of Nelson Mandela.

Cynthia Mbanjwa – Office of the President, The President’s Award

This session was fabulous. It spoke to us in a different way; the panellists gave us ideas of how we can start thinking of our leadership legacy. It made me think about what legacy I will be living behind. It also made me scrutinise my current leaders about the legacy they will be leaving behind.

I think programmes like these need to start at grassroots level. It’s nice to be here, hearing the likes of Fred Swaniker [founder of the Africa Leadership Academy] telling us about what values leaders should have, but what about the Grade 10 learner in the township – what information is he/she getting?

I think we need to groom leaders from a very young age so that they become effective leaders. If these young leaders get information whilst young then this country will have great leaders in future.