A LEADERSHIP guru once explained to me the difference between people and productivity management. Put simply, if you’re too much of a people’s person, you may end up being the darling of the staff - but productivity suffers.
The reverse is also true: become a slave driver and win awards for higher-than-budget productivity, but your staff hates your guts. His advice was, maintain a healthy balance. With that in mind, let’s look at how our former presidents per- formed over the past 24 years of democracy.
No one can argue that Nelson Mandela was a people’s person because he was so successful in uniting a divided nation after apartheid. But productivity took a back seat in his term. The urbane, pipe-smoking intellectual Thabo Mbeki got a lot done on the ground, especially in consolidating the economy, but he was too aloof from his people. Jacob Zuma sang and danced his way into the hearts of his loyal supporters, so he qualified as a people’s person in his own constituency. But he became too preoccupied by other distractions, so productivity took a nosedive.
What South Africa needs today is a president who has both skills so that he can lead the country towards peace, equality, justice, safety and prosperity for all.With the country now in a state of disorder and general lawlessness, President Cyril Ramaphosa needs an addendum to his job description. Can he crack the whip when the situation demands it?
Everyone respects the right of people to protest, but we can’t afford to look the other way when demonstrations descend into orgies of violence and wanton destruction.
How can we condone the barbaric behaviour by soccer fans at our iconic stadium? Part of the problem is the cheap, reckless populist rhetoric that’s fast becoming the lingua franca of political discourse.
Last week, I watched what was billed as an academic debate on the critical issue of land reform. It ended in chaos because people have forgotten the art of listening.
Each panellist believed he or she alone had the copyright to the truth. This wave of reckless intolerance, left unchecked, has the potential to destroy the democracy many of us fought so hard to establish.
Ramaphosa needs to step in now and rule with a firm hand. He’s no doubt a charming leader, but the situation calls for straight talk and bold action.