Sustainable Leadership in the 21st Century THE Covid-19 pandemic has once again highlighted the importance of leadership and the impact leaders’ actions can have on a micro and macro level. Leadership is a major responsibility, and our actions have consequences. William Shakespear wrote “Love all, trust few and do wrong to none”. I believe that the time has come for honest and authentic leaders to rise and help mend a broken world. Without focussing too much on the academic side of leadership, this article focuses on the “heart knowledge” of sustainable and successful leadership. Leadership can take many forms and inevitably, we are all leaders, irrespective of whether we are in leadership positions or not. A short summary of important characteristics of successful and sustainable leaders in the 21st Century follows. Honesty and Integrity: It’s not only what you say, but also what you don’t say Digitalisation enables leaders to communicate (and influence) freely and in real-time. Various platforms such as e-mail, social media, YouTube, mainstream news outlets, journals, and blogs can be used to communicate and influence. Honest communication is, however, key to any leaders’ success irrespective whether it forms part of her/his set of personal values. Integrity and honest communication include, however, not only what is said, but also what is not said. The omission of important facts that influence others’ behaviours and decisions are as important indicators of integrity and honesty as is transparent and honest communication. An excellent example demonstrating the use of the media to influence and the link to integrity and honesty are well demonstrated in a documentary called The Great Hack.
TM
Helena Strauss
Authenticity: Be yourself Humanity evolved with digitalisation and some create digital “alter egos” of themselves. These are based on what people think society needs or expect of them and does not necessarily reflect who they really are. This also pertains to leaders. Building rapport is an important element of any leader – so is being true to oneself. Rapport is built when someone can, amongst others, relate to you as a person and your personal values. It has, however, become quite easy to manipulate this picture by creating digital “alter egos”. William Shakespeare wrote: “If we are true to ourselves, we cannot be false to anyone”. I believe history shows that the authentic leader will enjoy long-term success.
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