What qualities distinguish a great leader from a good one?
I asked myself this question while listening to ex-SABC COO Hlaudi Motsoeneng’s testimony at the Zondo Commission, where he extolled pseudo-virtues and qualities that supposedly made him a “super leader” at the corporation.
His Hitler-style leadership was characterised by nepotism. Remember when he rehired Mohlolo Lephaka (now dead) after the latter had tendered his resignation?
The world is filled with followers, supervisors and managers but very few leaders.
Leadership consultant John C Maxwell puts it succinctly when he says: “Everything rises and falls on leadership.”
Leadership is like beauty: it’s hard to define but you know it when you see it.
People buy into a leader before they buy into his or her vision.
Leadership is seeing possibilities in a situation where others see limitations.
The true measure of a leader is not the number of people who serve under him or her, but the number of people he or she serves.
A true leader is a model for his or her followers.
Leaders are more concerned with expressing themselves than with proving themselves.
- Samuel Radebe Heilbron
