“Talk is cheap. Any Jack can claim and recite those principles and qualities of good leadership and fool communities into voting them into office. What is more important and difficult is to walk the ‘good leadership’ talk. How does a good leader become, how does he get to apply, live out and demonstrate those great qualities of leadership in the actual world?” These are some of the candid criticisms and instructive questions arising from the community leadership principles and benchmarks we provoked here earlier.
Mathabelazitha/ The Anvil
Say for councillor Chamisa to stand out and convince us residents of his integrity and exemplary brand of leadership, what must he do?
An effective leader distinguishes their personality and, without being aloof, demonstrates a level of personal integrity higher than the average person in the constituency. Our councillor Chamisa needs to show strength of character and earn ours and the respect of his peers by his consistent ability to be counted on and to refrain from partiality, manipulation and “wind following” behaviour. To convince us, he must have a demonstrable personal routine and life strategy. A driven and motivated leader leads by example, with a self-evident strategy and personal vision of career path milestones, spiritual and family growth, financial and development goals and a palpable social footprint. As a responsible citizen, an exemplary leader among us must be that one who voluntarily pays his taxes, settles his council bills on cue and exercises good stewardship of shared spaces, public assets and a clean habitat. We need not look much further than his accounts, his immediate living environs, his attitude to conserving scarce resources, water, electricity and how he deals with the litter he generates and how he treats his garden hand, for us to know what quality leader councillor Chamisa is.
A good leader is shown by his/her attitude to those around him/her that are less privileged… with or without the aid of political office or journalist cameras. It does not require that Mrs Chamisa becomes a first lady for us to see her visit the sick, support orphans and interact with common vendors. Sincere leadership empathy shows away from the need for votes and the media glare. It is making genuine time for individuals and sections of one’s community that have the greatest need. It must be found in our daily practice of humility and sacrifice, our sense of duty to our immediate neighbourhoods and the place we personally hold for the elderly, the lame and the poor. Without the need for votes, councillor Chamisa must not drive alone in his car from his house into the city, leaving by the roadside rain-soaked old women and schoolchildren.
Our tolerance of those unlike us in colour or lingo and those of less familiar creeds, mores and cultures defines our leadership pedigree. It is our attitude to dissent and our ability and willingness to embrace those views opposed to our own and to engage and pursue rational disputation that distinguishes ordinary people from good leaders. If, like the rest of his ilk, councillor Chamisa really struggles with comprehending the intrinsic value of diversity, then he truly belongs with us on the terraces of governance — not in the chamber. Residents and citizens will know if councillor Chamisa is an effective leader if he willingly shuts up, stops to enjoy the sound of his monotone and dedicates more time to listening and hearing other people… actively creating space for every corner of the constituency to be heard. This way, the effective leader, though offering his/her considered view about issues, his ideas are informed and finally shaped by the agenda of the people, which ultimately councillor Chamisa purports to represent.
If communities are to be convinced to support a leader, their footprint in the community must not be mistakable. A true leader touches people’s lives. A good leader invests time into carefully developing some flagship community project that is identifiable with him/her over time which rubs off onto the people’s lives and livelihoods. Councillor Chamisa cannot just “vumbu-vumbu” from a leadership vacuum and expect to earn the trust and loyalty of citizens on account of his height, charm or demagoguery! A legacy innovation or project by a community leader outlives their tenure of office and thus cements the continued link between the leader and the led before and way beyond both their chamber time and their own life. Invest not in fleeting, ego-puffing, personal mansions, but in community wealth and enduring social legacies. Let future generations hold memorable meetings in elaborate and well-appointed “Chamisa Community Halls’’ across the region! Whether it is programmes to promote youth enterprise, sanitary wear, university scholarships or a dignified departure for the elderly, councillor Chamisa needs a real, practical and consistent legacy flagship that changes the lives of the people, to earn our vote.
We live in a knowledge-based world — whoever leads must know. In order to earn the confidence of the citizens and residents, an effective leader must be knowledgeable and resourceful, exhibiting a deep desire and continuous appetite for generating and sharing information and development knowledge. Councillor Chamisa may not necessarily be degreed, but he must be an information hub and a well of wisdom for his openness to continuous research and learning. A good leader must have a resourceful personal library. Without agonising about legal jargon and interpretation, a local leader must keep active copies of the Constitution that sets out the rights of citizens as the supreme law of the land and familiarise himself with acts that govern council and relate to everyday living.
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In order to be effective, a leader must deliberately create and surround himself with a vibrant constituency structure. A strategic constituency information and communication hub. Therein community stakeholders must be able to access basic ongoing constituency data — ward maps, ward profiles and development plans, by-laws, meeting agenda and minutes and such other notices and general civic education that are relevant to community living. As such, councillor Chamisa must work with a vibrant web of research and information goons that generate quality information and share and disseminate it timeously. The ability to be the effective chairperson and convenor-in-chief of community rendezvous, to master the technical skills to conduct effective community meetings must tell us whether councillor Chamisa is worth our vote or not.
Leading our communities from village to ward, from council to Parliament must no longer be left to any johnny-come-lately if we intend to change our lives and living conditions. Effective citizenship demands that we apply our minds to who deserves our vote and the right to lead us.
