Monday, December 9, 2013

Where are the Nelson Mandela's amongst business leaders?


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Listening to the tumult of tributes following the death of Nelson Mandela I wondered where the business leaders are who will similarly receive such tributes upon their demise, as examples and beacons of hope for the future. Those authentic individuals able to exhibit the expert balance between the often  apparently conflicting priorities in business of moral principles, expediency and pragmatism, which other individuals instinctively recognise as the mark of the truly  outstanding, wise and great; in political terms, the statesman vs. the politician..

I personally cannot think of one business leader who fits this profile. This may be because there are none. I prefer to think rather that individuals with the required moral/expedient balance of attributes are not picked out by selection boards and attention by commentators for profiling because of the prevailing continuing societal and business focus on short termism and individualism, the technically expert, the extrovert and charismatic.

Strange though that we revere Mandela but do not transfer the morally principled allied with expedient attributes as dominant requirements for operational leadership in business. If anyone can think of a leader of a Fortune 500, FTSE 100, Dax or other major business listing who is a "Mandela" and can be put forward as a beacon and standard bearer of a new 21st century approach to leadership please get back to me. 

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