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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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