Corruption is the product of greed, who can lead?
It is an indisputable fact that any social structure built on dishonesty is on shaky grounds; business is a very important member of society. The characteristics of a leader is timeless, not what we became use to "the flavor of the month leader", a combination of courage, emotional intelligence and above all, a sense of knowing what is right, and being able to convey that conviction to a wider audience, engendering trust. The ability to voluntarily obtain tangible actions and results, with the human factor that unites and motivates others to enthusiastically adopt pre determined objectives.
To lead is not only an honor, but a responsibility with far reaching consequences; leaders transform companies, industries and the world. It is not ambition, but caring that helps leaders to stand apart when their industry tells them that they should be like everybody else, it’s attitude, that when combined with talents and experience that enables leaders to dig deeper and perform better, the truth is inescapable, caring forces people to do the hard things that everybody else isn't willing to do. People/employees bestow their trust and give their support to someone they truly believe is more competent to guide in challenging situations.
Leadership is a "style", it's how people conduct themselves, it's not ego driven or self centered, a far stretch from what we see today, weak, corrupt and greed driven individuals with the "title" leader, in powerful positions, their decisions too, have far reaching consequences to those around them, we see it everyday, we all remember when the so called business "leaders" of a handful giant financial institutions, decided to leverage up with short term and over night borrowings & and complex mortgage derivatives that suddenly became illiquid, in simple terms - their commitments far exceeded their resources, a product of the insidious disease "greed", decimated the lives and life savings of millions of employees and investors, leaving many unemployed and homeless. And those “leaders" responsible...?
The good conduct of leaders must set the standards, a culture where management respect vital principles, so called old fashioned virtues, optimism, hard work and strength of character, encourages ambition to excel through determination and innovation. The future depends on people, and in order to be successful, people depends on leaders.
> Corruption cost to global business is equal to 5% of global GDP(2.6 trillion USD), a survey done (every 2nd year) by the ethics code commission of USA, show that 68% of pupils admitted to cheating at least ones during exams in 2011 -*40% of all retail/manufacturing businesses admit to employee theft, BDO global statistics show that company fraud, theft and corruption cost the South African business community *100 Billion Rand per annum, it also show that 7% of turnover (companies) was being lost to same behaviors -*to 30% of all bankruptcies in small business are due to employee theft.
Timeless leadership qualities are above specific challenges organizations will face, some foreseen others unforeseen, leaders must be able to adapt, very quickly without compromising other qualities. Leaders with strong values and a sense of higher purpose, enjoy a higher level of follower commitment. The nature of leader’s emotional consciousness, the ability to connect with others in a meaningful way becomes increasingly important with a growing interest in genuineness, authenticity, credibility, and trustworthiness.
Leaders must be bold and speak loudly in their choice and move forward towards a solution, to stuck in neutral brings no chance for success, only fear of repeated failure, some decisions will result in showering praise, other darkening with blame, leadership is not for the meek.
DRAFTED BY
Corne Ferreira
