Resilient leadership: don't just empower - emancipate!

According to Bonang Mohale, chairman and country GM: commercial at Shell South Africa and the driving force behind resilient leadership - a resilient leader is one who:

• Helps the people they manage look at themselves more positively,
  
• Keeps things in perspective,
  
• Takes care of themselves,
  
• Makes connections,
  
• Avoids seeing crises as insurmountable problems,
  
• Accepts that change is a part of living,
  
• Moves towards their goals, and
  
• Looks for opportunities for self-discovery.

Resilient leadership replaces the traditional stereotype of a vertical work relationship between a manager and the person he manages, a leader-follower relationship, with a horizontal model of leader-leader. Resilient leaders choose to emancipate others rather than just empower them.

What are the benefits of resilient leadership?

Bonang says that resilient leadership gives you the ability to:

• Bounce back from adversity,
  
• Thrive on new challenges,
  
• Impact others positively, and
  
• Reach your full potential by exercising your talents in a meaningful way.

How to become a resilient leader<'b>

'Don't just empower - emancipate!'

Bonang's passion and enthusiasm about resilient leadership completely bowled me over. I found myself getting excited about this leadership style as he gave me a breakdown of the do's and don'ts of resilient leadership, which are listed in the table below:

Leadership Development Conference presented by Knowledge Resources - PowerPoint slideshow by Bonang Mohale

The three Cs: Guiding mechanisms of resilient leadership

Resilient leadership is controlled, competent and clear. Each mechanism has several guiding principles leaders should try to follow.

1. Control

• Act your way to new thinking, short and early conversations make efficient work,
  
• Use "I intend to ..." to turn passive followers into active leaders,
  
• Resist the urge to provide solutions,
  
• Eliminate top-down monitoring systems, and
  
• Think out loud (both superiors and subordinates).

2. Competence

• Take deliberate action, learn - everywhere and all the time,
  
• Don't brief - certify,
  
• Continuously and consistently repeat your message, and
  
• Specify goals, not methods.

3. Clarity

• Achieve excellence; don't just avoid errors, build trust and take care of your people,
  
• Use your legacy for inspiration,
  
• Use guiding principles for decision-making criteria,
  
• Use immediate recognition to reinforce desired behaviours,
  
• Begin with the end in mind, and
  
• Encourage a questioning attitude and avoid blind obedience.