TIMELESS LEADERSHIP FOR A CHANGING WORLD: LESSONS FROM AFRICAN PROVERBS

Abstract The author served for more than 20 years as the CEO of multibillion‐dollar businesses, and is now Professor of the Practice of Management at Columbia Business School. This informs his perspective on leading for the long term, and the challenges in doing so. He notes that he was born and raised in South Africa, where he discovered African proverbs, “handed down orally from generation to generation,” and which he believes can be guiding principles for leadership effectiveness, especially because they “were honed over centuries as societies contended with conflict and changing conditions.” He provides descriptions and amplifications for the following proverbs: When the music changes, so does the dance; I am because you are; What counts is not the number of seeds you scatter, but the number of seeds you nurture; Don't look where you fell; look where you slipped; If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together .