1) The document outlines the author's leadership manifesto and commitment to inspiring others through courageous leadership. 2) It discusses listening to employees' needs for purpose, engagement, and courage while addressing their strengths and opportunities for growth. 3) The author pledges to exemplify servant leadership by helping others find meaning and passion in their work through an empowering and ethical organizational culture.

1. My leadership Manifesto
Daring to inspire greatly
Dumisani Bengu
Foreword
I believe Managers are leaders,and leaders are managers and as leaders,people look to us not justfor their vacation schedule or performance review.As leaders,our people look to us to shape
their working environment,to foster a team culture that supports them, to make the wind howl or the sun shine in their little corner of the working world. They look to us to help them understand
where success lies and how they should act if they want to reach it…I believe leaders should commit to making these aspirations a reality…
As a leader, I commit to challenge a world where scarcity and shame dominate, where feeling afraid has become second nature, and where vulnerability is subversive…I want
to stand out and lead with courage from the front because I know that it’s neither the critic who counts; nor the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the
doer of deeds could have done better. I know that credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena… whose face is marred by dust, sweat and blood; who strives
valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, who does so because there is no effort without errors and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds;
who knows great enthusiasms and great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best, knows in the end the triumphs of high achievement, and who at worst,
if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly
Daring to inspire greatly, Daring to inspire greatly, I shall…
I hear my people’s voices loud and clear when they ask of me as follows… ‘our
leader’…
 We want you to show up, to learn from you and we want to be inspired.
 We are hardwired for connection, curiosity and engagement.
 We crave purpose, and we have a desire to create and contribute.
 We want to take risks, embrace our vulnerabilities, and be courageous.
 When learning and working are dehumanised…when you no longer see us
and no longer encourage our daring, or when you only see what we produce
or how we perform…we disengage and turn away the very things that the
world needs from us: our talent, our ideas, and our passion….What we ask is
that you engage us, show up beside us and learn from us.
 Feedback is a function of respect…and when you don’t have honest
conversations with us about our strengths and our opportunities for growth,
we question our contributions and your commitment.
 Above all else, we ask that you show up, let yourself be seen, and be
courageous.
So, Daring to inspire greatly, I accept this as a call to action for me to step up and
lead… and I hereby commit myself to take all risks along the way and act with
boldness to remove all obstacles standing between me, my people and the goal of
inspiring myself and others towards a brighter future.
I am starting today, creating a narrative of change, innovation, and being remarkable to
my family, friends, colleagues, team, society, and organisation by stepping up and
accepting this challenge to
 Define and then champion a magnetic vision so powerful that it draws people
and their passion to it from afar.
 Reaffirm the commitment to my own calling and then coach others to find and
master theirs.
 Create people – centred and soulful businesses by locating inspired, talented
people with a strong commitment to spirit and values…as opposed to hiring
mere skills.
 Practise what I preach, and become the change I seek to achieve.
 Create the environment that encourages fellows to inspiration.
 Be inspired by my followers and make sure that they are a vital source of
inspiration to the rest of the team.
 Accept a critical responsibility to contribute power to the group and to build the
spiritual quotient of the entire team.
 Practice authentic leadership to ensure that I can draw from my inner personal
strengths to ensure effective leadership.
So, Daring to inspire greatly, I embrace these attributes and commit to learning, living
and practicing them every day of my life.
Daring to inspire greatly, Daring to inspire greatly,
I shall leverage my personal values…
 To find passion in intrinsic motivations which are derived from the sense of
the meaning in my life such as personal growth, helping other people
develop, taking on social causes, and making a difference in the world
around me.
 I shall do this whilst making sure that I find a balance between my desire for
external validation and the intrinsic motivations that provide fulfilment in my
work.
 I shall exemplify the sense and desire to serve my community by doing good
to help and support the needy.
 I shall build extraordinary support teams to help me stay on course…. Teams
that will counsel me in times of uncertainty, help me in times of difficulty, and
celebrate with me in times of success.
 I shall lead a balanced life…and bring together all of its constituent
elements—work, family, community, and friends—so that i can be the same
person in each environment..
 I recognize that leadership is not just about my success or about getting loyal
subordinates to follow me…but that the key to a successful organization is
having empowered leaders at all levels, including those who have no direct
reports. This, I shall do so that I not only inspire those around me, but also
those they lead in order to scale up inspiration in the organisation.
 I shall use honesty, trust, and integrity as the foundations for my decisions to
inspire employees and develop an organizational culture in which ethical
practices are the behavioural norm.
So, Daring to inspire greatly, I understand that it is important to learn from the story of
my life as my life story provides the context for my experiences, and through it, I can
find the inspiration to make an impact in the world. The story of my life teaches me
both what is right and what is wrong and therefore what I should or should not do in
the present and future.
Since good leadership is everyone’s right and responsibility, let us step up to lead so
that every single one of us on the job can know the enormous productivity and fierce
joy that comes from working without fear of one another. This way, we’ll make each
other stronger, more skilled, and more satisfied and we’ll blow the roof off business. As
a leader…
 I shall provide strategic leadership and ensure trends, opportunities;
positioning, alignment and capabilities are harnessed to deliver on the goals.
 I am ready and prepared to lead the future that has already happened
irrevocably, and that will have predictable effects in the next decades.
 I shall anticipate, envision, maintain flexibility, think strategically, and work with
others to initiate changes that will create a viable future for the organization.
 I shall find ways for knowledge to breed still more knowledge.
 I admit that I don’t know all the answers, and I shall trust in other people’s
creativity to do great.
 I shall break social gaps between bosses and workers, functional gaps
between silos, and time gaps in planning and doing to ensure speed to market.
 I shall lead to a transient environment and define business by arenas as
opposed to industries, leverage technology for disproportionate value
extraction, ensure customer centric strategy & operational design, use relevant
metrics and empower people to do the work.
 I recognize that the need for speed, fast, and roughly right decision making will
replace deliberations that are precise but slow.
 I understand that in a world where advantages last for five minutes, you can
blink and miss the window of opportunity.
 I shall use megatrends, ( long-term, transformational process with global
reach, with a broad scope, and a fundamental and dramatic impact), as an
approach to achieve transient advantage
So, Daring to inspire greatly, I embrace the behaviours above and commit to
exceptional, authentic and strategic leadership.
Daring to inspire greatly…
I'm ready to sit next to you rather than across from you. I'm ready to put the problem in front of us rather than between us. I'm ready to listen, ask questions, and accept that, I
may not fully understand the issue. I want to acknowledge what you do well instead of picking apart your mistakes. I can hold you accountable without shaming or blaming you.
I'm willing to own my part. I can genuinely thank you for effort rather than criticize you for your failings. I recognise your strengths and how you can use them to address your
challenges. I can talk about how resolving these challenges will lead to your growth and opportunity. I can model the vulnerability and openness that I can expect to see from
you
So, Daring to inspire greatly, I subscribe to the above behaviours and pledge to behave as such in my deeds, attitudes and engagements with my teams and all other
stakeholders.
My leadership legacy
I hope to be remembered as a leader who worked hard and inspired others to follow suit, who empowered others to succeed, who is open and honest with everybody, who
questions status quo and uses creativity to innovate, who is resilient in pursuit of desired results and above all else, a leader who cares… because i understand very well that
unless people feel cared for, they have no reason to care about anything else!
…This way I am Daring to Inspire Greatly!