What Is A Leader? – Lessons from Namibia’s Dr. Martha Namundjebo-Tilahun’s Parliamentary Maiden Speech

Leadership is seemingly a complex phenomenon with a serious impact on the reality of mankind across the world and as such, there is a great need for continued engagement in literacy programmes on this subject so that it is better understood and be effectively practised.

According to the Meriam-Webster’s Dictionary, a leader is a person who has a commanding authority or influence.

In a book titled The Practical Executive, leadership is described as the creation, provision, maintenance and promotion of a conducive environment for the harmonious and progressive interaction of people and utilization of resources.

The above definitions all seek to simplify the subject of leadership in order to promote informed, conscious and deliberate approaches that help people and institutions to pursue opportunities in life as they arise and to defend against threats which seek to interfere with peace and happiness.

In order to better understand this subject, under the banner Connections2Communities, a WhatsApp group was with a title What Is a Leader was created by an author and businessman Mutumwa Mawere.

This WhatsApp group is comprised of a diversity people including prominent academics, politicians, industrialists and many other people from across all the walks of life all over the world.

Even though a number of views have been presented and discussed on the subject of leadership, much of the debates and discussion in the group ends being inclined to political leadership more than other areas of influence and impact.

As such, in line with the political angle, we are going to draw some profound lessons on leadership from a parliamentary maiden speech made by Dr. Martha Namundjebo-Tilahun.

Dr. Martha Namundjebo-Tilahun is a former parliamentarian, former Chamber of industry and Commerce president as well as a hotelier (Hilton Hotel) in Namibia.

In one telephone conversation that I had with her, she shared many insights on what she believes to be leadership and what she perceives it to be not including saying that it’s about dedication and passion and not popularity.

I am going to list the leadership lessons from her speech and quote a portion of that speech from where we draw the lessons from.

Lesson 1: Sense of Purpose, Compassion, Tolerance and Responsibility

I make this statement fully aware that the people of Namibia have invested in us their hopes, their trust and their confidence.

The people have done so with confidence that the laws we make are for them, on their behalf and to the benefit of all Namibians irrespective of political affiliations, ethnics or economic status.

A good leader knows the source of his or her mandate and carries out his/her duties with a sense of tolerance and open-mindedness taking into consideration the diversity that exists among people in a given setting.

Lesson 2: Effective Use of Time and Knowing That You Are Not the Only One Who Can Do It

I might only be here for a short while until the end of this term coming to an end, however, it matters not how long I will be here. What does matter is what I will have to say and what I will do here for and on behalf of the Namibian people. Therefore I believe it matters what I have to say here and now.

A good leader makes effective use of the given time and knows that he or she is replaceable and thus must act with a sense of humility and focus on results. He or she must not seek to cling to power forever.

Lesson 3: Honest with Reality In Pursuit of Long lasting Solutions.

Honourable speaker, honourable members, it is no secret that our economy has been registering negative growth for the past three years or so.

This contraction in this economy has caused severe socio-economic challenges in our society including closure of businesses, or several businesses in various sectors of our economy, increase of unemployment especially for the youth, increase in poverty.

I know this from my little experience as a business woman in Namibia.

A good leader must be honest and truthful in his/her engagements with people. He/she must not be misleading to the respective stakeholders.

Lesson 4: Knowledge of Your Duties and Responsibilities.

Honourable Speaker, honourable members, as law makers we have an obligation to exercise our oversight function in as far as compelling the executive arm of our state to implement suggested bold interventions which will stimulate our economic activities and generate positive growth in our economy.

Besides the source of his/her mandate, a good leader must be well informed of his actual duties and responsibilities because without that, it is difficult to focus on results and measure effectiveness.

Lesson 5: Provision of Real Life Solutions to Real Life Problems

It is important that we end the blame game and begin to work hand in hand as law makers, as executive, private sector and all other key stakeholders in our economy including individual citizens of this country.

If we continue on a ‘them and us’ path, it will take very very long to get this economy fixed.

We can also not afford over-politicizing our economic challenges unless we are not genuine about our patriotism and commitment to serving the Namibian nation across the political divide in this house in particular and in our society in general.

There is no option to unity of purpose as we face a common enemy in the form of unemployment, poverty, ignorance and other ills facing our society.

A good leader must be able to offer and provide practical and effective solutions to the problems that are being faced in the sphere of his/her jurisdiction.

Lesson 6: Sense of Duty and Accountability

When we were elected in this august house on the tickets of the different political parties, we must never forget that we are the first, the second and the foremost citizens of this great country and representatives of all Namibian people.

Our law making and conduct must therefore be guided by the needs of our people and the desire of those who elected us and shape their better future and success of the generations to come.

Lesson 7: Futuristic Mind-Set

Honourable Speaker, honourable members, in addition to our roles as law makers, we have a responsibility to educate and skill the Namibian people especially the youth.

We can expect our youth to create or to take advantage of opportunities if they are not provided with adequate skills and support to do so.

It is our duty to ensure that Namibia succeeds to transform itself into highly skilled nation able to innovate and produce a world class product that are able to compete in the international market but it is a fact that innovation is driven by skills.

Without adequate skills we cannot expect our youth to help us in this respect.

It remains imperative that we actively engage the Namibian youth who are the catalyst of progress especially in the technology driven development areas of what is commonly referred to as the Forth Industrial Revolution.

A good leader must a futuristic mind-set that ensures continuity and sustenance to better institutions and to the generality of the people in a given setting.

Lesson 8: Sense of Gratitude

I will fail in my duty if I omit to mention that Namibia Beef Industry made history last week yet again through Meatcom by sending of at least 25 tonnes of quality beef consignment to United States of America.

Such a landmark launch followed in the footsteps of another launch for the Chinese market last year. I therefore like to congratulate Namibia for being the only eligible African country to export beef of the information’s countries.

A good leader must not only focus on fault finding but must also be able to recognise whenever something positive is done and then be able to acknowledge and reward it in order to promote a culture of excellence for the common good of all.