Innovation = Regenerating Knowledge | The Transformation & Innovation Book Series
Integral Ubuntu Leadership
Passmore Matupire has written a book on leadership from a Southern African Ubuntu – “I am because you are” – perspective. The book supports a potential “ubuntu leader”, whereby leadership is grounded locally, evolves locally-globally, navigates globally, and effects transformation globally-locally.
Dr. Rica Viljoen
Managing Director, Mandala Consulting, South Africa
"A book that brings the powerful, sacred, oral ways of Africa to the front, is a scared phenomenon. So easily this more sensitive approach drains away between the sand of hard academic writings, like water through sand. The spirited nature of works that describe this sacred essence, should not be ignored. Integral Ubuntu Leadership: Utungamiriri Uzere does exactly that. ... Masterfully, the authors wove together age-old insights with newer methodologies to leave the reader humbled in such a way, that no one can be left untouched. The leadership models here emerges in response to the leadership failures of our time and the unique leadership development plan, has been positioned to counter-act leadership failures. ... This is an important book for every African leader, leader that must work in this continent, leaders in other developing spaces and all humans that want to remember their own truths. In interplay between through, integral research methodology and real, spirited sharing of the authors make this book a masterpiece. "
Dr. Basheer Oshodi
Group Head, Non-Interest Banking (Islamic Banking), Sterling Bank, Nigeria
"Dr Passmore Matupire has taken his time to explore the realities of African development economics within the path of Ubuntu circles. He has created a new socio-economic model that sounds in the minds of Africans. The unique mix of call, context, co-creation and contribution to knowledge as applied is intriguing. The most interesting human application of the Ubuntu integral leadership approach is that Ubuntu was at the heart of Mandela’s spirituality. It is such hearts that sincerely contributes to the emerging future while achieving harmony within society. Dr Matupire’s contribution to knowledge cast a new light through the African Integral Ubuntu Leadership Model which addresses not just leadership matters but also ecology, unemployment, migration, poverty and overall development economics. This book captures our own indigenous master piece on leadership which covers nature, culture, science and managerial economics. This becomes an alternative to that search of economic models that would not work for us because their origins are not African. Why then do we pursuit the ingredients to communal good life from sources alien to our background, and then, we fail. This books proffer sound solution in this regard. It is indeed a homegrown source to the development and happiness we seek."
Prof. Ben Anderson
CEO, Da Vinci Institute, South Africa
"The author argues that the dominant theories that have historically guided leadership choice in the arena of transformation are mistaken and therefore argues for the development of an alternative leadership construct, in an attempt to establish the must needed eco-system to successfully move into the future. Integral Leadership is an articulate counter argument in an era of violence, corruption and the suffering of too many people."
The four worlds as we know them today, the North, West, South and East are out of balance. The West and the North generally dominate on a global scale while the South and the East lag behind. This also happens at individual, societal and organisational levels. It is clear that there is a need to change the way we lead our organisations in business and the way we think about leading in politics.
Here is a comprehensive exploration of the integral leadership challenges of the twenty first century. The author combines the African philosophy of Ubuntu or Humanness, the cornerstone to African thought and life, with the concept of Integral Leadership, with particular reference to Lessem and Schieffer’s combining of Nature and Community, Culture and Spirituality, Science and Technology, and Politics and Economics. This connectedness in the new paradigm of wholeness and relatedness goes beyond relationships of human beings alone and involves experiences with nature and community.
Leadership is viewed from an indigenous and exogenous perspective, bringing together a newly integral approach, which will also introduce industry ecology and knowledge ecology as an evolution of the Ubuntu philosophy.
The author offers a unique forum to commit to paper the operationalization of the Integral Ubuntu Leadership model in catalysing development efforts in communities and societies.