I was raised and grew up being grounded in a rural village in Zimbabwe enjoying the love and care of both parents, who spent most of their time in the fields, tilling the soil to provide for the family. Such an environment enabled me from the tender age of five to acquire knowledge and skills for hard work in a manner that espoused the African philosophy of Ubuntu/ Unhu or ‘Humanness’. I was made to appreciate culture and nature and that there could be no individual without a family, neither could there be a family without individuals.

Acquisition of informal and formal education through all seasons of a person’s life and going through tough times in a world of imbalances, helped in character development. Within me – as I subsequently worked in the corporate world and in church related activities – was nurtured a spirit of hard work and making sacrifices and the development of a burning desire for the pursuit of integral leadership.

All this culminated in collaborative work based research work with a view to addressing leadership failure that had been witnessed in business and in politics.

The actual research work followed the Trans4M integral research and innovation methodologies after a thorough exposure to the Integral Worlds.

The end product that I came up with together with my co-researchers as a humble contribution to knowledge is a new African integral ubuntu leadership model which if used in business as well as in politics, with a view to alleviating some of the imbalances in this world. The integral leadership model has a Shona name “Utungamiriri uzere” thereby introducing a new authentic Zimbabwean concept to the hitherto primarily monocultural field of leadership.

The model was not only successfully applied at three listed manufacturing organizations in Zimbabwe but through further post-doctoral consientization and catalysation a new Pundutso Centre for Integral Development has been born.

In addition, I was able to come up with a book entitled ‘Integral Ubuntu leadership: Utungamiriri uzere” and an accompanying 4Cs leadership development programme as part of my contribution to the body of integral knowledge.