#Leadershipmustrise

leadership-booksSo this is a bit out of left field. My focus is typically on Fathering, Adoption, family and the like. That’s who I am, that’s what I love and am passionate about and that’s what I feel called to write on. But in the past 3 weeks I have had a burning to add my 2 cents to the discussion on the challenges being faced by both the students and educational institutions in South Africa. Perhaps my voice will fall amongst the noise made by a thousand other opinions and perhaps it won’t stand as a voice of reason for either side, but it is a voice nonetheless and more importantly, it is the voice of someone looking through the eyes of a father, dreaming for his children, remembering his past and hoping my kids navigate their journeys better than those that came before them.

Before I exhale what has been chewing on my thoughts let me disclose a few things and add a few caveats.

Firstly, I am white (or rather peach to be more accurate) and I come from a privileged background. I won’t apologise for the sacrifices made for that privilege as they were made with the best of intentions and fuelled by a love for me by my parents. But, whilst I won’t apologise, I also cannot peddle the lie that I am not privileged. I suppose given my complexion and my previous statement, I am a benefactor of white (peach) privilege.

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Lead-a-ship or Sink-a-ship

The headlines are a ablaze with negativity, the fear, the gloom, the uncertainty and all the world is filled with fear on one level or another. Some justified, some foolish and others somewhere in between. We have the anniversary of 9/11, nailbiting sporting events and various political love childs making all sorts of  questionable predictions.

Where do we stand, where do we fall and what needs to change in order for us to bend but not break. I’m a massive Rocky fan and this just rings so true with my life:

“The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place It will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me or nobody is going to hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much can you take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done!” 

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