#MaDASC quote #1: True Leadership - Graça Machel

This is the first extract of inspiring quotes for #socialcare #leadership, so badly needed for the post-Covid emergency world.

These are all taken from my book "Making a Difference in Adult Social Care - Release your leadership ambitions" published in 2014 and still relevant. It makes clear that you can demonstrate leadership now, today, whatever your formal role in your organisation or community. It is full of stories of past and current leaders in their fields.

This first one makes clear the importance of inclusivity, values and rights.

Graça Machel is a Mozambican politician and humanitarian. She is the third wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela and the widow of Mozambican president Samora Machel. She is an international advocate for women’s and children’s rights and in 1997 was made a British dame for her humanitarian work.

She was Minister of Education and Culture in Mozambique 1975–89. With Desmond Tutu, Jimmy Carter, Mary Robinson and others she founded The Elders, a group of world leaders committed to promoting peace and development – see www.theelders.org.

Here is what she wrote, on 1 November 2013, to supporters of The Elders:

“Dear friends,

I am writing to you from Cape Town where my fellow Elders and I have been discussing the meaning of ‘ethical leadership’ this week during one of our biannual meetings.

There is always a moment in your private life, in your organisation, in your community, and in society in general when you ask: what is the right thing to do? A time when you look for a voice to Iead and guide you. Someone who has the insight and the wisdom to say the right thing, at the right place, at the right moment, and inspires us to live our lives with integrity. More importantly, someone who speaks and resonates with our highest aspirations, and ignites our motivation to live up to our full potential. It is not by chance that when Madiba [Nelson Mandela] founded The Elders in 2007, he turned to Desmond Tutu to lead our group. Archbishop Tutu truly embodies ethical leadership. He speaks truth to power, as well as empowering the disenfranchised, the vulnerable and the marginalised. He is larger than life yet he remains simple and humble, and that is the ethical leadership we wish to emulate. Like him we must stand against injustice, motivated by a compassion that embraces every person and makes every single one feel they matter.

Though Archbishop Tutu has stepped down as Chair and is now an Honorary Elder, we will keep on knocking at his door to ask for guidance on the intractable issues we are bound to tackle. As Elders, we will strive to use our collective clout to bring people together, amplify the space to give voice to the voiceless, and catalyse action. We understand true leadership as that of service, leadership which promotes equity and dignity for all. Of course, it is not just up to the Elders to define the nature of ethical leadership. What does it mean to you? Who are the ethical leaders that inspire you today? And how can we encourage and foster leaders who put common human values first?”