Sticking to the Ubuntu philosophy and also leveraging on soft power will reduce leadership squabbles

Africa has disseminated many things to the world, one of which the Ubuntu worldview and social ideology, underpinned by interdependence and interrelatedness of individual to the other human beings and the larger society. The Ubuntu philosophy is held by two truisms namely: human being are humans because of others; human being are so because of the otherness of others, which has been summed as “I am because we are, and we are because I am”, hence the attraction for people to address the well-being of each other and also to respect those in leadership and positions of authority as has been elaborated by scholars like Chuwa (2012) and our very own Prof. Mbiti (1990). This is the thinking that has held the African continent as an organic society for so long and was instrumental in ensuring success in many fronts of development. The Ubuntu viewpoint was popularized by leaders like Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Kwame Nkrumah among others.

Soft power on the other hand was promoted by Professor Joseph Nye in the 1980’s, in which he defined it to imply the ability in a leader or person to appeal and co-opt others rather than resorting to the use of compulsion instead of using hard power. The use of hard power brings about many conflicts and differences, but leaders can use its opposite –  soft power – to shape and re-orient opinions of others by appealing and attracting them to their shade of opinion, which should be done in line with Ubuntu philosophy. Through soft power and Ubuntu philosophies, which values greater responsibility for one’s actions and behaviour towards power, complex squabbles and challenges of leadership can be resolved without compromising the leadership & command structures. Through these concepts, leaders increase chances of getting their objectives to be accomplished with little efforts. This can be done by being discreet, deliberate and positive communication, developing mechanisms to address people needs, promoting greater involvement in civic activities, implementing economic reforms and progress. It is time leaders embraced use of Ubuntu philosophies, soft power & innovative governance