Featured

Question Of The Month

How can leaders reflect on their year in a way that deepens humility, gratitude, and commitment to serving their people?

Legitimacy and Governance

At the end of October 2025, an important advancement in corporate reporting in South Africa was released. The Institute of Directors in South Africa (IoDSA) and the King Committee of South Africa released this iteration, known as King V, which is a significant move forward, as the landscape has shifted in the past nine years since the previous disclosure framework. In this article, we take a closer look at the issue of intent in corporate governance reporting, and we turn our attention to the key issue of legitimacy and why you should care about it.

Lead With Humility

In this thought-provoking message, Simon Sinek challenges a common misconception: that humility is a sign of weakness or softness in leadership. He argues that humility is, in fact, one of the greatest strengths a leader can cultivate because it shifts the focus away from ego and towards service — the true essence of leadership.

According to Sinek, humility equips leaders to create environments where people feel safe, supported, and empowered to give their best. It turns leadership from a position of privilege into a responsibility of stewardship.

For more information regarding the above, please e-mail  events@legitimateleadership.com

Question Of The Month 

By Rachael Cowin, Associate, Legitimate Leadership.

Question: How can leaders reflect on their year in a way that deepens humility, gratitude, and commitment to serving their people?

Answer: Gratitude is an emotion very much worth cultivating. Studies have shown that when we feel grateful, it unlocks the best in us and makes us more generous. Leaders who regularly show gratitude spend more time thinking of others and build trust and confidence within their team.

However, as human beings, we tend to take our blessings for granted, comparing ourselves with others and ignoring the tailwinds at our back. It is therefore essential to set aside time to acknowledge and appreciate the things for which we should be thankful.

Here are some practices that have been proven to boost gratitude:

Take regular time out for reflection, perhaps with some prompts to guide you – what opportunities have come your way? How have colleagues and your team supported you? What are you thankful for right now? Read the full answer by clicking here.

To submit your question,  email info@legitimateleadership.com 

Article: Legitimacy and Governance

By Joe Spring, Legitimate Leadership Ambassador.

At the end of October 2025, an important advancement in corporate reporting in South Africa was released. The Institute of Directors in South Africa (IoDSA) and the King Committee of South Africa released this iteration, known as King V, which is a significant move forward, as the landscape has shifted in the past nine years since the previous disclosure framework. In this article, we take a closer look at the issue of intent in corporate governance reporting, and we turn our attention to the key issue of legitimacy and why you should care about it.

Governance Frameworks and the Issue of Intent

At a broad level, governance frameworks aim to instil, protect and advance certain intentions within corporations and their social environments. By reporting against such frameworks, a business has the opportunity to lay claim to good intent and evidence it by certain behaviours and investments. This is a strong echo of Legitimate Leadership’s concept of intent: we teach that your intent as a leader is proven and perceived through your actions. The people you serve will believe you have their best interests at heart if they see how you actually care about them and invest in their growth. Something very similar holds true at an organisational level.

Read the full article by clicking here

Video: Lead With Humility 

By Simon Sinek, American author on leadership and motivational speaker.

COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE BY IAN MUNRO, MANAGING DIRECTOR, LEGITIMATE LEADERSHIP: Over many years at Legitimate Leadership, we have asked thousands of people the question: “How would you describe the person you would work for willingly?” We are attempting to bring out the essence of high-trust, high-collaboration, high-willingness leadership. It might be surprising to hear that the answer to this question is incredibly consistent – across levels, industries, countries and time. The answer invariably describes someone who is there for others, who gives more than they take, and who has the humility to respect the opinions and ideas of others. Without humility, you may choose to give, but if you don’t have the courage to admit you don’t have all the answers, how often might you give the wrong thing? 

OUR SUMMARY OF THE VIDEO: In this thought-provoking message, Simon Sinek challenges a common misconception: that humility is a sign of weakness or softness in leadership. He argues that humility is, in fact, one of the greatest strengths a leader can cultivate because it shifts the focus away from ego and towards service — the true essence of leadership.

According to Sinek, humility equips leaders to create environments where people feel safe, supported, and empowered to give their best. It turns leadership from a position of privilege into a responsibility of stewardship.

Read the full summary by clicking here
Watch the video by clicking here

Featured

Question Of The Month

What does the Legitimate Leadership Model say about dealing with “victims” in organisations?

If You Want To Make Dotted Line Reporting Work, You Need To Do 3 Things (From The Archives (2018)

Effective leadership is easier said than done at the best of times. Leading with legitimacy is not necessarily difficult (it’s a simple matter of choosing giving over taking, really), but it is undoubtedly hard. When it comes to leading, knowing and doing are not the same thing.

However, when you introduce dotted lines, what started as simple to understand but hard to do becomes complicated to understand and, therefore, even harder to do. It’s why matrix structures and project environments are so often fraught with leadership challenges. And it’s why, if you have dotted reporting lines in your business, it’s so vital that you do the following three things …

Middle Managers Feel the Least Psychological Safety at Work

New research reveals a significant and consequential blind spot in organisational culture: middle managers feel less psychologically safe than both their senior executives and their direct reports. While “team psychological safety”— the belief that one won’t be punished or humiliated for admitting a mistake or raising a concern — has become a leadership staple, the crucial middle layer is often overlooked.

An ongoing global study of 1,160 managers found a notable gap: middle managers scored 68.0 out of 100 on psychological safety, significantly lower than the 72.7 scored by C-suite executives and 4.2 points higher than their own teams. The most vulnerable group is newly promoted middle managers (in their roles for less than 3 years), who scored nearly 5 points lower than their more seasoned peers, indicating a difficult adjustment period.

For more information regarding the above, please e-mail  events@legitimateleadership.com

Question Of The Month 

By Stefaan van den Heever, Associate, Legitimate Leadership.

Question: What does the Legitimate Leadership Model say about dealing with “victims” in organisations?

Answer: The issue of ‘victimhood’ is surfacing more and more as the world of work has become more complex, and where people are confronted with the lack of time and with mounting pressures to perform. On the surface, this victimhood mentality is evident in people blaming others (finger-pointing) when held accountable (vs. taking ownership). There is also another way in which it appears, and it’s that of entitlement. We frequently hear this from managers who say employees are often ‘disgruntled’ and want frequent promotions, regular bonuses, and so on. This victim mentality is evident in a ‘taking’ intent. In contrast, the opposite is people coming to work to make an exceptional contribution, to support both their managers and their colleagues, and, in essence, to give unconditionally to the organisation. When people give unconditionally, they become stronger, and paradoxically, promotions and bonuses tend to happen more consistently…

Let’s look at some other distinctions the Legitimate Leadership Model makes when it comes to victims: Being a victim bears no relationship to age, gender, nationality, culture or life circumstances. Any person can be a victim.

• Being a victim bears no relationship to age, gender, nationality, culture or life circumstances. Any person can be a victim.
• Being a victim is not a function of life’s circumstances but about one’s response to life’s circumstances.
• Victims behave in a way in which they focus on being here “to get”, which puts them in a position of weakness. It is a position of weakness because when they want something (such as significance or recognition) from others, it is beyond their control. The control (and strength) then is with the other person.  Read the full answer by clicking here.

To submit your question,  email info@legitimateleadership.com 

Article: If You Want To Make Dotted Line Reporting Work, You Need To Do 3 Things

First published in 2018, this article by Ian Munro, Director at Legitimate Leadership, explores the leadership complexities of dotted line reporting and why making it work requires clarity, consistency, and conscious intent. Its insights remain as relevant today as when it was first written.

Effective leadership is easier said than done at the best of times. Leading with legitimacy is not necessarily difficult (it’s a simple matter of choosing giving over taking, really), but it is undoubtedly hard. When it comes to leading, knowing and doing are not the same thing.

However, when you introduce dotted lines, what started as simple to understand but hard to do becomes complicated to understand and, therefore, even harder to do. It’s why matrix structures and project environments are so often fraught with leadership challenges. And it’s why, if you have dotted reporting lines in your business, it’s so vital that you do the following three things:

1. Face The Right Way 

Try asking an employed person who they work for, and they’ll almost always give you one of two answers. They’ll either name their company or they’ll name their boss (manager). It is an accurate reflection of the way things currently are. Most people are serving up the line, not down it. Yet leadership does not have to be about service to company targets and our managers’ whims. In fact, legitimate leaders invert this line of service – legitimate leaders are first and foremost there for their people, not their bosses. They face down the line, not up it.

This principle is best explained through an example. I was contacted one day by a Safety Manager from a remote site in a manufacturing organisation. She had a problem. A new Safety Executive had recently been employed, and she now had two reporting lines: one to her Factory Manager, and one to the new Safety Executive.

Since the appointment, she had started to struggle to get around to doing everything that was expected of her. By her own admission, she was failing, and both senior managers agreed.

Read the full article by clicking here

Article: Middle Managers Feel the Least Psychological Safety At Work

An article in the Harvard Business Review by Jan U. Hagen, a professor of management at ESMT Berlin, Germany, and Bin Zhao, a professor of management and organisation studies at Simon Fraser University’s Beedie School of Business in Vancouver, Canada. 

COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE BY STEFAAN VAN DEN HEEVER, ASSOCIATE, LEGITIMATE LEADERSHIP: Psychological safety is a relevant and timely topic of discussion in organisations, a topic that has gained momentum since the onset of COVID-19, as employees around the world have faced lockdowns, isolation, and uncertainty.

There was a notable pattern at a South African bank: employees during COVID sent emails at 2 or 3 am! When this was investigated, it was found that people deliberately set their emails to be sent via Outlook at these early hours, and it wasn’t because they were awake… One can imagine what people went through to go to such lengths to show their value-add, and the lack of psychological safety that existed (and still exists) in a lot of organisations worldwide.

As Legitimate Leadership, we believe that psychological safety should be evident where leadership is applied intentionally and consistently. Lots of organisations talk about leadership, but it’s often put off when there’s pressure, or when pressure is applied from the top to deliver results.

We believe a fundamental shift managers in an organisation should make is from ‘I am here to get more out of my people’ to a new intent: ‘I am here for my people, to enable excellence in my team so that they can achieve excellent results’. The practical implication of this shift is that managers realise the level of reporting to them reflects their leadership and how they care for and grow their people. Practically, this will mean they prioritise leadership: one-on-one meetings where connection happens, managers intentionally holding enabling, supportive team meetings, and managers watching the game and coaching their direct reports to embody excellence and accountability, and to be the best they can be. If applied consistently, this then has a chain reaction downwards, where people at every level in the organisation feel cared for and where there’s an intentional focus on everyone’s growth and development. All this downward focus on improvement and development throughout the line of command comes to full effect with the all-important customer being on the receiving end of this focus on care and growth.

In line with the above, Legitimate Leadership believes that trust is central to creating psychological safety. For us, there are four key ways for managers to earn trust and build psychological safety:

Build personal relationships with your direct reports:

• Get to know your people as human beings, not as human resources.
• Have due concern for their personal circumstances and prioritise the ‘moments that matter for your people’.
• Do you know what makes your people ‘tick’?

 Give time and attention to your direct reports:

• Spend time with your people, as mentioned above, through one-on-one meetings, enabling team meetings and watching their game and coaching them towards improvement and excellence.
• Being ‘busy’ should not be an excuse for not spending time with your people. Nothing breaks trust like managers who keep moving one-on-one meetings, who do most or all the talking, or who make these meetings all about progressing the work and not about progressing the person.

Read the full article by clicking here

Featured

Question Of The Month

How do we encourage growth discussions in one-on-ones when all the coachee wants to speak about is work?

News: Inside Legitimate Leadership’s Recent London Workshop

“I’d do this in a field with a flip chart if I could,” said Sean Hagger of Legitimate Leadership, reflecting on his passion for Legitimate Leadership workshops – and why he’s happy to set a 5am alarm to facilitate them.

In other words, it’s not just about the venue – he would do them anywhere. It’s about the content, the conversation, and the transformation that happens when leaders pause to truly examine how they lead.

Legitimate Leadership’s two-day workshop in London in September, which Sean led, brought together leaders ready to move beyond command-and-control approaches and discover what genuine, legitimate leadership looks like in practice.

Video: If I Devalue You, I’ll Take Something From You; If I Value You, I’ll Add Something To You

John C Maxwell lists the five things he does every day: Value people; Think of ways to add value to people; Look for ways to add value to people; Do it (add value to people); Encourage others to add value to people. I’ve followed Maxwell, one of the world’s leading authorities on leadership, for 25 years now and have met and interacted with him a number of times as a coach with the Maxwell Leadership 

For more information regarding the above, please e-mail  events@legitimateleadership.com

Question Of The Month 

By Josh Hayman, Director, Legitimate Leadership.

Question: How do we encourage growth discussions in one-on-ones when all the coachee wants to speak about is work?

Answer: Your role as a leader together with your organisational values around growth, are your friend.  They give you a starting license for the conversation, so don’t beat around the bush.  Say that you’d like to support their growth and to do that you’d first like to understand their aspirations.  Ask if you can talk about that.  Use this to create a frame of reference for priorities.

News: Inside Legitimate Leadership’s Recent London Workshop

By Chris Le’cand-Harwood, Founder, Content Marketing Pod

“I’d do this in a field with a flip chart if I could,” said Sean Hagger of Legitimate Leadership, reflecting on his passion for Legitimate Leadership workshops – and why he’s happy to set a 5am alarm to facilitate them.

In other words, it’s not just about the venue – he would do them anywhere. It’s about the content, the conversation, and the transformation that happens when leaders pause to truly examine how they lead.

Legitimate Leadership’s two-day workshop in London in September, which Sean led, brought together leaders ready to move beyond command-and-control approaches and discover what genuine, legitimate leadership looks like in practice.

A Day Behind The Scenes

We followed Sean at the London workshop to capture what it takes to create the conditions for leadership breakthroughs. And we spoke to others who took part in the workshop.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY CLICKING HERE
WATCH THE VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE

Video: If I Devalue You, I’ll Take Something From You; If I Value You, I’ll Add Something To You

By John C Maxwell, American author, speaker and pastor.

COMMENTARY ON THIS VIDEO BY DIETER JANSEN, LEGITIMATE LEADERSHIP: John C Maxwell lists the five things he does every day: Value people; Think of ways to add value to people; Look for ways to add value to people; Do it (add value to people); Encourage others to add value to people. I’ve followed Maxwell, one of the world’s leading authorities on leadership, for 25 years now and have met and interacted with him a number of times as a coach with the Maxwell Leadership Organisation. I can attest to the points Maxwell makes as being absolutely true to the person he is, as well as the values espoused in his organisation. That is why it was easy – no seamless – for me to join Legitimate Leadership. Legitimate Leadership goes a step further though by codifying the points made into the corporate application modules we present: “The True Meaning Of Care” explains what it means to value people ; “Spending Time Appropriately” explains the intentionality behind thinking of ways to add value to people in the form of care and growth; and “Watching The Game” explains how to look for ways to add value to people. The application requirement of each module requires participants to “do” the act of adding value to people. After all, if you devalue people, you will not want to give them anything, but rather take from them. Legitimate Leadership shifts participants’ intent to rather value people so that they will give to them more readily. And this shift in turn inspires others to do the same.

OUR SUMMARY OF THIS VIDEO: What are practical ways to add value to people? Five things – and I do this every day and everybody that follows you can do this every day. It only takes about 10 minutes. So this isn’t hard, but every day I value people – that’s where it starts, that’s foundational. If I don’t value you as a person I won’t add value to you.

Nobody has ever added value to people they devalue. If I devalue you, I’ll take something from you; if I value you, I’ll add something to you.
That’s a world of difference. So you can’t go around devaluing people the way that our culture is today – this divisiveness that is just making me sad. I just look at the leaders and say, “Really, can’t we do better?”

READ THE FULL SUMMARY OF THIS VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE
WATCH THE VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE

Featured

Question Of The Month

How do we make time for, and prioritise, people’s growth when the work/status/priority of the project makes it practically very difficult?

Leadership Is Not A Duty, It’s A Responsibility

Isn’t it remarkable how often people find themselves in leadership roles, where their main responsibility is to lead and nurture others, yet they are woefully unprepared or, at times, simply uninterested, in carrying such a critical responsibility?

The Real Reasons We Work

At Legitimate Leadership we talk about three unconditional motives: Purpose, Passion and Person. In his talk Dan Ariely makes three observations that have significant implications for Legitimate Leadership practitioners… 

For more information regarding the above, please e-mail  events@legitimateleadership.com

Question Of The Month 

By Josh Hayman, Director, Legitimate Leadership.

Question: How do we make time for, and prioritise, people’s growth when the work/status/priority of the project makes it practically very difficult?

Answer

• Make your one-on-ones about wellbeing, and what growth exists for each person in the work they are doing.  
• Take as many opportunities as are available to stimulate reflection and learning through the work being done.
• Give lots of in-the-moment feedback.   
• Have just one growth goal for each person that is pursued through the work, not in addition to the work.
• In short, use the small amount of time available to focus on growth wisely.  Make it count!

Article: Leadership Is Not A Duty, It’s A Responsibility 

By Paulette Daniels, Associate, Legitimate Leadership.

Isn’t it remarkable how often people find themselves in leadership roles, where their main responsibility is to lead and nurture others, yet they are woefully unprepared or, at times, simply uninterested, in carrying such a critical responsibility?

In my experience, it’s not uncommon for highly skilled technical experts to be promoted through the ranks, not due to their ability to work with or lead people, but because of their exceptional performance, technical expertise, commercial and business acumen and prowess. Unfortunately, the development of these individuals as leaders is often overlooked from the onset. Too often, there’s little focus on coaching or grooming them to become not just competent, but exceptional, leaders. As a result, these newly-promoted leaders are thrust into the daunting task of leading, inspiring, motivating, and developing the very people now under their charge. They then climb the ranks but lack the leadership muscle to positively impact people along the way.

The issue is that many of these new leaders are utterly clueless when it comes to the “people” aspect of leadership. In fact, some might even argue they don’t like people much. This leads them to “shoot from the hip”, rely on trial and error approaches, and often mimic the behaviour of managers they once reported to.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY CLICKING HERE

Video: The Real Reasons We Work

By Dan Ariely, professor of psychology and behavioural economics at Duke University, USA.

COMMENT ON THIS VIDEO BY IAN MUNRO, LEGITIMATE LEADERSHIP: At Legitimate Leadership we talk about three unconditional motives: Purpose, Passion and Person. In his talk Dan Ariely makes three observations that have significant implications for Legitimate Leadership practitioners:

1. “Small” meaning matters. It is tempting to believe that purpose has to be grand to be motivating – travelling to the moon, saving the environment, fighting disease. What Ariely’s research shows, however, is that “small” meaning – completing a whole task, or even just being noticed – can make a significant difference. The implication for leaders: having grand plans and big visions is important, but don’t forget to pay attention to what people are doing day-to-day: are they challenged, are they completing whole tasks, are they being noticed?
2. Which leads to the second observation: paying attention matters. In the Legitimate Leadership Model, attention debuts as a CARE issue. “True care requires that we give people two things: time and attention.” But attention is also a GROWTH issue. We call it Watching The Game. We know Watching The Game is a pre-requisite for giving appropriately. Ariely’s insight is that Watching The Game is not only a pre-requisite for giving appropriately; it is also a key motivator in its own right. Perhaps that explains why some of the most legitimate leaders I know prioritise Watching The Game as their most important leadership contribution.
3. Lastly, Ariely talks briefly, but meaningfully, about passion – specifically, that when we remove purpose, we also crush joy. This is important for leaders because it tells us that when we eliminate (or fail to engage) purpose, we might not be removing only one of the three unconditional motivators, we might in fact be destroying two of them.

OUR SUMMARY OF THIS VIDEO: Dan Ariely explores why people work and what truly motivates them beyond money. Contrary to the common belief that people are like rats in a maze, working only for rewards, Ariely argues that meaning, purpose, recognition, and effort play a crucial role in how people value their labor.

Beyond Money: The Power of Meaning
We often assume people work only for monetary incentives. Bonuses, salaries, and commissions are treated as the main levers of motivation. But real-life examples — like mountain climbers willingly enduring hardship — suggest otherwise. People endure challenges not for comfort or happiness but for purpose, progress, and the satisfaction of achieving goals.

READ THE FULL SUMMARY OF THIS VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

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Question Of The Month

How should a coach contradict their coachee’s appraisal of their progress if the coach does not think that that appraisal is accurate, without driving the conversation but merely guiding it?

What Legitimate Leaders Do

Simon Sinek’s quote, “A boss has the title; a leader has the people,” is one of my favourite leadership quotes of all time. It reminds me of a time when I was abruptly silenced in a meeting by a highly upset executive for saying, “People don’t leave companies; they leave managers.” But that’s a story for another day…

Care Is At The Heart Of Good Service

Showing care is a demonstration of our intent to unconditionally serve the interests of the other person. When we show care to our customers irrespective of whether we can get anything out of it in return, we demonstrate sincere and genuine interest in helping the person with their problem or issue. There will be times when we cannot deliver on what our customer wants, but if they feel genuinely cared for in the relationships they are much more likely to remain our customers in the long run.  

For more information regarding the above, please e-mail  events@legitimateleadership.com

Question Of The Month 

By Josh Hayman, Director, Legitimate Leadership.

Question: How should a coach contradict their coachee’s appraisal of their progress if the coach does not think that that appraisal is accurate, without driving the conversation but merely guiding it?

Answer: Set the conversation up as an exchange of views based on observation rather than who is right or wrong.  Example:

• Ask how they see their progress. Spend some time clarifying your understanding.
• Share your view.  If it’s different, say so. Be direct and specific and share examples.
• Ask for their response.  Probe as to where they see the differences and alignment between the two points of view.
• In light of the above, ask them what they think they should be changing or doing.

Article: What Legitimate Leaders Do 

By Ntsako Maswanganyi, Associate, Legitimate Leadership.

Simon Sinek’s quote, “A boss has the title; a leader has the people,” is one of my favourite leadership quotes of all time. It reminds me of a time when I was abruptly silenced in a meeting by a highly upset executive for saying, “People don’t leave companies; they leave managers.” But that’s a story for another day …

As highlighted in Simon’s quote, leadership is not about titles, authority, control, or perks (like a designated parking space with your name on it). Leadership is a responsibility that revolves around consistently caring for and nurturing those under your guidance.

When people feel cared for and feel that their growth matters to their leader, trust is built, open dialogue becomes the norm, psychological safety is established, creativity flourishes, collaboration thrives – the list is endless.

Legitimate leadership is grounded in the principle that true leaders are here to serve their teams, not to be served.

Here is my perspective on what sets legitimate leaders apart:

READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY CLICKING HERE

Video Excerpt: Care Is At The Heart Of Good Service

By Simon Sinek, American author on leadership and motivational speaker.

Comment on this video excerpt by Joshua Hayman, Legitimate Leadership: Showing care is a demonstration of our intent to unconditionally serve the interests of the other person. When we show care to our customers irrespective of whether we can get anything out of it in return, we demonstrate sincere and genuine interest in helping the person with their problem or issue. There will be times when we cannot deliver on what our customer wants, but if they feel genuinely cared for in the relationships they are much more likely to remain our customers in the long run.

OUR SUMMARY OF THIS VIDEO EXCERPT: Customers conclude that they have received good service or bad service if they have got what they wanted or have not got what they wanted … correct?

Not correct!

READ THE FULL SUMMARY OF THIS VIDEO EXCERPT BY CLICKING HERE
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

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Question Of The Month

Why does Legitimate Leadership return to our company periodically (at approximately 7-year intervals)?

Being Right Doesn’t Solve The Problem

One of the key concepts underpinning the Legitimate Leadership framework is: ‘We manage things, but lead people.’ You can’t lead a budget, a target, time, or any other inanimate resource. And managing a ‘human resource’ leads to disengagement and often, eventual discontent and hostility.

Why AI Cannot Replace Human-Created Work

Simon Sinek explains very succinctly the positives and limitations of AI. The sentences which stood out for me though were “across all creative endeavors – the transformation happens through the struggle, not just in the finished product,” and later, “it’s the struggle that makes us a better version of ourselves, not the product.” This aligns both to the Legitimate Leadership focus on process, not outcome; and using the task to grow the person as opposed to using the person to get the job done.

For more information regarding the above, please e-mail  events@legitimateleadership.com

Question Of The Month 

By Peter Jordan, Associate, Legitimate Leadership.

Question: Why does Legitimate Leadership return to our company periodically (at approximately 7-year intervals)?

Answer: It depends on the reasons for Legitimate Leadership returning. If it is to bring newly appointed employees on board regarding the leadership ethos, this is perfectly understandable. If it is to conduct a refresher or expose the company to new Legitimate Leadership products, this is also perfectly in order. Firstly, care and growth is not a one-time vaccination, but instead requires constant reinforcement; secondly, care and growth/Legitimate Leadership content is also constantly evolving.

If the reason for Legitimate Leadership returning is that the application of leadership concepts and tools has become rusty, misused, or unused, then this is of some concern. But unfortunately, this does sometimes happen because:

Read the full response by clicking here.

To submit your question,  email info@legitimateleadership.com 

Vignette Case Study: Being Right Doesn’t Solve The Problem

By Dieter Jansen, Associate, Legitimate Leadership.

One of the key concepts underpinning the Legitimate Leadership framework is: ‘We manage things, but lead people.’ You can’t lead a budget, a target, time, or any other inanimate resource. And managing a ‘human resource’ leads to disengagement and often, eventual discontent and hostility. Unfortunately, many performance management schemes (or the way they have been implemented) are rooted in the idea of managing people and/or their output. That is not to say we don’t need to manage aspects of our responsibilities, but people need something different.

To illustrate how ‘managing’ misses the mark let me tell you this story from a 24-hour aluminium alloy wheel manufacturing facility I worked at many years ago.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY CLICKING HERE

Article: Article: Why AI Cannot Replace Human-Created Work

By US journalist and author Cal Fussman, arising from a conversation with Simon Sinek, American author on leadership and motivational speaker.

Comment on this article by Wendy Lambourne, Legitimate Leadership: Simon Sinek explains very succinctly the positives and limitations of AI. The sentences which stood out for me though were “across all creative endeavors – the transformation happens through the struggle, not just in the finished product,” and later, “it’s the struggle that makes us a better version of ourselves, not the product.” This aligns both to the Legitimate Leadership focus on process, not outcome; and using the task to grow the person as opposed to using the person to get the job done.

Our summary of the article: AI is ‘The Shortcut Temptation’. Let’s face it—AI tools are getting impressively good at producing work that used to take us hours or even days. They can draft reports, generate code, create presentations, and even mimic specific writing styles with remarkable accuracy. For busy professionals, these tools are tempting time-savers.

But during the conversation, Simon offered a perspective that challenges our efficiency-first mindset.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY CLICKING HERE
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

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Question Of The Month

How important is employee engagement for organisational performance?

Why Intent Matters

John C. Maxwell (an American author, speaker and pastor who primarily focuses on leadership) famously said: “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.” We do not have to look far to see the far-reaching impact leadership decisions can have, for better or worse. I know, as I suspect most people do, the huge impact a leader can have on our careers, growth, health and even our lives, again for better or worse. Yet despite this potentially huge personal, and potentially global, ripple that leaders can have, it is a largely unregulated industry with no behavioural standards and therefore very little accountability for behaviour. In addition, even though there exists a plethora of evidence and case studies that show the benefits and even return on investment (ROI) of values-based leadership, the true adoption of these principles is generally sluggish.

Why Leadership Development Programs Fail

Sidestepping four common mistakes can help companies develop stronger and more capable leaders, save time and money, and boost morale.

For years, organizations have lavished time and money on improving the capabilities of managers and on nurturing new leaders. US companies alone spend almost $14 billion annually on leadership development. Colleges and universities offer hundreds of degree courses on leadership, and the cost of customized leadership-development offerings from a top business school can reach $150,000 a person.

For more information regarding the above, please e-mail  events@legitimateleadership.com

Question Of The Month 

By Wendy Lambourne, Director, Legitimate Leadership.

Question: How important is employee engagement for organisational performance?

Answer: Legitimate Leadership believes that the most important criterion for sustained organisational performance is the degree to which the will of employees is engaged to go above and beyond in the pursuit of the organisation’s objectives.

For people to contribute in the workplace, more important than either what people have (systems), or know (skills and knowledge), is their willingness.

A person’s willingness to work, more than anything else, is determined by the nature of the relationship he has with his immediate manager and the intent of that manager. Only when the manager’s intent is to give to her people will they be willing. The “give” that she needs to make is highly specific: it is to have a sincere and genuine interest in her people’s welfare and to enable them to realise the best in themselves. To deliver on these two criteria requires a manager to understand what makes each of the people reporting to her tick and to align what care and growth she gives to each of them, according to their individual needs and circumstances.

To submit your question,  email info@legitimateleadership.com 

Article: Why Intent Matters

By Dieter Jansen, Associate, Legitimate Leadership.

John C. Maxwell (an American author, speaker and pastor who primarily focuses on leadership) famously said: “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.” We do not have to look far to see the far-reaching impact leadership decisions can have, for better or worse. I know, as I suspect most people do, the huge impact a leader can have on our careers, growth, health and even our lives, again for better or worse. Yet despite this potentially huge personal, and potentially global, ripple that leaders can have, it is a largely unregulated industry with no behavioural standards and therefore very little accountability for behaviour. In addition, even though there exists a plethora of evidence and case studies that show the benefits and even return on investment (ROI) of values-based leadership, the true adoption of these principles is generally sluggish.

Why?

The conventional view of leadership rests in phrases like ‘climbing the ladder’, ‘getting to the top’, ‘being in charge’, etc, and is mostly ego-based.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY CLICKING HERE

Article: Why Leadership Development Programs Fail

By Pierre Gurdjian, Thomas Halbeisen, and Kevin Lane of global management consulting company McKinsey.

COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE BY WENDY LAMBOURNE OF LEGITIMATE LEADERSHIP: We agree with the authors on all four of the common mistakes:

1. Understanding Context. What is required of leaders (other than an intent to serve through the care and growth of direct reports) is tailoring Legitimate Leadership to their context. This is the reason for Legitimate Leadership, in conjunction with the client organisation, classifying their unique “why” and tailoring any intervention to this before it is launched.
2. Decoupling Reflection From Real Work. A fundamental principle of Legitimate Leadership is how to use the task/job to grow the person. Our 12-15 month application process ensures that the tools and insights gleaned from the Application Modules are translated into day-to-day leadership practices. Leaders are required to make shifts in behaviour and practice, are coached, and then held accountable for doing so.
3. Understanding Mindsets. There are two prerequisites for change. First, a conviction that there is an alternative and better way to lead. This is achieved through a two-day debate with leaders arguing for a “care and growth” rather than a “command and control” approach to leadership. Second, an understanding that “I am the project, and who needs to change is me, not them”. The leadership profile, which holds up the mirror to leaders on how aligned they currently are against the criteria for legitimate power, is very useful to stimulate changing leaders’ behaviour and practice.
4. Failing To Measure Results. We measure the health of leadership/alignment to the care and growth criteria at both the start and end of the intervention: how do direct reports, at the start and the end, perceive their direct manager in terms of care, means, ability and accountability? We also track the impact of these shifts on organisational performance. In a fashion retailer, sales were down over a peak trading period due to recessionary economic conditions, but profit was significantly up due to a focus on implementing standards in stock control, customer engagement and productivity.

THE ARTICLE: Sidestepping four common mistakes can help companies develop stronger and more capable leaders, save time and money, and boost morale.

For years, organizations have lavished time and money on improving the capabilities of managers and on nurturing new leaders. US companies alone spend almost $14 billion annually on leadership development. Colleges and universities offer hundreds of degree courses on leadership, and the cost of customized leadership-development offerings from a top business school can reach $150,000 a person.

Moreover, when upward of 500 executives were asked to rank their top three human-capital priorities, leadership development was included as both a current and a future priority. Almost two thirds of the respondents identified leadership development as their number one concern. Only 7 percent of senior managers polled by a UK business school think that their companies develop global leaders effectively, and around 30 percent of US companies admit that they have failed to exploit their international business opportunities fully because they lack enough leaders with the right capabilities.

We’ve talked with hundreds of chief executives about the struggle, observing both successful initiatives and ones that run into the sand. In the process, we’ve identified four of the most common mistakes. Here we explain some tips to overcome them.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY CLICKING HERE

Featured

Question Of The Month

How should a leader get feedback on how she is doing as a leader?

Spatialedge – Can You Have Legitimate Leaders Without Managers?

In the winelands outside of Cape Town at the southern tip of Africa is an extraordinary company, a data and applied AI solutions start-up called Spatialedge. When I was first introduced to Spatialedge, they were a company of 85 people. Just over a year later they now have plus-130 people, who they call “data enthusiasts”.

They have attracted investor funding, are scaling exponentially and expanding internationally. They would argue, and I agree, that their success in the AI space, while partly due to the qualifications and exceptional skills of their people, is also due to their unique culture which has been developed and fostered by the founders since the inception of the company.

Is Generosity The Most Underrated Leadership Skill?

Leadership isn’t about role or position, it’s about generosity. We need generous leaders, who give of themselves freely without expectation of personal gain so others can develop, grow and thrive at their full potential.

For more information regarding the above, please e-mail  events@legitimateleadership.com

Question Of The Month 

By Josh Hayman, Director, Legitimate Leadership.

Question: How should a leader get feedback on how she is doing as a leader?

Answer: Legitimate Leadership believes that if one truly wants to know how a leader is doing, the best judges are the very people who depend on that person for leadership. We incorporate this principle into our approach to transforming leaders by conducting Leadership Surveys for each participant. These surveys diagnose how the leader is perceived to be aligned to the four key criteria of giving Care, providing Means, cultivating Ability, and holding people Accountable.

The process is of course anonymous. It provides leaders with immensely useful feedback – and gives them clarity and focus on where their development opportunities lie.

When discussing this feedback with leaders on our programmes, one of the questions I often ask is how often they themselves ask their people directly for feedback on how they are doing. The response is generally not about how often it happens, but more about whether it happens at all.

Read the full response by clicking here.

To submit your question,  email info@legitimateleadership.com 

Case Study: Spatialedge – Can You Have Legitimate Leaders Without Managers?

By Wendy Lambourne, Director, Legitimate Leadership.

In the winelands outside of Cape Town at the southern tip of Africa is an extraordinary company, a data and applied AI solutions start-up called Spatialedge. When I was first introduced to Spatialedge, they were a company of 85 people. Just over a year later they now have plus-130 people, who they call “data enthusiasts”.

They have attracted investor funding, are scaling exponentially and expanding internationally. They would argue, and I agree, that their success in the AI space, while partly due to the qualifications and exceptional skills of their people, is also due to their unique culture which has been developed and fostered by the founders since the inception of the company.

So why should they need Legitimate Leadership? As with any of our clients, we clarify upfront what they are seeking to achieve in embracing the Legitimate Leadership principles and practices.
At the outset, the leadership of Spatialedge was crystal clear about their “why”:

READ THE FULL CASE STUDY BY CLICKING HERE

Video: Is Generosity The Most Underrated Leadership Skill?

By Joe Davis, former regional chair for Boston Consulting Group in North America, and author of the book The Generous Leader: 7 Ways to Give of Yourself for Everyone’s Gain.

COMMENT ON THIS VIDEO BY WENDY LAMBOURNE, LEGITIMATE LEADERSHIP: Giving is only giving if it is unconditional – giving without expectation of getting. Joe Davis provides some good examples of generous giving. But to be an exceptional leader requires two forms of giving, not one. The other form of giving is courage – it is about putting oneself on the line. Of the two, courage is more difficult because the price that may have to be paid is greater. What we need are leaders who are both generous and courageous.

OUR SUMMARY OF THIS VIDEO: My first job was as a sales rep for Procter & Gamble; thereafter as a manager with three reps reporting to me. They were in their 40s I was 26 and frankly I had no idea how to be a manager. I rode with them every two weeks, visiting stores yet rarely giving any feedback. I was in awe.

Then it came time for year-end reviews. I compiled a list of things that each person could do to improve. I launched into my review with Rich. About three minutes in he cut me off: ‘Wait a minute, you ride with me every two weeks and you’ve never said any of these things!’ I was mortified – he taught me something in that moment.

Leadership isn’t about role or position, it’s about generosity. We need generous leaders, who give of themselves freely without expectation of personal gain so others can develop, grow and thrive at their full potential.
 
READ THE FULL SUMMARY OF THIS VIDEO BY CLICKING HERE
TO VIEW THE VIDEO CLICK HERE

Featured

Question Of The Month

Does Legitimate Leadership claim that application of its framework improves a company’s results?

Company Boards – It’s All About The Relationship, Stupid

In early March, Ian Munro and Wendy Lambourne, directors of Legitimate Leadership, made presentations on Legitimate Leadership’s approach to Building Strong Boards (or governing bodies of organisations) as part of a FluidRock online webinar on that subject.

The CEO Who Felt Liberated

An insurance business in South Africa, which still exists today, was initially owned by a European company. The European company pulled out of South Africa and sold the South African company to an international insurance company which had its head office in Toronto, Canada.

A few months after the take-over, the relevant executive in Toronto asked the South African company’s CEO to come to Toronto. He told him, ‘Sorry, I know it’s a long way. But I need you to come here because I need to say something to you face-to-face.’

AI Sharpens The Distinction Between Management And Leadership

One of the defining principles of Legitimate Leadership is the capacity to extend trust – to give up control. Management, on the other hand, is all about control and controls, many of which are already being replaced or augmented by AI. 

For more information regarding the above, please e-mail  events@legitimateleadership.com

Question Of The Month 

By Wendy Lambourne, Director, Legitimate Leadership.

Question: Does Legitimate Leadership claim that application of its framework improves a company’s results?

Answer: A Legitimate Leadership intervention impacts on employee contribution in an organisation. It does not lay claim to improved business performance, since business results can improve for all sorts of reasons extraneous to a transformation of the human side of an enterprise.

At the same time there is obviously a connection between people and results. Also, our experience is that organisations only change when the people within them change. Changes in systems and structures do not produce sustainable organisational change; only people change can do that.

What enables sustainable organisational change is the cultivation of the intent to serve at the level of the individual, the team and the organisation. Read the full response by clicking here.

To submit your question,  email info@legitimateleadership.com 

Article: Company Boards – It’s All About The Relationship, Stupid

In early March, Ian Munro and Wendy Lambourne, directors of Legitimate Leadership, made presentations on Legitimate Leadership’s approach to Building Strong Boards (or governing bodies of organizations) as part of a FluidRock online webinar on that subject.

Below is a summary of Wendy Lambourne’s presentation. A summary of Ian Munro’s presentation appeared in our March 2025 newsletter.

‘Bill Clinton famously said, “it’s all about the economy, stupid.” Legitimate Leadership thinks it’s appropriate, in reference to boards and executive teams, to say, “it’s all about the relationship, stupid.” The relationship more than anything else is what matters – when it is constructive and collaborative, the experience is fundamentally different from the opposite.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY CLICKING HERE

Vignette Case Study: The CEO Who Felt Liberated

By Wendy Lambourne, Director, Legitimate Leadership.

An insurance business in South Africa, which still exists today, was initially owned by a European company. The European company pulled out of South Africa and sold the South African company to an international insurance company which had its head office in Toronto, Canada.

A few months after the take-over, the relevant executive in Toronto asked the South African company’s CEO to come to Toronto. He told him, ‘Sorry, I know it’s a long way. But I need you to come here because I need to say something to you face-to-face.’

It was not a comfortable flight for the South African CEO because he assumed that in Toronto he would be fired.

READ THE FULL VIGNETTE CASE STUDY BY CLICKING HERE

Video Excerpt: AI Sharpens The Distinction Between Management And Leadership

By Seth Godin, American management and marketing guru, and the author of 20 international bestsellers.

COMMENT ON THIS VIDEO EXCERPT BY IAN MUNRO OF LEGITIMATE LEADERSHIP: One of the defining principles of Legitimate Leadership is the capacity to extend trust – to give up control. Management, on the other hand, is all about control and controls, many of which are already being replaced or augmented by AI. We would, therefore, agree with Godin that management is likely to become less important, but it is also likely to become easier, with the possible implication that even more “leaders” are drawn to the expedience of command-and-control. AI may make management less important and leadership more important as Godin suggests, but it isn’t likely to make leadership, especially the kind that is dependent on generosity and courage, any easier.

OUR SUMMARY OF THIS VIDEO EXCERPT: Leadership says let’s get the right people in the room, give them the right resources and the right problems to go solve things – with an incentive of status and affiliation for doing so.

With AI now doing most of the jobs where we can write down specifically what we need done, management is going to get less and less important and leadership is going to become more and more important.

Which is why strategy matters so much – because you want to tell people the strategy and let them find the tactics. Ray Croc (founder of McDonald’s – editor) and Henry Ford (founder of Ford – editor) were pioneers of management. Frederick Taylor (an American mechanical engineer who became famous in the late 1800s for his methods to improve industrial efficiency – editor) had a stopwatch, and we got the phrase ‘human resources’ from the idea of treating people like machines.

And if you’ve ever heard the phrase ‘being jerked around’ or calling someone ‘a jerk,’ it comes from Ford Model T plants – because you would watch the workers and they would be dancing around like marionettes. Because there was something like a stopwatch on every single motion.

READ THE FULL EXCERPT BY CLICKING HERE
TO VIEW THE VIDEO CLICK HERE

Featured

Question Of The Month

From a Legitimate Leadership perspective, what can our preoccupation with our cell phones show us?

Answer: We are not only very connected, we are also very hooked. If we leave the devices at home for 24 hours, we feel that we have been excommunicated from society. When we are unable to check messages for 30 minutes, we feel desperate.

Company Boards – A Little Give Goes A Long Way

In early March, Ian Munro and Wendy Lambourne, directors of Legitimate Leadership, made presentations on Legitimate Leadership’s approach to Building Strong Boards (or governing bodies of organisations) as part of a FluidRock online webinar on that subject.

Below is a summary of Ian Munro’s presentation. A summary of Wendy Lambourne’s presentation will appear in our April 2025 newsletter.

The Amplification of Best-Behaviour Culture Is A Leadership Imperative

At its core, this article is about accountability. Specifically, the article discusses amplifying positive behaviours and actions through celebration, recognition and reward; and confronting negative attitudes and behaviours clearly and fairly. This is entirely consistent with the Legitimate Leadership Model. 

For more information regarding the above, please e-mail  events@legitimateleadership.com

Question Of The Month 

By Wendy Lambourne, Director, Legitimate Leadership.

Question: From a Legitimate Leadership perspective, what can our preoccupation with our cell phones show us?

Answer: We are not only very connected, we are also very hooked. If we leave the devices at home for 24 hours, we feel that we have been excommunicated from society. When we are unable to check messages for 30 minutes, we feel desperate.

We are still bedazzled by the technology and impressed by the obvious utility of these devices. We are fixated on what these wonderful contraptions can do to help us manage our lives.

But a less obvious underlying utility of mobile devices lies in their potential to provide us with key insights into what is happening, not in our busy world, but in the world behind our eyeballs – in our inner realm. They are excellent barometers, in real time, of our intent.  Read the full response by clicking here.

To submit your question,  email info@legitimateleadership.com 

Article: Company Boards – A Little Give Goes A Long Way

In early March, Ian Munro and Wendy Lambourne, directors of Legitimate Leadership, made presentations on Legitimate Leadership’s approach to Building Strong Boards (or governing bodies of organisations) as part of a FluidRock online webinar on that subject.

Below is a summary of Ian Munro’s presentation. A summary of Wendy Lambourne’s presentation will appear in our April 2025 newsletter.

Ian Munro: ‘In 2007 I was offered a professional opportunity that I had really wanted, and I had no hesitation in accepting. The opportunity was to move to the UK – to move my whole life from South Africa – and to consolidate a number of projects in the UK and Europe that the business I was then working for had. It was very exciting!

‘It was somewhat less exciting – in fact terrifying – in 2008 when I got on the plane a week after the financial crisis.
‘When I arrived at the London office on the first day, every one of our projects there had been put on hold – in other words, we had no revenue. In hindsight, though, I did have one thing that was incredibly fortunate.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY CLICKING HERE

Article: The Amplification of Best-Behaviour Culture Is A Leadership Imperative

From SKOR, a US-based culture measurement company.

COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE BY IAN MUNRO, LEGITIMATE LEADERSHIP: At its core, this article is about accountability. Specifically, the article discusses amplifying positive behaviours and actions through celebration, recognition and reward; and confronting negative attitudes and behaviours clearly and fairly. This is entirely consistent with the Legitimate Leadership Model. It is also more difficult to do in practice than it might at first seem. It requires both generosity and courage. The latter in particular is frequently in short supply – even in seasoned leaders. Legitimate Leadership requires that leaders go beyond simply role-modelling or leading by example. Legitimate leaders not only walk the talk, they also demand that their people walk the talk. They go beyond simply being accountable. They hold others accountable too.

THE ARTICLE: Last week, I attended CultureCon, an awesome event centered around organizational culture. One particular slide from Eric Hutcherson, the Chief People & Inclusion officer at Universal Music Group, the keynote speaker, resonated deeply with me. It read:

The culture of any organization is shaped by the WORST behavior the leader is willing to TOLERATE.

The culture of any organization is shaped by the BEST behavior the leader is willing to AMPLIFY.

This insightful statement captures a simple yet critical truth: leaders are the custodians of culture. It is their daily choices—what they tolerate and what they celebrate—that define the boundaries and aspirations of the workplace environment. A further reason why SKOR assesses only Leaders, rather than individual contributors when it comes to assessing culture.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE BY CLICKING HERE