Can Leadership Mindset in South Africa Shape Our Destiny?
Perhaps destiny, fate, character and choice are not mysteries. Perhaps they are invitations instead. Invitations to think about whether our characters align with who we want to be. To consider whether our minds are attuned to hear our inner voice and seize the day.
“Seize the day!” wrote the Roman poet Horace in the 1st century BC. He wrote in Latin. “Carpe diem” was colloquialised more recently by Robin Williams’s portrayal of English teacher John Keating in the 1989 film Dead Poets Society. The exhortation is often misunderstood. It is not about doing fun things right now. That could be carelessness, or border on hedonism. The opposite of Horace’s meaning. Rather, it is about matching the situation to what we can control or influence, then acting accordingly.
“It’s about recognising the importance of the present moment.”
Today Is Valuable: The Leadership Mindset of Carpe Diem
Carpe diem requires being alive to the situation. It demands seeing the moment’s opportunities and accepting its advantages. It means focusing on doing the necessary things today rather than fixating on what may or may not happen tomorrow.
In today’s world this is almost counterintuitive. We plan career paths despite the strong likelihood of needing to change jobs multiple times. We are reminded to plan finances far ahead, causing many of us to fixate on money despite knowing that money does not buy happiness. Also, we worry about worrying too much, perpetuating the stress-anxiety-negativity cycle.
There is a price for these attitudes, apparently pre-programmed into our 21st century mindset. Suboptimal performance and compromised contentment. We see this discontent daily in newsfeeds from around the world. Anti-globalisation, some call it. The essayist Pankaj Mishra describes our times as The Age of Anger.
Fate Is Out of Our Hands, but Destiny Is Ours to Shape
Fate, according to dictionaries, is “the development of events outside a person’s control, regarded as predetermined by a supernatural power.” Or multiple powers, such as the three Fate goddesses in Greek mythology: Clotho, Lachesis and Atropos, who measured and spun the threads in the lives of all people.
"One’s destiny, on the other hand, can be shaped by character, and choice."
The root expression, the Latin destinare, implied a subtlety. A person’s future is intended and firmly established, but not yet fixed. It is up to us to determine it. The choices we make and the way we forge our character can redesign and reshape our destiny.
Destiny is a path with a fork. We can choose the fork, even without knowing what awaits. Robert Frost captured this mystery eloquently in his poem The Road Not Taken:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference.
The mystery in the poem is that Frost does not say what difference has accrued, nor whether it has been for the better. Elegantly, the poet warns us that we may meet our destiny on the very road we took to avoid it.
Clarity of Mind: Preparing for the Choices Ahead
If there is an innate tension between fate and destiny, how hard must we work to ensure fate does not bend us to her will? If we make certain choices and adopt the right character, can we redirect the arc of our journey, even without knowing the direction of the forks in the road?
"And what ammunition do we have to help us make the appropriate choices, the right judgements?"
How taut are the lines between cause and ultimate effect? Can our energies weaken these links? Or are the forces preordained and inevitable? As blissfully unaware as Forrest Gump, are we simply part of the background to the unfolding of history?
These are difficult questions. Perhaps a starting point is to expand our bank of knowledge, wisdom and experience. Better still, to clear our minds.
Preparedness: Even for Unconscious Choices
To gain self-knowledge and mental fortitude, Israeli historian and futurist Yuval Noah Harari dedicates three weeks every year to meditation. “We had better understand our minds before the algorithms make up our minds for us,” he believes.
In 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Harari offers an interesting perspective on what is already happening in artificial intelligence and machine learning. Under the radar, our choices are being shaped by algorithms. This is an area of enormous controversy, with consequences in recent elections across many countries. Algorithms also shape the advertising served on social media, the items suggested during online shopping and the YouTube or Netflix content recommended to us.
"The point is that we do have choices."
But we should be mindful of unobvious barriers to our goals: unconscious biases, flawed modes of thinking and manipulative forces of which we may be unaware.
Free Will and the Power of Choice in Leadership Mindset South Africa
We are hardwired to dislike chaos. It is human nature to turn to stories to make sense of the world and probe for information about what makes our fellow humans tick. But we can also take comfort in the reality that we are not stories. Our bodies and minds are our own. And we are not trapped in a cosmic drama or a religious or national narrative and we have agency and autonomy. We can choose beyond the expected narratives.
"Self-belief is a powerful weapon in our arsenal."
If we nurture our self-belief and expand our outlook to a growth mindset, we become attuned to opportunities and poised to capitalise on them.
The Essence of Character: Nature or Nurture?
Moulding our personalities and mastering our actions according to how we wish is not easy. Apart from forces we may be oblivious to, other hindrances relate to our environment and our natures. In the film The International, a doomed double-agent laments: “I was once destined to become a man like yourself. True-hearted, determined, full of purpose. But character is easier kept than recovered.”
Can we develop our characters? The answer is not obvious. At the heart of the issue is the nature-versus-nurture question, the subject of many psychological analyses where the argument goes back and forth.
One 1960s study of twins and triplets, designed by psychoanalyst Peter Neubauer, was the subject of a brilliant but shocking documentary: Three Identical Strangers. Neubauer’s methods and ethics aside, it seems there are genetic, encoded personality factors that can be modified only with extreme difficulty, if at all.
However, in Neubauer’s term about the battle between genes and environment:
“…whilst nature always leaves a ‘thumbprint’, nurture can still battle the odds, and sometimes win.”
Overcoming Obstacles on the Path to Fulfilling Your Destiny
What holds us back in pursuing our ambitions? The excuse of limited time is probably the most commonly used. Yet, using the principles and techniques of deliberate practice, as little as 20 minutes a day of carefully directed practice can allow us to master almost anything. Have you ever heard of a lazy genius?
- ‘If you knew how much work went into it, you wouldn’t call it genius.’ — Michelangelo
- ‘I should get discouraged if I could not go on working as hard or even harder.’ — Vincent Van Gogh
- ‘No one ever changed the world with a forty-hour work week.’ — Elon Musk
"Habits are so important: the wrong ones hinder us; the right ones enable and empower us towards achievement."
Habits define our behaviour. Because we are what we repeatedly do, they shape our character. A combination of self-belief and the right habits helps us both envision our destinies and fulfil them.
Authenticity, Happiness and the Link to Leadership Achievement
American poet laureate Lucille Clifton, who wrote prolifically on issues of feminism and heritage, famously said this about her own confidence: “What they call you is one thing. What you answer to is something else.” Our character may be intertwined with our degree of self-esteem and confidence.
Being authentic is vital for any shot at happiness or high performance. Authenticity underpins the commitment we give. The French word for commitment, engagement, better conveys the degree of involvement that authentic purpose brings to our work.
"The deeper we understand our own characters, the better we can make choices which define our futures."
An Examined Life: How Reflection Shapes Leadership Mindset in South Africa
Humanity may never arrive at a formula to understand the conflict between fate and free will, conscious choice and predetermination. Nor to measure the extent to which forces of destiny control our lives. Perhaps the closest we can get to a satisfactory equilibrium is in the famous line from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, written in 1602: “Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.”
We should ask these kinds of questions. Finding meaning and purpose is often difficult, not least because the modern world disconnects minds from hearts.
"We fall into important but comfortable routines; we evade or inoculate ourselves against struggle."
A numbing reason prevails at the expense of our spiritual dimension. It is our spiritual core that quickens our energy and leads us to seek and discover purpose. Jungian psychologist James Hollis believes the way the modern world separates us from our spirit and our inner voice represents “the problem of our time.” To find deeper textures and a richer life, we need to keep looking.
Life's Mysteries: Destiny, Fate, Character and Choice
Destiny, fate, character and choice each spark fascinating and important contemplations. Their interrelationship and interconnections are complex. They have exercised the minds of great thinkers throughout the ages.
Perhaps these are not mysteries as much as they are invitations. For us to think about whether our characters marry with who we want to be. To engage more deeply with the world and live our best lives. And to seize the day.
At LRMG, we believe that the best leadership development in South Africa starts exactly here. With self-knowledge, self-belief and the habits that translate ambition into achievement. Through talent development and talent advisory solutions built for the African context, LRMG helps leaders develop the mindset, character and capability to shape their organisations’ destinies. To find out how, contact the team.
Frequently Asked Questions: Leadership Mindset and Destiny in South Africa
What is the difference between fate and destiny for a leader?
Fate refers to events outside a person’s control, regarded as predetermined. Destiny, by contrast, can be shaped by character and choice. The Latin root destinare suggests that while a person’s future is intended and firmly established, it is not yet fixed. This distinction matters enormously for leaders in South Africa. It is the difference between a passive acceptance of circumstances and an active commitment to shaping outcomes through deliberate choices, strong habits and a growth mindset.
How does self-belief influence leadership performance?
Self-belief shapes every decision a leader makes. Leaders who have cultivated genuine self-belief are more attuned to opportunities, more willing to take considered risks and more resilient in the face of setbacks. Research consistently shows that the growth mindset, which is the belief that capability and intelligence can be developed, produces better leadership outcomes than a fixed mindset. In South Africa, where leaders navigate complex and rapidly changing environments, self-belief is not a luxury. It is a commercial and personal necessity.
What role do habits play in shaping leadership character?
Habits are the mechanism through which character is built. We are what we repeatedly do. The right habits, even practised for as little as 20 minutes a day using deliberate practice techniques, can develop almost any capability a leader wishes to build. Conversely, the wrong habits constrain performance and limit the fulfilment of both personal and professional potential. Developing high-performance habits is therefore one of the most impactful investments any leader or organisation can make.
How does authenticity connect to leadership effectiveness?
Authenticity is the alignment between who a leader is on the inside and how they show up on the outside. Authentic leaders earn deeper trust, build stronger cultures and inspire greater commitment from their teams. They also sustain better performance over time, because they are not expending energy on maintaining a persona that does not reflect their genuine values. The French word engagement, which is the root of the English word commitment, captures this well. Authentic purpose generates a quality of involvement that inauthentic leadership cannot replicate.
How does LRMG help South African leaders develop mindset and character?
LRMG helps South African leaders develop the mindset, habits and character traits that distinguish good leaders from genuinely great ones. Through talent advisory and talent development solutions, LRMG supports leaders at every level to build self-belief, emotional intelligence, deliberate practice habits and the clarity of purpose that enables them to shape their organisations’ destinies. With nearly three decades of experience and partnerships with over 800 organisations across Africa, LRMG has the depth and expertise to make a lasting difference. To find out more, contact the team through our contact page.
