The Zulu philosophical concept of Ubuntu — often rendered as 'I am because we are' — offers a counterintuitive reframe for leaders who equate strength with self-sufficiency. The philosopher and Ubuntu scholar Mogobe Ramose argues that personhood itself is relational: you don't bring your full humanity to a group, you discover it through the group. For leaders, this means that influence isn't something you project outward from a place of individual authority — it emerges from the quality of your attunement to the people around you. The Monday temptation to set the week's agenda alone, before listening, may be precisely where leadership quietly erodes.

Think of a recent decision you made as a leader largely on your own — what would have changed, in the decision or in your people, if the process had been more relational?

Drawing from African Philosophy (Ubuntu) — Mogobe Ramose (Ubuntu and African Philosophy)