lone rangers as leopards, Prof Mpedi suggests we have a lot to learn about leadership. He homes in on the child-rearing tactics, self-defence strategies, and memory rituals of animal herds – such as elephants and buffalo. In this sense the title of Prof Mpedi’s book should be From Predator to Prey and Everything in Between. For him no animal is too big or too small to teach us something about leadership. The cockroach has as much to teach us about resilience as does the elephant, the honey-badger has as much to teach us about persistence in leadership as does the female lion. The leadership behaviours that Prof Mpedi deduces and draws from animals are as incisive as they are insightful: persistence, collaboration, resilience, communication, symbiosis, solitude, habituation, mentoring, control, play, curiosity, and even gratitude. For example, from the behaviours of animals such as birds in relation to scarecrows, squirrels and pigeons in relation to human proximity, and the Aplysia sea slug in relation to touch, Prof Mpedi teaches leaders the power and wisdom of habituation in leadership. Of the ferocity, persistence and the resilience of the small and fury honey badger, Mpedi writes with admiration and passion about persistence in leadership. Similarly, he singles out cockroaches as the ultimate masters of resilience and survival against odds which humans cannot withstand – these being compulsory qualities for leaders and organisations. For lesson in leadership adaptation and endurance, Prof Mpedi advises us to look no further than the camel – the animal without which Africans might have never survived and overcome the Sahara. And on and on he goes. With all the communication technologies in our hands, Prof Mpedi suggests there is a lot more which contemporary leaders can learn about listening and communication from elephants, dolphins and honeybees. Somewhat controversially, Prof Mpedi suggests that, from wild cats and other predators, leaders can learn about
‘mindful leadership presence’ through ‘patrolling our territorial borders’. But he is quick to distinguish between leadership that practices controlling surveillance and leadership that encourages watching over one another. On the judicious, compassionate and controlled use of power in leadership, Prof Mpedi notes: … lions, cheetahs, leopards, hyenas, and crocodiles are among the most dangerous animals in the wild. Yet all these predators move their young with their mouths without harming them: despite being able to crush bones or overpower prey, they use their mouths to carry their young with extreme care. A lioness will gently lift her cub by the scruff of the neck, exerting just enough pressure to hold the cub securely without causing harm. Crocodiles can be seen delicately transporting their hatchlings between their teeth or in their mouths to ensure their safety. Similarly, cheetahs and leopards often move their young to safer locations by gently grasping them in their jaws. These behaviours are more than mere survival mechanisms; they are profound demonstrations of controlled power (p. 118). Among the dozens of repetitive books and articles on leadership, Prof Mpedi’s From Predator to Prey: Leadership Lessons from the African Wild and Beyond, is a breath of fresh air. Rooted in the African wild, it is as creative as it is original. This is a book about leadership – African leadership in a world that may just be ripe for that kind of leadership.
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Prof Tinyiko Maluleke, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the Tshwane University of Technology
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ALUMNI IMPUMELELO
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