Isaac Shongwe, the leadership advocate walking the talk

It is always very inspiring to find men and women committed to make a change in their country, their continent and even globally. Isaac Shongwe is one of such outstanding individuals. I met him first on his visit to Nigeria and then later in South-Africa in 2015. From my first conversation with him, it was easy to tell his passion for leadership and mentoring. Isaac would do all things possible to bring out the best in you. Call him a coach, mentor, or even ‘Baba’ meaning Father in several Nigerian languages like some of us his ALI Fellowship children call him and you would have correctly described him too.  Isaac is the co-founder of the African Leadership Initiative, which is part of the Aspen Global Leadership Network and is focused on the development of effective, community-spirited and values-based leaders in Africa. Over the past 12 years, the Africa Leadership Initiative has produced 171 Fellows in business, government and civil society. Furthermore, he has founded the Young African Leadership Initiative to focus on developing young leaders between the ages of 25 and 35. His own passion for leadership began at university where he was heavily involved in students’ politics. In 1988, Isaac was named 21st Century Trust Fellow, in recognition of his potential as a future leader in his country, and in 1996 was named “Global Leader of Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum. He serves on the board of the Aspen Institute and is a Henry Crown Fellow. He also serves as Chairman of the Open Society Foundation for South Africa and the Wits Business School Advisory Board. He also serves on the selection committee of the Mandela Rhodes Scholarship.

Isaac was until the end of May 2014 an Executive Director of Barloworld Limited, a leading global industrial company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange; he remains a non-executive Director of the Company. Prior to that, he was the CEO of Barloworld Logistics, a subsidiary of Barloworld with global operations. He joined Barloworld in 2005 as a result of a transaction involving the purchase of a stake in a subsidiary, Barloworld Logistics Africa (Pty) Ltd.  Isaac is a founder and Chairman of Letsema Holdings and is focused on building a value based, long term, buy-and-hold Investment Company. In 1996, he founded Letsema Consulting which is now a leading black owned and managed management consulting company in South Africa. Off that platform, Isaac created an investment company that has built several successful companies of long standing. Isaac has a demonstrated ability to innovate and grow businesses in challenging economic circumstances. It was as a result of one of these investments that he joined Barloworld ultimately to become an executive director.  Isaac was educated at Wesleyan University, a liberal arts college in Connecticut USA, and Oxford University in the UK where he studied as a Rhodes Scholar and obtained an M.Phil in Management Studies.

“I was raised by my Grandmother with many cousins under very poor conditions. At the age of twelve, I left my Grandparents house for the suburbs of Johannesburg in search for work. I survived by doing gardening work on weekends and I would go to school during the week. This experience taught me how to be self-reliant at a very young age. My ability to fend for myself at an early age has taught me how to cope and adapt in any situation I find myself in. I believe that I draw my strength from my upbringing.” Says Isaac.

At the Age of 30, in 1995, Isaac started his first business, Letsema Consulting. In his words, “I have used this as a platform to start other businesses. In 2005 I did my biggest investment deal when I acquired 26% in a Barloworld subsidiary, Barloworld Logistics for R130 million. Today I group my businesses under Letsema holdings and I serve as a non-executive director of Barloworld Ltd. Barloworld helped me hone my skills at operating a large scale business.” He tells me.

In the late 90’s, Letsema consulting did a lot of advisory work for the department of trade and industry in South Africa. This experience thought Isaac that education is a critical bed rock to success “once knowledgeable about something, no one can ever take that away from you. Through this experience, I gained confidence and started believing that I can leverage the education that I gained.”

Education really has a role to play in determining what our lives can turn out to be. For Isaac, his college experience in the US made him discover the potential he never thought he had. Given the opportunity to try his hands at many things: sports, debating, leadership, writing, made Isaac really believe in himself. His numerous outstanding leadership positions over his years of stay in the US buttressed this point.

Talk about someone who is so positive about development in Africa and Isaac comes to mind. “I Love our continent” he says and continues “I love its people. I am passionate about human development. I want to contribute positively to my country and my continent. I have a passion for Leadership, specifically leadership on the continent. You don’t have to go far to understand the consequences of poor leadership, we have an abundance of examples on the continent.” Isaac insists. As long as Isaac is concerned, there is a need for leadership transformation for our continent to realise its potential and Africa can only rise if those in leadership positions lead to benefit and uplift their countries.

Despite Isaac’s inspiring feat and determination to make positive impact at all levels, he takes me down memory lane of a day in his life he is not quick to forget and I really understand where he is coming from because I lost my mum too the only difference being that I lost my mum in 2015 and he lost his mum when he was 12 years old. “My mother died when I was 12 years old and this was a very significant event in my life. On that day, I knew that my life would never be the same again. In reflection today, I believe that my mother had to die when she did for me to embark on a journey which I am still on today. When things are tough in my life, I think of that day and what would seem impossible or overwhelming becomes simple.” He soberly reflects.

Sometimes, Isaac’s challenges include lacking the courage he needs to have in order to self-actualise and as such, he prays on a daily basis for God to give him courage to do the work that He put him on this earth to do.

Isaac’s desire is to develop leadership and entrepreneurship in the continent. He does this through the Africa Leadership Initiative (ALI). “ALI promotes the idea of values based and community spirited leadership. The Fellowship is an enabler of sharing ideas, working together and helping one another for the betterment of society. I am still searching for my true calling” he quips.

However, Isaac believes that change starts from within “it takes one spark to begin the process of social change. Through influence and commitment, this spark turns into a flame and later a raging fire that forever changes the landscape before us. That is what ALI is about.”

“My earnest desire is to see a prosperous African continent. We have a beautiful continent, beautiful people, and lots of natural resources, yet we are the poorest continent. Our leaders have let us down but I believe that this should be an African century. It can only become that if we, the Africans step up and shape our future and destinies of our people.” Isaac’s optimism speaks.

Asked what greatest lesson life has taught him and he says “I am not my circumstance, to a large extent, I have control of what happens to me.”

Hear Baba’s conclusive words of wisdom “It is not a secret that our young democracy is in a serious crisis of legitimacy. A dream of a new dawn that shone so brightly in 1994 is in serious danger of extinction. Political freedom has not led to economic freedom for the majority of our countryman. For a democracy to survive, it needs to be legitimate.” “Legitimacy requires the citizenry to believe that they have a fair chance of lifting themselves out of the circumstances they find themselves in.  I believe that a virtuous and active citizenry will be one of the key solutions to our country`s problems. We are all uniquely placed to act.”

Kemi Ajumobi