Leadership Legacy

6Vocation and the Leadership Paradox

‘He who fears the sun will not become chief’

(African proverb, widely attributed across West African cultures, e.g., Igbo, Yoruba, Akan and Hausa)

A few weeks ago, my therapist introduced me to a phrase that troubled me, while at the same time felt deeply familiar: toxic productivity. This term describes an unhealthy obsession with constantly striving for perfection. Here, self-worth connects closely to what someone produces. It can manifest as guilt during rest periods and a culture that glorifies the cult of busyness, which not only impacts the leaders, employees, and everybody else involved in the organisation, but also cascades to the broader community outside the world of work.

My mother, Tessa, travelled from Georgetown, Guyana, to Scotland at the tender age of 19 during the 1960s. Her unwavering commitment to our family sometimes came at the expense of her well-being. As I write this, I am suddenly reminded of how the remarkable evolution of my mother, from the 1970s to the 2020s, illustrates her as both a role model and a counterpoint to the stereotype of the ‘strong independent Black woman’. She had to be strong, for herself and us. Now in her mid-70s, my mother continues to dedicate herself to serving and caring for others. The difference is that this commitment now stems from a conscious choice rather than a sense of duty as our mother. Perhaps she's finally allowing herself to reject that stereotype, enabling us, her children, ...