We know that living in SA can be tough. But the very situations and circumstances that seem so daunting and even overwhelming at times can also be the source of strengths we've never realised we have; they can also make better managers of us as we guide our teams.

I had a conversation with one of my colleagues the other day that has really challenged my thinking about the role and complexity of management in South Africa. Becky is Canadian – she’s working and living in South Africa because she married a South African. She has extensive experience of management in both South Africa and Canada, and was helping me see the uniqueness of the management role in this country.

I suppose it’s a bit like doctor training: doctors working at Bara are world experts on treating bullet wounds and related trauma. The reason is quite obvious: through the volume of gunshot patients that are wheeled in thorough the casualty doors each day, the trauma doctors become experts through sheer volume of exposure, as opposed to a doctor in a quiet hospital somewhere in rural England, who may see the occasional bullet wound every year. The challenges South African managers face in managing people from day to day are tough and complex, and stretch us to deal with the issues and still remain competitive in a global economy.

Maybe thinking about my own week of management will help jog a couple of insights for you: our groundsman needed two days off work: he lives with his family in a squatter camp in Diepsloot, and was thrown out of his shack by the family of his landlord when the landlord passed on from AIDS. He needed to build his family a new shack on new ground, and that took two working days and the weekend (and a loan for the materials); my finance man discovered he was a victim of identity theft and needed a few days to ‘prove’ to the police and home affairs that he’s not actually dead; many moms dash off at lunch time to drive children around, even though school is close to home because we can’t allow our children to walk the streets; the lights went out during a very stressful ‘train-the-trainer’ course on our site and the event had to be shifted off, mid-course, to another venue; that same day was hectic tender pressure time, and our tender documents didn’t finish printing before the lights went out; we had some lurkers in the road outside our premises while a team was working late, which put us all on edge about our office security, and my business partner’s bag, and therefore her entire life, was swiped at the shopping centre!

It’s so easy to feel completely out of control and a victim of the life we feel ourselves forced to live here, and managers have a role to play in helping their people stay the course, and remain competitive and productive. I was so impressed by the email that did the rounds a few months ago in which Alan Knott Craig (junior), recognized the symptoms of flagging morale and the “victim state” of most South Africans, and also his iburst staff. He threw himself into action and reminded his team the all was not lost: He reminded them that we have felt like this before:

“On each of those occasions everyone thought it was the end of the world and that there was no light in sight. And on each occasion, believe it or not, the world did not actually end, it recovered and in fact things continued to get better.

“I think 2008 will be a tough year, but I also see it as a great opportunity to seize the day whilst everyone else is whinging and get a front-seat on the inevitable boom that we’ll experience in 2009, 2010 and beyond.

“Make sure you make a mental note of everything that is happening now, because it will happen again and again, and if you don’t recognize the symptoms you’ll be suckered into the same negativity, and forget to look for the opportunities”

He is demonstrating the critical skills which great managers in South Africa use to lead effectively: resilience and optimism. He is able to see through the toughness of the present, get a sense of how his people are feeling, and address the issues head-on, helping his people see light and opportunities even when the darkness threatens to overwhelm them.

I believe that in order for South African companies to thrive in the global economy, they have to realize that a lot depends on their managers learning how to build and engage people effectively in these trying times. It’s up to them to employ resilient people, coach resilience and optimism into their people, and remain resilient and optimistic themselves in the face of tough challenges. In short, South African managers need to build higher levels of emotional intelligence and people management skills in order to meet the requirements of thriving in South Africa.

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