Minister Manqoba hits empathy notes
“
is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another, and feeling with the heart of another.” This quote by Alfred Adler, a Psychotherapist, resonates this Saturday, as I share and reflect on a speech that evoked the right ethos of empathetic leadership.
I share on this speech, delivered by Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo on Monday, because I have a strong affinity towards a leadership in touch with the people it leads.
This is in all of life’s sectors. Be it in relationships; you need to put yourself in your lover’s shoes; be it at the workplace, you need to see things from the staff perspective; be it in politics and governance, the feelings of those you lead matter a lot. Even in church, a pastor needs to see if the sermon touches on any of the hierarchy of needs of the congregation.
If not, it will just be another chapter from a theology class that will not be relevant for the next six days.
While its great to know about a fish that swallowed a man that also needs to be juxtaposed with the desperate situations that are faced daily by the masses like cost-of-living, generational curses and lack of sustainable income. But that one is a discussion for another day.
The point is, the views of others matter because your daily decisions daily as you lead affect them more than anyone else. As they say in ‘street cred’, the world is ‘woke’, and people are more alive and in tune with
EMPATHY
Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo. their inner selves. They want to be heard, and they want to be made a priority. Hence, after many features where I have decried a lack of empathy in global leadership, my hope was resurrected this week by this Cabinet member’s speech that had traits of empathy all over it.
CABINET
The current Cabinet seemed like a team cut from a fabric woven from success when it was appointed. The skills, experience and qualifications read like an A team. As it nears its end-of-term, there are at least some signs of that fabric’s excellence.
After all that fabric has been durable for the past five years and withstood global economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. There have been successes within the term.
And not a minute too late because, as I noted in one column that in the end, it would be how you made people feel that will leave a legacy for the current
Cabinet.And this has nothing to do with their political acumen or service delivery, but now the people-centred approach is creeping back into their rhetoric. One time, a company director sent me to reserve an invitation to an event with a minister who is also in this Cabinet on a second term.
When I got to the office, the secretary explained a long list of things I had to do to secure the invitation to the event. As I walked away with my envelope, the minister walked in and asked what I was doing at the front desk and if he could help me. I said I had brought an invitation to an event.
He took me into his office and asked me to explain it. He then tentatively confirmed attendance.
We have heard of open-door policies in leadership. That was open-door policy personified.
The public regains confidence knowing they have access to politicians should they have qualms with any service delivery. Of course, this is not to suggest ministers must leave their doors open, as that may also eventually be a security issue, but in this case, one had been vetted to the office. I always digress, forgive me, let’s get back to the day’s topic.
ENTREPRENEUR
Listening to the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade Manqoba Khumalo, at the Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 launch, sparked and renewed hope that we can one day experience what is termed as empathetic leadership.
This is my favourite form of leadership; that speech ticked all those boxes.
Empathetic leadership means having the ability to understand the needs of others, and being aware of their feelings and thoughts
Grabbing my attention immediately was using the word recognise, which also means to acknowledge. It is part of the words one uses when expressing empathy and saying I recognise that you are unhappy or want things done better. Here is what I noted.
He said, “Our key mandate is to create an environment where SMEs and entrepreneurs can flourish, especially the large youth population. To accomplish this, we recognise as a ministry that our programmes need to be targeted towards increasing incentives for MSMEs and reducing the regulatory burden they face.”
If you have been following these weekly columns, you will note that my calls have been for a better way of doing business and youth inclusion. My calls for youth inclusion have reached the point that, in a wishful thinking Open Letter to Youth Minister, I suggested that he lobby for a policy that no minister speech comes out without the word youth.
Because they are a majority of the population, why would you have any project or action without mentioning where they fit it? So here, Minister Khumalo spoke to the pain points of MSMEs.
SIGNIFICANT
Then he also used the word acknowledge. That word is a pillar in empathy language. Even during a fight with your partner, once you say ‘baby, I acknowledge,’ that significant other calms down and starts to listen to the rest of your statement.
Minister Manqoba used the magic word in this way. “I would also like to acknowledge that the business environment in Eswatini has become very challenging due to the current global inflation,” he said. It becomes a cold and lonely place when no one acknowledges your pain. MSMEs face numerous challenges; at times, they get so frustrated and feel they are forgotten or not heard. But this acknowledgement set the tone and hooked me on the rest of the speech as an MSME myself or perhaps even lower tier as a Mini Micro Small Medium Enterprise.
As the speech progressed, that good word emerged again. “We acknowledge that as a ministry, we must ensure a conducive environment for business startups and also put in place support structures for those businesses to thrive. The task we have is that of providing support for business growth and development,” he said. I almost started clapping hands as I got emotional.
The speech may not have outlined to the bare details how the interventions may happen, but it did highlight commitment and intentionality. And that is all some of us need.
It is a start, and it is a personification of empathetic leadership. The minister’s leadership was also recognised by the FNB Eswatini CEO Dennis Mbingo, who said Khumalo’s efforts were visible for all to see. Can he do better? of course it does not mean he has achieved everything by showing empathy, but it does mean he is in touch and that is the foundation for all next actions.
REVENUE
We have seen a shift in the service in other organisations like Eswatini Revenue Service to be more customer-centric. The recent campaign on debt relief of taxes saw many take up the offer and get up to date with their taxes.
That was evidence that when you put yourself in the consumer’s shoes and address their pain points, the result is a winwin. It is not us against them, but it is both of us looking to work together for solutions for the country’s economic development.
Speeches such as Khumalo’s remind us that there is hope, our concerns are at times heard, and they are being addressed or will be addressed. And with the hope, we continue to live another day.