Reactions to the national lockdown announced in March by President Cyril Ramaphosa have ranged from among others, horror to happiness, begrudging acquiescence to euphoric acceptance, wilful sloth to productive energy, and it is the latter which inspired 33-year-old Mbekweni resident, Bongi Nkosi.
Rather than fritter his days away in frustration,
Mr Nkosi chose to use the time to write a book about leadership.
“I was determined to make my time in lockdown productive,” he told Bolander.
Mr Nkosi, who lives with wife Omuhle and their five-year-old daughter, Entle, completed a Bachelor of Social Science degree in government, business and ethics, through the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), in 2019.
“It was during the course of this degree that I developed a love for leadership, and ethical leadership in particular.
“I am currently doing a BCom (honours) in management with UKZN – now online due to lockdown – so when the president announced the national lockdown, I decided to start writing a book titled Visionary Leadership.
“The book cites people that are regarded by many as great leaders, to explain certain qualities that every leader must have, namely: vision, humility, resilience, integrity, knowledge, wisdom and understanding.
“I personally believe that the state of any institution – family, church, business, politics, NPOs and academic institutions – is a reflection of the quality of its leadership.
“Thus, all the ills that we are experiencing as a society (gender-based violence, corruption, femicide and other crimes), are a direct result of lack of ethical leadership.”
But Mr Nkosi’s intentions are far wider than just authoring a book about leadership.
“My vision is to write books and conduct seminars on leadership in an attempt to solve the leadership problems that we have as a continent,” he said.
Asked who inspires him to write, Mr Nkosi said: “My wife always encourages me to read and to write, my daughter is my source of inspiration, though she disturbs me at times because we are sharing a laptop.”
It took Mr Nkosi just two months to write Visionary Leadership. The text was edited by Guava Paper Editing Consultants, and the book is published by Triumphant Media.
“Since the publication of the book, we have sold 20 copies,” Mr Nkosi said. “It is easily available as a PDF costs just R100, and can delivered via WhatsApp.”
To order a copy of the book Visionary Leadership, contact Mr Nkosi on 072 960 0968 (calls) or 073 452 3559 (WhatsApp).
