Interview with Mr Goodnews Cadogan, Executive Leadership Coach, South Africa
Vasudhaiv Kutumbkam* Interview Series
Area of Thought Leadership -Integral Coaching
Dr Amit Nagpal-Tell us something about Centre for Courageous Authenticity
in leadership.
Goodnews Cadogan-The Centre for Courageous Authenticity in Leadership was
born out of my experience (shared with that of my co-directors, Ms
Vuyokazi Menye: CIO at the Mondi Group & Ms
Ntombekhaya Dayimani, Supply Director at Sandoz Pharmaceuticals) with many
leaders displaying lack of courage to execute their mandate, in the face of
resistance. On the other hand, they fail to ‘come-out’ and be who they are, and
decide to blend-in with the dominant systems of their organisations, however
toxic they may be.
Our mission at the CCAL is, through our quarterly advocacy
seminars, to raise the level of awareness of the contribution of lack of leadership
courage, to the ineffectiveness of leadership in organisations, whereby they
limit the growth potential of organisations they serve. The second aspect of
this opportunity gap lies in the opportunity to transcend current
transformational challenges at an individual level and at other levels of
existence in their organisations (team, clusters, business units and
enterprise-wide). In South Africa, organisation transformation, in the context
of our divided past, in the form of selective access to opportunities, on the
basis of race, gender and other socio-economic factors, including adverse
conditions for the disabled.
Economic development at both micro and macro levels is still
limited by the subtle filters through which the large population of previously disadvantaged
(and most would argue, that they are still disadvantaged) is viewed by those
who still play a major role in decision-making, and choices large organisations
make regarding product and service offerings. The few who make it to the top of
these influential organisations, still do not emerge unscathed, for they lose
their own authenticity, in their quest to fit-in. The sum effect of this, you
have a large number of leaders who lack the courage to take the calculated
risks to grow their businesses. They even lack the courage to take the people
risks that would allow emerging leaders to operate to their full potential ~ no
one is ever ready, according to this status of affairs!
Apart from raising the level of awareness regarding lack of
courage and authenticity in leadership, we are busy designing programs that
would allow the current crop of leaders, both experienced, and the new-comers,
to own and transcend the debilitating fear that they have, so they can operate
at full potential, and never fear to come out, for the benefit of their
organisations. This applies equally to private sector (profit-driven)
organisations, public sector (public and social services delivery-driven),
non-profit organisations, as well as co-operatives, including government in its
various forms.
It is our aim to be a fully-fledged private University
within the next five years, offering advanced studies in courage &
authenticity, and offering Research Fellowships sooner, to practicing and
retired leaders and professionals.
Dr Amit-How do you facilitate change at an individual level?
Goodnews-The way I facilitate change at an individual level is
through intimate support to executive leaders and young professionals
(leadership coaching). This is driven by a 360 degree leadership assessment,
with contributions by the leader, peers, team members they lead, the boss and
the boss’s boss. Through conversations and these results, I am able to guide
the leader to look within for solutions to their challenges. Furthermore, I
guide the leader to look deep into their preferred leadership behaviour, as
well as their underlying assumptions about self, people, systems and the task
achievement capability.
Over a period of 12-18 months, I am able to work with the
leader to overcome some of the hurdles that prevent them to be who they can be,
in dealing with both people (relationships) and (task) achievement challenges.
I encourage them to read widely, and communicate their intentions for their
journey openly, so as to be able to create an enabling environment where
feedback becomes fuel for their personal transformation journey.
Dr Amit-Share some interesting experiences you had with clients especially
in individual change and conflict resolution.
Goodnews-It is the shock with which the leaders receive the feedback
that comes from the environment in which they operate, and the way they react
to it, that fascinates me. Most want to give up & externalize the
challenges thrown at them via the structured feedback I give, by attributing
most of what does not work, to others. They go through the various stages, similar
to those that human beings go through when faced with a terminal condition or
death (Elisabeth Kubler-Ross):
Denial & Isolation
Anger
Bargaining
Depression
Acceptance
My facilitation process involves getting them to the
Acceptance stage, and accepting that what they go through at that point, is
purely human, and for them to get through to being High Performance Leaders,
they have to transcend the feedback from the environment, and go for whom they
could be, based on their human potential.
It is when they arrive at the point of acceptance, and start
to reflect on some of their own experiences, and revelations, that I get the
most joy out of my work. In quoting one leader, they said: “In the whole of my
career life, I have never had to look at my leadership journey in this way- I
thank you Goodnews, for helping me to see”.
I have started to work with dysfunctional teams, and through
the process of discovery, they emerge to be one of the best executive teams,
being brutally honest with each other, without harming each other’s
self-esteem. It is when the team gels, and starts to deliver beyond the constraints
of their individual egos that I get to feel overjoyed for the role I have
played in facilitating their transformation. It is even higher levels of joy
when they get to value the role they play in both their organisations, and the
communities they serve.
Dr Amit-What exactly does Village Leadership Consulting do and what
is your role in the organisation?
Goodnews-At The Village Leadership Consulting we consult in the areas
of leadership development, change management, organisation transformation and
diversity management. We have structured & semi-structured leadership
development programs that we offer to our client organisations. Furthermore, we
also offer individual and team coaching, in our quest to create high
performance leaders and organisations.
My role is to offer all of the abovementioned programs and
solutions to our clients, at various levels of organisation existence, from
individual coaching to enterprise-wide program management initiatives. It is my
role to perform business development initiatives, as well as public speaking,
writing of articles, and representing my company in professional organisations.
Dr Amit-What are the primary activities of Asian Foresight Institute?
Goodnews-AFI- As a second generation foresight institute the AFI
consciously integrates philosophy, foresight and strategy and fosters
relationships across a broad spectrum of individual futurists, private think
tanks and academic establishments.
This extensive network of strategic foresight practitioners
enables us to advise governments and business leaders and to inform the public
about future patterns, trends and choices from inclusively global (rather
than exclusively Western) perspectives. Thus the work of the AFI
attempts to counterbalance the prevailing Eurocentric paradigm of
civilizational progress pursued within the guise of industrial economism (including
its associated beliefs, ideologies, values and assumptions) that still
underpins most global policy initiatives and which we believe to be
fundamentally flawed.
Dr Amit-Tell us something about your interest and contribution in
climate change.
Goodnews-Climate Change became part of my interest as a result of
sustainability being one of the most important parts of leadership. I built a
strong network with various experts who contribute one way or the other, to
global climate change thought-leadership.
I advise my clients and link them up with sources of
business intelligence, to inform their long-term strategies through the work I
do with the Asian Foresight Institute. Locally, I participate in the structures
and coalition organisations, to add to the national debate on climate change.
Thanks a lot Goodnews for sharing your wonderful knowledge and experiences. It was a pleasure interacting with you.
* "World is one family" in Sanskrit
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Brief Profile
Goodnews is an executive leadership coach and helps his
clients to focus on finding solutions within, rather than finding fault with
the environment. The ultimate goal for him is to create high performance
leaders, teams and organisations that contribute to the transformation of the
South African economy.
To know more:-
Twitter, @ndaba
Twitter2,
@forcourage
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