Throughout history, leaders have played a pivotal role in bringing about positive in-depth transformation in different walks of life. In contrast to the artful interventions of helmsmen in the past, nowadays, many executives facing increasing uncertainty and complexity in their external environments and inside their institutions are introducing ever more sophisticated guidelines. They thus hope to standardize behavior and reduce risks as a result. Those imperfect rigid codifications of past insights, crafted in the absence of complete knowledge, are bound to elicit wrong responses in rapidly changing environments with many unforeseen events happening. Given the key role of leadership for institutional and personal success and the current leadership void due to abdication in favor of rules, it is high time to reconnect to timeless wisdom and ensure that movers and shakers again take over the steering wheel to avoid implosion or explosion at various levels of aggregation. The new “7-C-Butterfly Bow Tie”™ (BBT) model includes various components of leadership, making it possible for helmsmen to unleash seemingly unlimited individual and collective energy in the pursuit of noble objectives.

The skilled technical industries in the emerging economy of South Africa are mostly male-dominated and, in some cases, there are no females present at all. However, for the few female leaders who are in this industry, there are different means with which they assert themselves based on the levels of preparedness and how much support they receive on both personal and professional basis. Research has shown that women receive a lot of backlash and negative feedback when they are faced with situations in which they need to assert themselves, and are often referred to as aggressive. In similar circumstances, the same assertion is seen more favorably for their male counterparts, and this personal capability is ascribed to good- and goal-directed leadership, resulting in their receiving far less backlash and even praise and admiration. Our research took a qualitative approach and deployed a deep-insights phenomenological strategy to explore the lived experiences of 20 participants from technically-skilled South African workspaces. We sought to understand the ways in which skilled female leaders assert themselves from both a personal and an onlookers’ perspective, as well as gain insight on the coping mechanisms that were employed by these female leaders in the face of workplace backlash. The results highlighted some of the challenges that exist for female leaders, and we also present a number of recommendations for emerging and aspiring leaders.

Leaders distinguish themselves by their actions, not by their titles, income, gender, race, size, or personality type. Leaders share certain actions in common. It is through their actions that they emerge as leaders. In this paper, we will focus on specific actions you can take to influence a group of people to achieve something truly remarkable.

A typical workplace can include four different generations, all working together. How can leaders deal effectively with them? Generation Z is just entering the workforce— these are the money-conscious, entrepreneurial and individualistic young first-level entry hires, born between 1997 and 2015. Meanwhile, Generation Y or Millennials— born between 1981 and 1996, and more keen on work-life balance—already make up a large proportion of employees. Generation X, born between 1965 and 1980 and trying to keep up with technology, are often in management roles, whilst Baby Boomers (born after the World War II—in the 1940s to 1960s), known for being workaholic and disciplined, are now either retired or on the point of retirement. What are the attitudes toward tasks at the workplace and what are the values and priorities of these generations, as employees or bosses themselves? These issues are among the challenges experienced by leaders in managing many aspects of workplace diversity.