084: Towards Ubuntu 2.0? A Wide-Ranging Leadership Conversation with Martin Kalungu-Banda

Summary

What does the concept of Ubuntu teach us about leadership, community, and the well-being of people in organizations?

How can African leadership models inform and enhance global approaches to management and organizational development?

How do we navigate the challenges of avoiding romanticizing Ubuntu while honoring its depth and practical value?

In this NGO Soul + Strategy podcast episode, Martin Kalugu-Banda, a thought leader on organizational development and leadership coach (among many other things!), about redefining leadership through African paradigms and systems thinking.

Martin's Bio

• Martin Kalungu-Banda is an expert in Leadership and Organizational Development, with senior-level experience in business, government, and civil society.
• He is co-faculty of the Leadership Academy at the Presencing Institute and the MIT Global Alliance for Banking on Values.
• Martin served as Special Consultant to the President of Zambia (2005-2008), helping to re-establish the position of Chief of Staff.
• As an adviser to the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, he has supported leaders across Africa, including governance reforms in Rwanda, healthcare transformation in Namibia, and Tanzania’s National Skills Development Strategy.
• He has co-designed and facilitated flagship leadership programs for Rand Merchant Bank and HSBC, as well as teaching at Cambridge, Oxford, and London Business School.
• Martin is the author of Leading Like Madiba: Leadership Lessons from Nelson Mandela and other influential books on leadership and transformation.

We Discuss

• Martin shares how leadership as it is taught at the Presencing Institute involves “presencing”—combining being present in the moment with sensing future opportunities and needs.
• Ubuntu, often defined as “I am because you are,” needs to expanded as a concept to include interdependence across generations, global connections, and non-human beings like animals and nature.
• How Ubuntu aligns with systems thinking by emphasizing the interconnectedness of individuals, communities, and the environment.
• The challenges of avoiding romanticizing Ubuntu while appreciating its practical applications in leadership and organizational well-being.
• Coaching leaders to embrace open-mindedness, emotional intelligence, and an openness of heart and will in decision-making.
• How African leadership models provide valuable insights into collective well-being and interconnectedness that global North frameworks often overlook.
• Martin’s reflections on the limits of knowledge as we age and the importance of humility in leadership.

Resources

Martin’s profile at the Presencing Institute 

Ubuntu Lab Institute (similar institutes exist for other regions within the Presencing Institute)

Martin’s books:
Leading Like Madiba: Leadership Lessons from Nelson Mandela