My Journey as a Steward – Business Leadership as Civic Responsibility

Dr Reuel J. Khoza  I  Rhodes University  I  5 August 2025

Ladies and gentlemen, there was a moment (quiet, unassuming) when I realised that leadership is not about being at the helm, but about being in service.
Not service to self, nor to status, but to society.  To the silent hopes of the young. To the fragile dreams of the forgotten.  To the enduring promise of tomorrow.

In an era of global uncertainty and local challenges, business leaders must transcend profit motives to become architects of societal progress.  Leadership is not a privilege to self-serve or exploit others, it is a moral obligation to ethically serve humanity.

I stand before you not merely as a business leader, but as a steward - one entrusted with the delicate task of shaping futures, not just balance sheets.

 

Ubuntu in the Boardroom

I have come to believe - deeply, irrevocably - that the boardroom must echo the village square.  That the decisions made behind polished mahogany tables must carry the heartbeat of the community.
Ubuntu taught me this:
“I am because you are, you are because we are.”
It is not a slogan.  It is a summons.  It is a call to ethical duty, to leadership with integrity.

In my years of governance, I have seen how the principles of African humanism - of mutual respect, of shared destiny - can transform not only how we lead, but why we lead. When we lead with Ubuntu, we do not chase profit at the expense of people. We pursue prosperity that uplifts all.  We give due regard to people, profit and planet in wholesome interplay.

 

Lessons from Elders and Luminaries

From Mervyn King, I learned that governance is not a checklist - it is a conscience.
From personal experience, that eloquence must serve ethics, and that leadership must be laced with wisdom:  the capacity to apply what is known to navigate life’s complexities with insight and discernment.

The voices of our sages echo in mine today, as I strive to lead with integrity, to speak with purpose, and to act with accountability.

 

Planting Seeds for Future Generations

Each young entrepreneur I’ve mentored, each youth summit I’ve addressed - these are not tasks.
They are investments in tomorrow.
They are seeds sown in the soil of possibility, investments in posterity.

I have seen brilliance in the eyes of young South Africans — audacious, untamed, and yearning for direction.
They do not ask for handouts.  They ask for handholds.  They yearn for guidance and inspiration.
They ask for leaders who will not merely instruct, but inspire.

To them I say: you are not just the leaders of tomorrow. You are the architects of today.  Competitors for the future:  Harbingers of a prosperous South Africa.  If you choose.

And to my fellow leaders: our greatest legacy will not be the empires we build, but the minds we awaken and the characters we conscientiously shape.

 

Wrestling with Tensions

There were times I stood at a crossroads - between expedience and ethics, between silence and speaking truth to power.
Leadership, I have learned, is not a straight path. It is a winding road, paved with dilemmas and detours.  Conscientious leaders inevitably wrestle with tensions and conflicts.

But it is in those moments - when the easy choice beckons and the right choice demands - that our character is forged.
I have chosen, time and again, to err on the side of conscience, to opt for ethical conduct.
Not because it is convenient, but because it is correct; it is the right thing to do.

 

A Call from the Heart

To lead is to listen.
To succeed is to serve.
To inspire is to be accountable.

I call upon my peers in business: let us not be captains of industry alone.  Let us be custodians of hope and fountains of inspiration.
Let our enterprises be engines of equity.  Let our boardrooms be chambers of conscience.

To the youth: do not wait for permission to lead, be audacious.
Lead with conviction.  Lead with compassion.  Lead with courage.  Leadership is not inherited.  It is earned.

And to society: demand more.
Demand leaders who do not merely occupy positions, but embody purpose.  Leaders who generate trust, goodwill and confidence; and are politically and personally as gracious, honourable and magnanimous in defeat as in success.  Leaders who understand that the success of others does not diminish their own success but adds to the good of the commonwealth.  Demand leaders who are as conscientious as they are knowledgeable; as passionate as they are compassionate.

 

Closing Vision – Legacy and Light

I do not wish to be remembered for the titles I held, nor the accolades I received.
I wish to be remembered for the lives I touched, the minds I awakened, and the hope I helped kindle.

Let us not merely lead. Let us illuminate.
Let our leadership be a lantern in the dark - guiding, warming, and igniting the path for generations yet to come as our nation competes for the future. As William Jennings Bryan observes, “Destiny is no matter of chance.  It is a matter of choice.  It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.”

Only those who can envision and pre-emptively create a prosperous and nationally rewarding future will be around to enjoy it, or bequeath it to posterity with national pride.