What kind of leadership “works” in communities deeply divided by race, religion,
ethnicity, culture or class? How does leadership as a collective both correct what is wrong
(the reparation imperative), while at the same time bringing people together across
social and historical divides (the reconciliation imperative)? Is there a leadership of
transition that can be conceptually pinned down and operationally defined in and for
a dangerous and divided classroom, community, country, or world? Are there lessons
to be learnt from South Africa’s difficult transition to democracy? And what can reallife experiences of leadership (the presenter’s own biography) teach about leading in
any context where injustice and division threaten to produce conflict? These are some
of the questions addressed in this chapter, which calls for a broadening of the ways we
think about aspirational scripts such as the Millennium Development Goals.
