Volume 65 December 2026-January 2026 : Mokanoki

Do you have anybody that you have chosen to take over when you leave this world? I can see the answer in your eyes, its no! The next question is why? Because you think you are not going to die soon?  This is the mistake we all make. We are not going to live forever and because of that fact, mentoring a successor is not negotiable. Therefore, it is imperative that a leader accepts the responsibility of identifying and mentoring his or her successor. Boswa ga se ja dithoto fela.  So it is not a matter of: “Should I?” but, “When do I start?” It is not a matter of whether I should. 

It is an acceptance of “I must do this.”  A study of the leadership philosophy of Jesus Christ that we looked at in the last issue reveals his conscious commitment to identify and mentoring His student and His successor, Simon Peter, son of John.  Consider His words:

John 16: 4 – 7 “I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you.  I did not tell you this at first, none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?” Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief.  But I tell you the truth:  It is for your good that I am going away.  Unless I go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”

These words reveal not only Jesus’ keen awareness of the transitional nature of His earthly assignment, but His commitment to His mentees and to the preparation necessary for them to succeed Him.  He also saw His departure as a trigger for greater success and progress for His mentees, and He was determined to leave them for the sake of the organisation’s success. He recognised the need to mentor intentionally, to prepare and promote a successor.  It is essential that leaders do not leave the future stability, durability, and longevity of their organisations or families to chance.  Leaders must see mentoring as a necessity and requirement.  Mentoring a successor must be as natural as leading and must become the motivator for leading.

Naturally when you spend a lot of time with someone you easily get touched too and you would not let the person to go. O bona gore ga a tsamaya o tlaa sala o latlhegile. Life will lose a meaning without that person, in your life; Jesus’ students had all good reason to worry because Jesus was just about to leave them. Despite the caution he gave them at the begging of his ministry, they were still wondering what would happen to the group if he was not there. The fact of the matter is that Jesus was here for moment and he wanted to leave his “duplicates” who could promote his vision and dream.

It is not enough to know that you are going to leave your leadership one of these days. It is vitally important know when it is time to leave a position. Babangwe ba ke ka buang go sekwa do not want to think about moving on to another life beyond their current position. Retirement or death should not be the reason for leaving a position. Leaders should leave because they are moving on to the next phase of their lives. One of the secrets of successful transition is preparing your successor while preparing your own departure. ENDS

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