■ MANAGEMENT WHAT I’VE LEARNED

DESMOND TUTU Nicht selbstgerecht zu sein, ist eine der Lehren, die der südafrikanische Friedensnobelpreisträger aus seinem Leben gezogen hat. VICKI SUSSENS-MESSERER sprach mit dem berühmten Bischof. One of the greatest things I have learned is just how much I owe other people. The one person who was my

greatest influence — and I wasn’t always aware of this — was my mother, who for most of her life was a domestic worker. I say to people, “I look like her: she had a large nose, she was stumpy. But I hope and pray that I will be like her in spirit.” She was such an unbelievably generous, loving person. She always cooked a big pot of food because she said you never know when a hungry person will come. She also always took the side of whoever was having the worst of a disagreement. The expression “The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world” is really true. But there are exceptions. Hitler was almost certainly a child who was not cuddled by his mother and so given a sense of security. People like that are always trying to prove they are the cat’s whiskers.

Mothers are leaders.

I would be totally nothing without my faith and the sense

that I rely on a power greater than any human power. Despite the awful apartheid schools [for black people], we had some very inspiring teachers. One of them was

Mr Ndebele. We had up to 60 children in a class, with three sharing a desk. It could have been very difficult to control us. Yet Mr Ndebele never had to raise his voice. apologize [?’p?l?dZaIz] sich entschuldigen cat’s whiskers: the ~~ ["k{ts ’wIsk?z] der/die Tollste cradle: the hand that rocks the ~ die Hand, die die Wiege ?l] rules the world [’kreId schaukelt, regiert die Welt ?l] cuddle sb. [’kˆd jmdn. liebkosen domestic worker [d?"mestIk ’w?:k?] Hausangestellte(r) elder [’eld?] Ältere(r, s) gel [dZel] sich zusammenfinden greed [gri:d] Gier Jew [dZu:] Jude, Jüdin keep a tight rein ["ki:p ? "taIt ’reIn] die Zügel straff halten mislead sb. [mIs’li:d] jmdn. irreführen, täuschen ?n] reconciliation ["rek?nsIli’eI? Versöhnung rely on sth. [ri’laI ?n] sich auf etw. verlassen restrain oneself [ri’streIn wˆn"self] sich zurückhalten ?l ’fe??z] ruffle sb.’s feathers ["rˆf jmdn. verärgern self-righteous ["self’raIt??s] selbstgerecht shine [?aIn] glänzen; hier: brillieren show off one’s wares ["??? "?f "wˆnz ’we?z] zeigen, was man drauf hat sky is the limit: the ~~~~ man hat alle Möglichkeiten ["skaI Iz ?? ’lImIt] snowball’s chance: stand a ~~ (in hell) nicht die geringste Chance ["sn??b?:lz ’t??:ns] haben (see p. 50) ?nt] strident [’straId schrill, heftig

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He was like our English teacher who seemed to have gone to school with Shakespeare. We all wanted to shine in their classes, because they made us feel the sky was the limit. I learned from these teachers to let others shine. People will perform wonderfully if you give them space to show off their wares. I hope this is what I did when

I led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The first few months were difficult because the committee was very mixed. We had Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Christians, whites and blacks, and we found it hard to gel. But it would have been a greater hell if I had tried to centralize power in my hands. Leaders who keep a tight rein tend to ruffle far too many feathers. The TRC showed us how powerful those difficult words “I am sorry” or “we made a mistake” are. Their ability

to change the atmosphere is fantastic. That’s why I [recently] asked Barack Obama to apologize for the Iraq invasion. I didn’t ask Bush because I don’t think my request would have stood a snowball’s chance. I don’t think he’d admit that he misled the world with a huge lie. One of the big mistakes I made when we were struggling against apartheid was to be too strident. When you

know that you are right, the line between being right and being self-righteous can be very thin. And there were times when I was too self-righteous. Many South African leaders think “to shine” means having money. But perhaps we were unrealistic in expect-

ing them to restrain themselves. Almost all of those from the black community came from very poor backgrounds, and when you’ve never had luxury, it can become a great attraction. I’m not excusing the greed. But I wish our leaders would quickly learn from American philanthropy. It’s true that Americans may be materialistic, but they’re also some of the world’s greatest BS givers. ■ Listen to Desmond Tutu on Business Spotlight Audio

plus More idiomatic expressions in Business Spotlight plus ARCHBISHOP DESMOND TUTU received the Nobel Peace Prize

in 1984 for his work to end apartheid in South Africa. He led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), set up in 1995 to record human rights crimes during apartheid. He is also the head of The Elders, a group of former statesmen and intellectuals that includes Nelson Mandela, Jimmy Carter and Kofi Annan.

4/2009

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“I look like my mother, but I hope and pray that I will be like her in spirit”