LEADERS often have misconceptions of the critical role they play in our society and their ability to shape events.

Leaders are not spectators of ideas but rather initiators of them. Leaders do not hitchhike a vehicle, they set it in motion for others to catch.

Leaders never celebrate victory in a war but remember battles because the war is unending.

Leaders do not speak to arouse their egos but they speak to resonate with the collective they lead.

Leaders' foundation is not their own feet, but the formation they lead. If a leader is not rooted in his constituency then, like a tree not nourished by its roots, he becomes docile and perishes.

Whether leaders are born or made, reality assures us that they are a fountain of hope for those they lead, a reservoir of vision and a never-dying stream of assurance that the mission ahead will be accomplished.

When leaders become weak and vulnerable, the collective they lead is subjected to this insecurity. When the collective is vulnerable, it is the duty of leaders to inspire and resuscitate the collective.

A true leader never leaves his collective far behind, but does not necessarily always walk with it, lest he becomes consumed and diluted by the many contrasting ideologies within the collective.

I hope Freedom Day was a regeneration of leadership as we reflect on and admire leaders who delivered us to the freedom we enjoy. The new culture of self-serving leaders needs to be curbed.

Lukhona Mnguni, Umbilo