Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and Liberia’s president from 2006 to 2018, became Africa’s first democratically elected female head of state and helped lead a war-ravaged nation towards peace and reconstruction.

This is the second of two articles reflecting on what her remarkable life can teach us about leadership.
Just being through hard times is not, in itself, enough to make people stronger or wiser. Take, for example, the case of Sirleaf.

Before she became president, she had faced many challenges: she was a victim of domestic violence, she was persecuted for her politics while the military was in control of Liberia, she was imprisoned, she was exiled from her country, and she suffered professional setbacks.

Even more, she lived through a period of brutal civil war in a country where it is very dangerous for a woman to be a political leader.

All these challenges took place in a very adverse environment, one in which a woman with political ambitions such as Sirleaf would have been expected to suffer greatly. However, it was not these adverse circumstances that made her the leader she was. Instead, it was what she did with them. There is increasing evidence on what makes effective leaders, and while hardship can develop essential qualities in a leader such as the resilience, determination and drive needed to lead others, there are also many ways in which hardship can have the reverse effect and actually make a person more inflexible, defensive and fixed in ways that are less than helpful.

Thus, while surviving hard times can help to grow a leader, it is not enough in itself; it also requires the leader to reflect on his/her experiences, to learn from them, to become more adaptable, and to be able to respond to changing situations in novel and new ways.

Most people admire someone who tells the world that their life has been nothing but wretched and yet they are triumphantly carrying on despite it all.

But leadership asks a much deeper question: What has your suffering and pain produced in you? Did it make you harder or more compassionate? Were you made wiser by your failures or more defensive? Does the criticism you receive from others open new learning for you, or does it give you all the reasons you need to critically attack the critics of others? Has the disappointment in your life of late produced some great quality of character in you, or has it only increased your bitterness?

For most people, hardships and sufferings have very negative effects. Instead of bringing wisdom and greater kindness, hardship and suffering can harden a person’s heart and make them more bitter, cynical, angry, resentful, and even heartless.

For many, they are stuck in the pain of their suffering, and they see themselves only as victims. As a result, they blame others for their failures and hardships. Sometimes people lose hope and see the world only through suspicion and resentment.

The same difficult childhood, same injustice, same failure can produce two very different people. One is hardened by anger while the other is even more compassionate and determined to help others avoid going through the suffering that they endured.

The critical question then is, what does that event make of you? It can teach you how to survive, but more importantly, it can enable you to become more resilient, more responsible, more sensitive to other people’s problems and of greater service to others.

I learned a lot from Sirleaf’s powerful story. What her suffering taught her was not only how to survive but how she could convert her suffering into good by becoming a more responsible, caring and compassionate person of greater service to others.

Sirleaf noted that much of her strength came from her Christian faith, as well as her mother, who remained calm and continued to encourage her while she was in prison and after she was released from detention. Interviews with Sirleaf have revealed that her faith in God gives her values of hard work, honesty, humility, and moderation, which she received from her upbringing, and which gave her the strength to continue in the face of difficult circumstances. This is the biblical view on adversity.

Paul wrote that suffering produces perseverance, character and hope (Romans 5). It does not automatically produce maturity; there is a process that must be undergone – the suffering must be endured, it must be interpreted, and it must be changed. Hence, Christian resilience is not the same as being tough.

Biblical leadership is holding the fort and remaining faithful without becoming bitter. It is being courageous without being arrogant. It is being strong without oppressing and being wounded without using your wounds to start attacking others. The position to channel her experiences of struggle and pain to such great effect as she did in Liberia only came about once Sirleaf had taken the reins. The country was in the middle of a brutal civil war when she became president. The basic structures, important institutions and the economy were all in a state of ruin. Corruption was widespread, and a lack of trust among citizens was almost total.

It was first of all important to Sirleaf to start rebuilding the basic structures and to re-establish institutions.

After the war, the country’s economy was virtually bankrupt. The new head of state was thus focused on getting the economy back on the right track. This would above all else involve a struggle against corruption, increased accountability, and the promotion of economic activities and the creation of jobs to allow for positive economic growth. The post-war period brought about a huge change in the areas of economic and good governance.

Leadership at its best does more than occupy space. It opens space for others. Sirleaf continues that work through initiatives aimed at preparing African women for leadership. Her philosophy is beautifully captured in the idea that another generation should be able to stand on her shoulders, just as she stood on the shoulders of women before her.

That is leadership as legacy. Not: How important can I become? But: Who will become stronger because I was here? That principle is profoundly Christian. Jesus redefined greatness around service: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant” (Mark 10:43). Paul similarly urges believers to look not only to their own interests, but also to the interests of others (Philippians 2:3-4).

In many ways, President Sirleaf had her own shortcomings. But any authentic leader will have warts and weaknesses. We must not confuse the record of such a leader with idolatry or hero worship. From these experiences of adversity one learns that leaders grow when they resist the defensive reaction to their mistakes and keep on asking: What went wrong? What does this experience reveal about me? What more can I do? And how can I do that differently in the future?

Perhaps that is one of the most neglected disciplines of leadership: reflection. Experience is not necessarily the best teacher. Reflected-upon experience is. Without reflection, we may repeat our mistakes more confidently. With reflection, failure can become wisdom. Research on leadership through hardship likewise points to increased self-awareness, compassion and resilience when difficult experiences are consciously processed rather than simply endured.

Sirleaf’s story therefore leaves every leader with uncomfortable but necessary questions: What is my suffering making of me? Am I merely surviving, or am I learning? Am I becoming more rigid, or more adaptable? More self-protective, or more compassionate? More obsessed with my own wounds, or more attentive to the wounds of others? Hardship should never be romanticised. Abuse remains abuse.

Injustice remains injustice. Loss remains painful. Christianity does not call evil good. But Christianity does proclaim that evil need not have the final word. Through grace, reflection, courage and purposeful action, pain can become compassion. Failure can become wisdom. Weakness can deepen humility. Suffering can produce perseverance, character and hope.

That may ultimately be one of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s most valuable leadership lessons. Great leaders are not people who have never been broken by life. They are people who refuse to allow what broke them to determine what they will become. And the highest form of resilience is not merely rising again. It is rising again with greater wisdom, deeper compassion and a stronger determination to lift others with you.

This column is the opinion of the writer and does not represent the views of Witbank News.

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This column is the opinion of the writer and does not represent the views of Witbank News.

Your city, your story, as it happens. Stay in the loop with WITBANK NEWS.
Find us on our  website, Facebook, X,  Instagram or TikTok

Got a tip? Email: info@witbanknews.co.za