Leadership of Shaka Zulu

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to discuss and enlighten the historic leadership style of Shaka Zulu. This paper aims to explore the leadership style and the traits of Shaka Zulu. In addition, the paper also aims to enlighten the positive and negative sides of Shaka Zulu leadership and its influence. In Leadership Lessons from Emperor Shaka Zulu the Great, Phinda Mzwakhe Madi pays tribute to a great African leader (Eckert, 89). Shaka Zulu was born in 1787 and ruled a large portion of southern Africa in the early 19th century. His empire, which consisted mainly of the Zulu nation, covered a territory larger than Europe. King Shaka is best known for his political vision of building a strong and powerful Zulu nation whose influence was felt beyond the region. In his book Michael Lee Lanning ranks Shaka Zulu as the 59th most influential military leader of all time (Eckert, 90). Through a series of imagined conversations between the author's great grandfather, and Shaka's aunt, Mnkabayi, Madi highlights ten important management principles fostered by Shaka Zulu. These principles are: building a sense of mission, fostering a mission is more important than convention, being a conqueror or being an apprentice to a conqueror, leading the charge from the front, building a fanatical team, going where angels fear to tread, being a good strategist, knowing the battlefield better than your competition, being obsessed with world-class technologies, and refusing to believe your own PR (Eckert, 92).

Discussion and Analysis

Shaka Zulu is credited with introducing various innovations within the Zulu army, which grew from a mere 350 to more than 2,000 warriors under his leadership. The changes he introduced were extremely unconventional at the time, but proved effective in turning the Zulu army into one of the greatest fighting machines of the time (Pinfold, 101). He is also credited with introducing the shorter spear and advocating contact with the enemy. Traditionally, longer spears were hurled at the enemy from a distance, and personal contact was never to be made. Shaka saw this approach as an act of cowardice and also as ineffective in bringing the battle to a decisive end. Shaka Zulu also introduced the buffalo military strategy, an attack on the enemy in four segments. Apparently King Cetshwayo, who was king of the Zulu nation almost 50 years after Shaka's death, used the buffalo strategy to defeat the British army at the Battle of Isandlwana in 1879 (Pinfold, 103). This is certainly a tribute to the longevity of Shaka Zulu's leadership skills.

Madi's book adds to the existing leadership literature by providing a framework rooted in courage and greatness. Even though Shaka lived in the early 19th century, his leadership lessons are especially relevant for the 21st century. Linking historical events to modern-day management challenges is one of the book's most significant strengths. For example, Madi provides us with the importance of building a sense of mission among members of the organization (Pinfold, 103). That is, companies are often times faced ...