The management textbooks of the past century were built on the premise of predictability: stable markets, reliable supply chains, and consistent infrastructure.
In the current South African business environment, that paradigm is obsolete.
From persistent load-shedding and logistical bottlenecks to rapid regulatory shifts and economic fluctuations, volatility is the new normal. For companies to not just survive, but lead in this environment, they need leaders who don’t just cope with uncertainty—they thrive on it.
The next generation of South African leaders must be hired and assessed for one primary, non-negotiable trait: Resilience Leadership.
Why “Resilience” is South Africa’s Most Transferable Skill
In many developed markets, leadership success is measured by efficiency, process optimization, and scaling pre-defined models. Here, however, success is often determined by the ability to execute an excellent plan despite everything going wrong.
The leader who successfully navigated a full year of Stage 6 load-shedding, supply chain backlogs at the ports, and sudden currency fluctuations possesses a globally valuable skill set. Their experience in a fluctuating market is a competitive differentiator.
Resilience Leadership is defined by these core competencies:
- Ambiguity Tolerance: The ability to make high-stakes decisions with incomplete or conflicting information, remaining calm under pressure.
- Decentralized Decision-Making: Trusting and empowering team members to solve immediate, on-the-ground problems without seeking top-down approval.
- Creative Resourcefulness: The capacity to quickly pivot and find non-traditional solutions when standard processes fail (e.g., sourcing power alternatives, building contingency logistics).
Moving Beyond “Experience”: How to Assess for Resilience
You cannot find a resilient leader by only looking at the logos on their CV. You must change the way you ask questions and structure your interviews. Here is how to embed resilience assessment into your hiring protocol:
1. Change the Question, Not the Answer
The traditional behavioural interview question focuses on process (“Tell me about a time you managed a difficult project…”). Resilience-focused questions should pivot to failure, surprise, and recovery:
| Traditional Question | Resilience-Focused Question |
| How do you prioritize your team’s workload? | Describe a time you had a detailed plan that was completely derailed by an external event you couldn’t control. What was your emotional reaction, and what were the first two immediate decisions you made? |
| Tell me about a challenge you overcame. | When did you last have to execute a critical decision knowing you had only 60% of the information needed? What risk did you accept, and what was your safety net? |
| What are your team’s strengths? | Describe the biggest mistake or failure your team recently experienced. What did you stop doing immediately, and what single lesson did you institutionalize across the team? |