- Spiders too have a formula and it is dancing competition. All the males are paraded for dancing competition in which the female spider is the judge.
- The male spider that pleases the female spider the most in the dance gets the mating right for that moment.
In the Thompson Gazelle family, one male takes care of a harem of about 300 females during the mating season. In order to determine which male has mating rights, all males are paraded for a fight and the one that beats the rest and wins gets exclusive mating rights for that season. During this time, the winning male gazelle will be weighed down with the burden (or is it the joy?), of taking care of the 300 females while also fighting off the other males ganging up on the victorious male. Hardly can a male win two mating seasons due to exhaustion.
Spiders too have a formula and it is dancing competition. All the males are paraded for dancing competition in which the female spider is the judge. The male spider that pleases the female spider the most in the dance gets the mating right for that moment. Why a moment only? It is because once the conjugal act is over, the female pounces on the male and eats him alive to get nutrients critical for the baby spiders to be born. So, although the male spiders dance to impress, joy and tragedy befall the winner.
Lions, on the other hand, live like family and mating is between father and mother. During the mating season the session takes three days with 200 encounters each lasting about 20 to 30 minutes. However, if there comes a time when the male is exhausted or too sick to perform conjugal duties, then another male lion would be outsourced to come and take up the role.
The retiring male lion would be banished and if there were any cubs sired by him, they would be killed by the incoming male to start on a fresh gene pool. The mother would go through the mourning moment. In order to avoid losing cubs in future, the female ensures health and safety of the lions by doing most of the work while the male gives stability and protection.
What do we learn from these animals as far as leadership is concerned? The lion teaches us that there is need to nurture and protect the leaders who may not directly do much in development terms but they give the community access, stability and protection, which are needed for the community to function and pursue its development agenda.
Thompson gazelles teach us that we must constantly validate our leadership through a comprehensive process and allow the community and country to move on without being held hostage by our inadequacies.
The spider teaches us that we must be willing to make sacrifices and pay the ultimate price if we have to in order to secure the interests and fortunes of our country and our people.
Leaders requires bold and courageous people who must take to the floor and dance like the male spider for the sake of future generations. Those who go into leadership solely to make money and accumulate power do a great disservice to themselves and future generations.
Let us lead our generation with a difference.
Leadership and governance consultant, [email protected]