'Lekgotla' is an African word for 'meeting circle' and 'tribal management', on which this book is based, is founded on the African concept of 'Ubuntu' - meaning 'I am because we exist'.
In Lekgotla! author Willem H.J. De Liefde champions the idea of the company as tribe.
He puts forward practical guidelines and principles that will impact positively on current management theories, which, he says, are mostly based on power structures, maintained by excluding the majority from the decision-making process.
'Tribal management' does just the opposite, including all employees and managers in promoting the organisation as a community and ensuring that each gets the chance to voice his or her opinions every stage along the way. The end goal is a company culture in which all members subordinate their individual goals and aims to the wider interests of the group so they can survive successfully as a unit.
Lekgotla! explores the power of stories, art as a source of inspiration, the structure and dynamics of the Lekgotla meeting, the roles of the elders, the different types of leaders, southern vs. western meetings, the dilemma of the contemporary manager and much more.