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Cape Town – If your leader starts using the word “vuca” around your office, it’s not because you’re falling asleep. Well, maybe it is.
While “vuka” is the Zulu word for "wake up", it also has another meaning, stemming from the US Army.
The acronym “Vuca”, introduced in the 1990s, stands for volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous, four words that might ring loud in the ears of South African business leaders.
That's where former US Army Chief of Staff General George Casey steps in.
The gutsy leader, who has experienced Vuca environments in Bosnia (1996), Kosovo (2000), and Iraq (2004-07), was in South Africa recently to launch his collaborative leadership software tool that draws from his experience as “CEO of a 1.4 million person organisation”.
Casey, who teaches leadership at Georgetown and Cornell Universities in the US, says he knows the Zulu translation and that he’s used that meaning a few times too. “Yeah, it means wake up and pay attention!”
Vuca Index
Recognised as one of the most "innovative military leaders of the past 50 years”, the retired general recently invented the Vuca Index with assistance from leading US academics.
The new business analytic tool measures the internal and external sources and scope of friction that inhibits business and government leaders’ ability to make informed decisions, issue clear directions, execute current plans and prepare for the future.
The relevance to South Africa, said Casey, was that leaders are feeling increasingly overwhelmed by the intensity of internal and external threats to their operations. “The Vuca Index provides a road map about ‘where to from here’, which includes likely potholes, detours, and a gauge about the relative strength of allies and enemies en-route.”
AUDIO: Listen to interview with George Casey
A Vuca leader
“People always ask me what I look for in the generals that I selected,” he told Fin24.
“There are three things that I look for, which are the same prerequisites that are essential for a leader to succeed in the Vuca world.
“That’s vision, courage and character.”
Vision: “The primary function of the leader is to point the way ahead and see around corners.”
Courage: “Creating a creative vision in a Vuca world is really hard work because it involves making judgements about the future … and so it takes courage to act in the face of uncertainty and risk.”
Character: “For me, character is the indispensable requisite. Leaders with strong values build strong organisations … because people can trust them to do the right thing when things get tough. And that trust becomes the glue that binds your organisation together.”
Success exists in the future
Success exists in the future and leaders need to invest their time to get the big things right, said Casey.
“When you get to the key positions of leadership, you really have to focus your time and effort and energy on the things that have the highest pay-off for the organisation,” he said
“It’s things like developing a clear vision and strategy and communicating that across your organisation; it’s like building a solid team that commits to your vision and strategy and executes [that]; it’s … preparing for the future.
“The Vuca Index … allows businesses to develop a comprehensive understanding of their operating environment, so they can focus their time and energy in the right places.
“It can become a key tool for both large companies as well as SMMEs.”
Africa’s cleanest city
Casey said he was impressed with his short stay in Johannesburg.
“Johannesburg is certainly the cleanest, most organised African city that I’ve been in,” he said.
“We all look at ourselves more critically than others probably do,” he added, when asked what advice he had for disillusioned South Africans.
While he was in South Africa, he spoke to the leadership of SABMiller, Gautrain, Transnet and SAA and addressed a transportation and technology conference with 150 delegates.
The Vuca Index was launched in the country in partnership with Letsema Consulting and Hilburg Associates.
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