Charl Viljoen is no stranger to the mining industry; for the more than 24 years, the blonde South African has been working in platinum productions and gold mining for various companies in his native country. Making his way from the bottom, Viljoen started off as an underground manager at Harmony Gold before rising to become Senior Manager at Lonmin, a position he has held for the past six years since 2008.
With his stellar records in mine and people management, we decided to speak to the man who declares his main interest as Care and Growth Development. Viljoen’s passion towards serving his subordinate and working as a team was palpable as he shared with us four essential rules for leaders who want to succeed in becoming a true leader.
Rule 1: Any Change in an Organization Best Begins with You
“I personally think it must start with the individual leadership that needs to make a mind shift change in the way they view themselves first. You cannot live ‘Intent’ by pushing a button; the leader has to make a life changing decision to place himself below the subordinate. This is a prerequisite for the subordinate to be the best he can be,” Viljoen said, in reference to the Intent Thematic expounded by Schuitema.
Viljoen believes that an organization is unlikely to change in a major way until the leader of that organization realises his insignificance in the greater scheme of things. However, once the leader realises this and it shows in his actions, the outcome of that event will be employees that work for the organization because they are willing and want to, instead of the fact that they have to.
Rule 2: Initiate Change by Giving
Viljoen’s many years of experience has taught him one of the most important lessons in his life: that fulfilment is achieved when we give to others, not when we take.
“It doesn’t matter if I am giving time, money, or fair directions even… Giving makes me happy. In addition to my happiness, people who work with me are also proven to be much more effective at their work because they feel appreciated under my leadership!”
And Viljoen has the data to prove it. The three graphs above — provided by Viljoen — shows three different mine operations at different periods. The purple lines indicate productions profiles before the Care and Growth intervention, while the green lines are the productions profiles after the event.
“When the Schuitema Care and Growth intervention was done in these operations under my care — when I started giving — production output increased between 10 to 15%. This proves how production improved drastically due to a change in attitude by the leadership team under my guidance,” shared Viljoen.
Rule 3: Live Your Subordinate’s Life
One of the strongest memories Viljoen has on True Leadership is one where his seniors at a mine several years ago were all sent to the villages in the mountains of Lesotho.
“They were there for the weekend to spend time with the subordinates who worked for them; or more importantly, to walk in their shoes. They did the activities their juniors did, in order to get a feel of how difficult it is to travel from home and back to the mines,” recalled Viljoen.
The visit by the seniors was met with approval by their subordinates, including Viljoen; it made them feel as if their seniors were trying to understand and care for them better. And for Viljoen, what also stood out from that event was how willing he was to listen to the older team who had much more knowledge experiences to share.
Rule 4: Sincere Intentions Builds Trust
“Change in any form is difficult and will hurt. Coupled to that, trust is a game breaker in moving forward with the Intent Thematic. My experience is that you have to expose yourself to your subordinates first; you have stand up and invite people to say what they think honestly, perhaps through 360 degrees assessments. Then, your actions related to their comments will lay the road to implementing the Intent Thematic,” explained Viljoen.
The Senior Manager further elaborates: “You have to be trusted in order to get permission from your employees to get involved in their lives. Trust is gained by the way you constantly check your intent before you react to incidents. Your employees will observe this and become comfortable to give unconditionally.”
In his years of experience, Viljoen knows that people realise quickly through their own observation what another person’s intent is, especially their leaders. When individuals see sincere intentions by their leaders to care and grow for them, this causes them to open up their personal issues to such an extent that it gives leaders an opportunity to reflect on the real issues of their subordinates, which in turn speeds up the process of addressing hurdles. Thus thus makes them more of what they are supposed to be.
“As a leader, when I break these shackles that people attach to themselves, I am in actuality giving them the means to maximise their potential,” reflects Viljoen.
In the days before he changed my ways, Viljoen had a youth that worked for him as a Mine Overseer. According to Viljoen, the youth struggled to get on top of his production, and was uncaring about safety procedures. Viljoen, then, had no time for him as an under performer, and interactions between them consisted of his shouting, ranting and raving, and the youth staring back at him despondently, clueless. Viljoen moved on to his next job, and in one of his recent transfers, chanced upon the youth again at another shaft.
“I made a point of asking him for forgiveness for the way I treated him five years ago and explained to him the changes that I had gone through. He is currently working for me and has shaped into a very mature high performing Manager that can take my place any time,” smiled Viljoen.
In his concluding remarks, Viljoen emphasized that Care and Growth speaks to what lies at the heart of any human being.
“Care and Growth speaks to faith in the sense that we stand in awe of this wonderful creation we live in, it speaks to the maturity curve and how eventually we come to realise our time here on earth is short and we will all pass on eventually. All of that is humanity at its best, and no other development programme speaks to these fundamental truths.”
You can learn more about Care and Growth in our latest Care and Growth Introductory course, currently retailing at 91% off normal prices.