Ubuntu Leadership Model: A Guide to Leading With Connection
When you step into the world and connect with people, every so often you meet someone who leaves a lasting impression. Jody Hill is one of those people. Originally from Australia, she carries with her a deep love for South Africa after living there with her family for many years.
Jody is the founder and director of Custodians of Change, an organization dedicated to helping people build self-sustainability, expand their sense of self-worth, and use their gifts to serve a purpose beyond themselves. She has a passion for showing others how to live authentically, grow their talents, and create impact that lasts well beyond their own lifetime.
At the heart of her work is Ubuntu leadership, and it’s more relevant than ever.
What is Ubuntu Leadership?
At its heart, Ubuntu Leadership is about humanity toward others. The word Ubuntu comes from the Zulu and Xhosa languages in Southern Africa and is often summed up in the phrase: “I am because we are.” It’s a philosophy that emphasizes connection, community, and the idea that our identity is shaped through our relationships with others.
Ubuntu began as an oral tradition, taught through stories, songs, and lived experience, long before it was written down. In the 1990s, leaders like Nelson Mandela and Desmond Tutu brought it to global attention, showing how it could help foster harmony and cooperation in post-apartheid South Africa. The philosophy continues to resonate today.
Ubuntu was a way of preparing people for life. Children were taught discipline, responsibility, and contribution to the community from a young age, ensuring that each person grew up understanding their role in the greater whole.
To make the philosophy simple, Ubuntu can be seen through four guiding principles:
Respect – Everyone deserves respect, even strangers. Without it, empathy falls flat. Respect was considered the foundation for human connection, regardless of race, wealth, or background.
Fellowship – True personhood is found through relationships with others. Elders, for example, played a central role in raising and educating children, passing down wisdom through stories, songs, and traditions.
Sharing – Prosperity and hardship are collective experiences. A cow might belong to one family, but its milk was for the community. This practice reinforced the idea that helping one another ensures no one is left behind.
Human Dignity – People come before politics or economics. Every individual is valued for who they are, not for their status or wealth, but for their inherent worth as human beings.
When you weave these values into leadership, you get something powerful: a model that centers on collaboration, connectedness, and the belief that “we rise together.”
The UBUNTU Model: Leadership That Ripples Outward
Jody introduces a powerful framework she calls the Ubuntu Model, rooted in simplicity and ripple effects. Instead of leaders trying to manage everyone directly (which is impossible), this model shows how living your values creates an indirect, lasting influence. Nelson Mandela embodied this through his vision of a “rainbow nation,” and the impact traveled far beyond South Africa’s borders.
Here’s how it works: each letter in “Ubuntu” represents a stage of leadership and community building.
U — Understand
The first step is about truly knowing what matters to people. This means going beyond surface-level roles and taking time to learn and understand people’s values, personal histories, and cultural backgrounds.
Jody links this back to traditional communities, where children were taught family trees, cultural traditions, and tribal history so they understood who they were and where they came from. In the same way, organizations should understand both individual values and their own history and culture.
B — Being
“Being” is all about authenticity and respect. People can feel when a leader is forcing it versus when they’re genuinely curious and caring. Authenticity comes from aligning your inner intention with your outward actions, and not pretending to listen while secretly rushing to get something you want.
When leaders are authentic, people feel cared for and respected, no matter what their role or pay level. That care inspires people to contribute more because they know they matter.
U — Unite
If one fails, we all fail, and if one succeeds, we all succeed. Unity creates discipline, order, and resilience because everyone knows they are responsible for one another.
Jody connected this to community life, where raising a child was everyone’s responsibility, not just the biological parents. In practice, this looks like people holding each other accountable, celebrating successes collectively, and recognizing that achievements are never truly individual. They come from the support of the whole group.
N — New Spirit
This step brings in energy, fun, and shared spirit. New spirit emerges when leaders lead from behind, letting others step forward while they observe and support. By doing this, leaders can see what spirit or energy is needed and encourage people to think for themselves.
This spirit often comes through storytelling, dance, and play in traditional Ubuntu, but the principle applies broadly: when people feel inspired and included, they take ownership and contribute more fully.
T — Trust
Trust builds only when the earlier steps are lived. Ubuntu teaches individuals first to trust themselves and to step beyond the comfort of the known and into the unknown with confidence.
For leaders, that means encouraging continuous learning, being willing to face uncertainty, and having the hard but reflective conversations that deepen relationships. Jody pointed out that real trust shows up when people are vulnerable and when they risk failure but step forward anyway.
U — Unconditional Love
The last step of Jody’s Ubuntu Model is unconditional love. She described this as the place where leaders balance and hold both the positive and the negative, instead of choosing one side. It’s at this balance point that the biggest growth can happen.
From this step comes what Jody calls the true wealth of Ubuntu, which has three dimensions:
Wealth — building financial resources through fair exchange
Welfare — making sure others are cared for, not just ourselves
Well-being — protecting our health, because without it, neither money nor welfare can last
For Jody, this final step is also about gratitude and intuition. When leaders act from unconditional love, they’re better able to guide themselves and others into meaningful growth.
Why This Matters for Leadership
Jody’s Ubuntu Model shows that leadership is about creating conditions where people feel understood, respected, united, inspired, trusted, and ultimately cared for.
When leaders embody these steps, they don’t just influence directly; they create ripples that extend far beyond themselves, strengthening both organizations and communities.
The beauty of Jody’s Ubuntu Model is that it’s both practical and deeply human. It can shape how leaders guide teams, how communities support one another, and even how we care for strangers in daily life.
The Power of Leading With Heart
For Jody, one of the biggest revelations in her leadership journey has been this: true connection has no barriers. Whether she’s speaking face-to-face or joining a webinar from across the world, what really creates impact is showing up with presence, unconditional love, and gratitude. When leaders bring that kind of energy, people feel it, even without being in the same room.
That lesson has shaped how Jody thinks about leadership today, and it ties directly into her Ubuntu Model. She’s seen that when leaders ground themselves in gratitude and authentic presence, they naturally inspire trust, belonging, and growth in others.
Here are my three key takeaways from my conversation with Jody
Humility is the game-changer. The difference between a good leader and a great one often comes down to humility. The most influential leaders were powerful not because they elevated themselves, but because they consistently put others first.
Leaders take time to understand. Great leaders don’t just focus on tasks or outcomes; they learn what matters to people — their stories, values, and hopes. That effort builds the foundation for trust and a lasting connection.
Leaders unite. At the core of Ubuntu is the belief that we’re responsible for each other. When leaders rally people behind a shared purpose, they strengthen the collective. If one person stumbles, the group supports them; if one person succeeds, everyone celebrates.
What are your thoughts about the Ubuntu model? Share it with us in the comments below or on YouTube.
For more insights and real-life examples from Jody, you can tune in to the full podcast episode here: Ubuntu Leadership Model: A Guide to Leading With Connection
