Associations
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Speech by the president of IOPSA, Lea Smith Good evening ladies and gentlemen, honoured guests, past presidents, the IOPSA executive committee members, and members.
When I received the sequence of events during the week, I noticed on the agenda that after my speech, Mr De Villiers will be on stage and thanking me for those‘ inspirational words’. Truth be told, this has now put me under pressure to live up to this expectation. So, not to disappoint and that Mr De Villiers will feel comfortable in speaking the truth, let me say:“ The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change. The leader adjusts the sails.”
For those who know me, I advocate and live by a simple quote from Lucius Seneca, a Roman statesman and philosopher,“ Our plans miscarry because they have no aim. When a man does not know what harbour he is making for, no wind is the right wind.” For those with long-term memories, you may recall that I advocated this very message, along with the message of change within IOPSA and our industry, many years ago.
The reality is that industry and the environment in which we are operating have changed and is changing. Change is not a bad thing and is a necessity to keep us on our toes— but how are we adapting to this? Do we complain, do we wait and expect it to change, or do we adjust our sails?
Some 12 – 18 months ago, I advocated that the plumbing industry across the supply chain has not done ourselves justice in adapting and managing this change for the best of our industry. We as an industry have let ourselves down by not guiding and managing our own destiny. It is us, as an industry collectively, that have not managed our own destiny. It always astounds me how we are quick to point a finger and complain about what is happening in our industry. What we all fail to understand is that we are the industry, and while we are pointing a finger, three are pointing back at us. An adaption of a quote by Mahatma Gandhi, which I know Gary uses, says it all,“ We must be the change that we wish to see in our industry.”
Through the leading body for the plumbing industry, there is little doubt that over the past 12 months we as an industry have taken this lead and started the journey of managing our own destiny. Through the guidance of the IOPSA executive committee, the executive director, his team and, more importantly, us an industry, we have and will continue the journey of change we want to see. One small example of how things have changed is when I received the comments from the chair of the PE region, Rob Miller, who is doing a sterling job down there.
Lea Smith, president of IOPSA.
Truth be told, it has not been an easy journey and I would not expect it to be, because if it was then everyone would be doing it, but as we continue with this journey, we need to be wary of all the negativity and the pessimists lurking on the side. An entire sea of water cannot sink a ship unless it gets inside the ship; similarly, the negativity of the world cannot put you down unless you allow it to get inside your mind. We know what harbour we are making for and we have adjusted our sails— everything else is secondary. But what is important as we set our sails is that we, as IOPSA, need to continue and show true leadership. While we may have direction and set the sails, we need to keep it there by leading from the front. We need to remember that leadership is action not position, and it is through our continuous action that we will show true leadership.
As we have taken and continue to take this position of leadership, we need to remember that we as IOPSA must take responsibility. Whether we accept it or not, the responsibility is on us. As we continue to raise the bar, we need to be cautious of the fact that we as the leaders within and as members of IOPSA need to continue to raise our own bar. Tonight is about celebrating what we have accomplished, but going forward, let us raise the bar each time we succeed, and through this we will continue to uplift our standards within our industry and those working and wishing to work in it.
As the president and with the institute’ s executive, we endeavour to aim and set sail for the harbour by leading from the front. We must never forget that as members we make this institute what it is, and what it is not. It is us as a collective— past, present and future— that have made and will make this institute and the plumbing industry to be the change we want to see. We as members are the institute and industry must never forget that. Continued on page 20 >> www. plumbingafrica. co. za April 2017 Volume 23 I Number 2