The month of June in my mind is fitting of the word "Leadership" which I would like to focus on in this message, as we continue unpacking ABASA's three-year mandate of Driving Leadership Excellence Through Inclusive Social Accountability.

As presented in our National Leadership and Membership Induction on the 2nd of April 2022, some of the words that come to mind when thinking about the type of leadership our organization would like to see and produce include:

• consistent
• committed
• advocacy
• servant
• selfless
• forward thinking

Leading in unprecedented times
As the Covid-19 restrictions relax we are now faced with an energy supply crisis and rising costs that continue to impact businesses, education imperatives, mental wellbeing and general productivity so adversely.

As an organization with a committed back office team of young people who assist our Board, National and Provincial Leadership and Student Chapter Leaders in servicing our growing membership base, it is important that we lead with agility and with compassion. We must strive to put the underlying needs of our people first in these challenging times in our country. We encourage all our members and stakeholders to do the same and to make time to check up on the people who drive the work of our respective organizations.

I would like to applaud our back office team for their resilience and our members and stakeholders for your continued patience as we all navigate through this "dark" period in our country.