Nelson Mandela

Key events in his leadership style

Mandelas 8 lessons of leadership

1) “Courage is not the absence of fear its inspiring others to move beyond it”

During the presidential election campaign in 1994 Mandela flew down on a tiny propeller plane to the killing fields of Natal to give a speech to his Zulu supporters. One of the engines failed 20 mins before landing. The People on the plane began to panic they were calmed by looking at Mandela, who carried on reading his newspaper. After they had emergency landed Mandela was quoted on saying “I was terrified up there!”

2) “Lead from the front but don't leave your base behind”

In 1985 Mandela had an operation and when he went back to prison he was separated from his friends and colleagues for the first time in 21 years. They protested, but he said to them “Wait a minute chaps, some good may come out of this” In the end the good that came out of it was that on his own he launched negotiations with the apartheid government.

3) “Lead from the back and let others believe they are in front”

Mandela would often call meetings of his cabinet at his home. He would gather some men around the dining room table or sometimes in a circle in his driveway. Some of his colleagues would shout at him and tell him to move faster and be more radical. Mandela would listen. At the meetings when he spoke he would slowly and methodically summarize everyone's points of view, then he would say his own thoughts slowly steering the decision in the direction he wanted it to go without imposing it. Mandela says “the trick of leadership is allowing yourself to be led too it is wise to persuade people to do things and make them think it was their own idea”

4)”Know your enemy and learn about his favourite sport”

In the 1960s, Mandela began studying Afrikaans, the language of the white south Africans. He wanted to understand Afrikaners worldview. He knew that one day he would be fighting or negotiating with them. By speaking the opponents language he might understand their strengths and weaknesses. He learnt about the Afrikaner history and even brushed up on his knowledge of rugby (the Afrikaners beloved sport)

5) Keep your friends close and your rivals even closer

Mandela is a man of invincible charm. He has often used that charm to even greater effect on his rivals than on his allies. When Mandela came out of jail he famously included his jailers as some of his friends and put some of the leaders who kept him in jail in his first Cabinet. Mandela believed that embracing some of his rivals was a way of controlling them. They were more dangerous on their own than where he could influence them.

6)”Appearances matter and remember to smile”

When Mandela was running for presidency in 1994 he knew that symbols mattered as much as substance. He always had a dazzling smile. For white South Africans the smile symbolized Mandela's lack of bitterness to black voters it said I am the happy warrior and we will win. When he came out of prison people kept on saying it’s amazing that he is not bitter. There were a thousand things Mandela was bitter about but he knew he had to project the exact opposite expression.

7)”nothing is black or white”

He felt that nothing is as straight forward as it appears. Life is never either/or, and decisions are complex because there are always competing factors. His outlook was always, “What is the end that I seek, and what is the most practical way to get there?”

8)”Quitting is leading too”

Knowing how to abandon a failed idea or task is often the most difficult kind of decision a leader has to make. He knew that leaders lead as much by what they choose not to do as what they do. In the history of Africa, there have only been a few democratically elected leaders who willingly stood down from office. When he was elected President in 1994, Mandela could have pressed to be President for life, but he didn’t.

Nelson Mandela

Tuesday, 24 May 2011

Bibliography

Wednesday, 27 April 2011

How others viewed him now and then

Conclusion

How did he influence others lives

Key Events that showed his leadership style

Attributes