At first glance, it may be hard to recognize this man. This is Nelson Mandela dressed for trial. It's true he was a distinguished lawyer, but in this instance he was actually on trial for his association with the African National Congress and his actions while trying to abolish apartheid in South Africa. As part of my Public Leadership Scholars program, I was able to read both Invictus and Long Walk to Freedom, Mandela's autobiography, last semester.
To heavily cliff-note his life, Nelson Mandela recieved a western education and took an interest in the law (later becoming a lawyer that was well-known for defending Africans from injustice and unfairness). He became politically active when he joined the African National Congress - growing more and more involved as he grew older. Eventually, his political involvement landed him in jail for 27 years, where he continued to garner support from domestic and international sources. The 'Free Nelson Mandela' campaign started and when he was finally released, he went on to become the first black President of South Africa. Invictus (the movie and the book) show how he was able to unite a country after apartheid laws had seperated them racially for so long. Mandela retired from politics after that, but continues to be active for causes.
I would call Mandela a democratic leader (and not just because he helped with the one-person-one-vote movement in South Africa) because he spent his life leading a group of people that wanted equal rights by taking their goals and ideas and helping to impliment them. I would say his leadership power stems from legitimate power, where he asked people to take their actions into consideration when protesting the government, expert power, because he became the figure head of the ANC and the leader of the movement to abolish apartheid, and referent power, because he was empowering an entire nation to become equal.
As a leader, I appreciate his tenacity and ability to stay with the cause through TWENTY SEVEN years in prison. It would have been easy for him to get out of jail, become the President and exact revenge on his oppressors. However, instead of turning his own presidency into an oppresive regime like the previous Presidents, he was able to bring a splintered nation together as one.
His biggest flaw as a leader doesn't necessarily affect his leadership so much as it affects his home life. Mandela has had three wives over the years and, by his own admission, he was forced to neglect his own family in favor of the country's political goals. Now that he's retired, however, he spends more of his time with his family, making up for the time he lost while liberating a country.
His Nobel Peace Prize biography.
And another biography that sums up his accomplishments nicely.
Beautiful post Kylee (though hyperlink your link next time, embed it within the blog text).
ReplyDeleteI really appreciate that you provided us a short history of Mandela's accomplishments as a leader and that, although some have been struggling with finding flaws in their leaders of choice, you were actually able to point one out, thus illustrating that we are all humans, but that our ability to make mistakes doesn't necessarily have to interfere with our ability to do good and lead.