NALSON MANDELA

Nelson Mandela was born on July 18, 1918, into a royal family of the Xhosa-
speaking Thimbu tribe in the South African village of Mezzo, where his father,
Gadla Henry Mpha kanyiswa (c. 1880-1928), served as chief. His mother, Nosekeni
Fanny, was the third of Mphakanyiswa’s four wives, who together bore him nine
daughters and four sons. After the death of his father in 1927, 9-year-old Mandela
—then known by his birth name, Rolihlahla—was adopted by Jongintaba
Dalindyebo, a high-ranking Thimbu regent who began grooming his young award
for a role within the tribal leadership.

He studied law at the University of Witwatersrand, where he became involved in

the movement against racial discrimination and forged key relationships with
black and white activists. In 1944, Mandela joined the African National Congress
(ANC) and worked with fellow party members, including Oliver Tambo, to
establish its youth league, the ANCYL.

Nelson Mandela’s commitment to politics and the ANC grew stronger after the
1948 election victory of the Afrikaner-dominated National Party, which
introduced a formal system of racial classification and segregation—apartheid—
that restricted nonwhites’ basic rights and barred them from government while
maintaining white minority rule. The following year, the ANC adopted the ANCYL’s
plan to achieve full citizenship for all South Africans through boycotts, strikes, civil
disobedience and other nonviolent methods.

On December 5, 1956, Mandela and 155 other activists were arrested and went
on trial for treason. All of the defendants were acquitted in 1961, but in the
meantime tensions within the ANC escalated, with a militant faction splitting off
in 1959 to form the Pan African’s Congress (PAC). The next year, police opened
fire on peaceful black protesters in the township of Sharpeville, killing 69 people;
as panic, anger and riots swept the country in the massacre’s aftermath, the
apartheid government banned both the ANC and the PAC. Forced to go
underground and wear disguises to evade detection, Mandela decided that the
time had come for a more radical approach than passive resistance.
In 1961, Nelson Mandela co-founded and became the first leader of Umkhonto
we Sizwe (“Spear of the Nation”), also known as MK, a new armed wing of the
ANC. Several years later, during the trial that would put him behind bars for
nearly three decades, he described the reasoning for this radical departure from
his party’s original tenets.

Under Mandela’s leadership, MK launched a sabotage campaign against the

government, which had recently declared South Africa a republic and withdrawn
from the British Commonwealth. In January 1962, Mandela traveled abroad
illegally to attend a conference of African nationalist leaders in Ethiopia, visit the
exiled Oliver Tambo in London and undergo guerilla training in Algeria.

Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa:

After attaining his freedom, Nelson Mandela led the ANC in its negotiations with
the governing National Party and various other South African political
organizations for an end to apartheid and the establishment of a multiracial
government. Though fraught with tension and conducted against a backdrop of
political instability, the talks earned Mandela and de Klerk the Nobel Peace Prize
in December 1993. On April 26, 1994, more than 22 million South Africans turned
out to cast ballots in the country’s first multiracial parliamentary elections in
history. An overwhelming majority chose the ANC to lead the country, and on
May 10 Mandela was sworn in as the first black president of South Africa, with de
Klerk serving as his first deputy.

As president, Mandela established the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to

investigate human rights and political violations committed by both supporters
and opponents of apartheid between 1960 and 1994. He also introduced
numerous social and economic programs designed to improve the living
standards of South Africa’s black population.

In 1996 Mandela presided over the enactment of a new South African

constitution, which established a strong central government based on majority
rule and prohibited discrimination against minorities, including whites. Improving
race relations, discouraging blacks from retaliating against the white minority and
building a new international image of a united South Africa were central to
President Mandela’s agenda. To these ends, he formed a multiracial “Government
of National Unity” and proclaimed the country a “rainbow nation at peace with
itself and the world.” In a gesture seen as a major step toward reconciliation, he
encouraged blacks and whites alike to rally around the predominantly Afrikaner
national rugby team when South Africa hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

On his 80th birthday in 1998, Mandela wed the politician and humanitarian Grace
Michel (1945-), widow of the former president of Mozambique. (His marriage to
Winnie had ended in divorce in 1992.) The following year, he retired from politics
at the end of his first term as president and was succeeded by his deputy, Thabo
Mbeki (1942-) of the ANC.

NALSON MANDELA LEADERSHIP STYLE:

Mandela was recognized as one of the ‘models of leadership’ all around the
world.

Leadership does not necessarily relate to personality. However, it is about

behavior. These are noticeable set of features. There are five observable practices
in all of the greatest leaders when they are at their personal best which were
observed by Kouzes and Posner called the Five Exemplary Leadership Practices.
These set of characteristics have proven their competence as a clear pathway for
outstanding successes. From what can be seen in these practices, the typical
leaders would;

(1) model the approach

(2) motivate a common vision

(3) modify the development

(4) allow others to perform

(5) inspire the emotion (Suttner,2007)

First, Mandela created the way. He established the set of principles on the way to
pursue ultimate goals and how the South African people should be treated. He
shaped the values of excellence and laid foundation for the anti-apartheid civil
movement in South Africa. Mandela preferred to unite people from all classes in
the society to fight against the apartheid dictatorial regime; he get insight of the
significant of representative bureaucracy when it obstructed his goals. In the early
years of the anti-apartheid movement, Mandela maintained the sober evaluation
of the temporary political situation in South African. The key characteristic of the
temporary political condition was “the subjugation of the Black African after
centuries of oppression, tyranny, and exploitation by the whites in South Africa”
(Varela, 2013).

He enthused a common vision among the people in South Africa, which brings an
end to racial segregation and oppression. The South African people stand
together behind their common vision of the future. He created a unique and ideal
world of what the country could develop (Varela, 2013). In the re-establishing
process in South Africa, Nelson Mandela must have persuaded everyone on the
same page and on his side.

Nelson Mandela was an iconic leader in South Africa, and the “allow others to
act” practice was exemplified by him through alliance nurturing and motivating
others. He prospered in leading South Africa in getting rid of apartheid while
inspiring racial integration. Although being a president of South Africa, Mandela
did not become selfish and occupy power for his own. In being so modest, he
enabled others to develop as leaders.

Analysing Leadership Style of Mandela:

It can be analysed from Mandela’s leadership style by using the transformational
leadership theory. The basics of transformational leadership comprise;
(1) perfect influence
(2) inspiring motivation
(3) personalised consideration
(4) intellectual simulation (Read, 2010).
Mandela was known as a person who has visionary and widely charismatic under
the scope of inspirational motivation. For example, he established a group with
his friends in 1943 for persuading the president of ANC to act to prevent this
party from the marginalization. This goal then became the common vision of the
members in ANC group (Read, 2010). Mandela is renowned to have the capability
to be a hero, stimulate others, and lead the country. Using individualized
consideration, he had a capability to appeal to everyone.

The leadership style of Nelson Mandela is accredited for converting the ordinary
person to an exceptional individual. Under the scope of intellectual simulation,
Mandela mainly had the capability of being ground-breaking and inspired. He is
noted with an exceptional memorable skill, learning skills and detail-oriented
characteristic. When approaching an issue, he always considers the problem from
both positive and negative sides.

Nelson Mandela showed many features of a great leader. Nevertheless, he

broke the rule of common vision, and starting negotiations between the
government and ANC secretly was exemplified by him (Read, 2010).

Nelson Mandela as Servant Leader:

“The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you.
In between, the leader is a servant.”

A relatively new construct of leadership, known as servant leadership, has begun

to appear with greater frequency within the body of leadership literature and is
based on the idea of leader as first and foremost a servant. Greenleaf (2003)
describes the servant leader as one who possesses a natural desire to serve and
the ability to create positive change in a transformational manner.

He that is greatest among you shall be your servant.” The late Nelson Mandela,
former President of South Africa, modeled servant leadership in action.
His leadership focused on the importance of community-building and
empowering others to lead social change

A great quote by Nelson Mandela;

“There is still too much discord, hatred, division, conflicts and violence
in our world. It is so easy to break down and destroy. The Heroes are
those who make peace and build”

Nelson Mandela managed to move beyond the challenges and difficulties suffered
in prison. As a patriotic president, Mandela employed most of Greenleaf’s servant
leadership principles to achieve his objectives. The first one was that of empathy.

Characteristics of Nelson Mandela as servant Leadership:

 Listens actively
 Prioritizes
 Accepts others
 Guesses correctly
 Foresees the future
 Possesses awareness
 Adapts readily
 Sets a vision
 Persuades others
 Empowers others

Qualities of Nelson Mandela Leadership:

As a leader, South African President Nelson Mandela demonstrated remarkable

leadership qualities;

 Advocacy for peace

 Powerful presence that disarmed enemies with his smile
 High level of forgiveness
 Positive thinking
  Ability to see the big picture
 Focus on goals and missions beyond himself
 Remarkable.

Conclusion:

This is all about Nelson Mandela, one of the greatest leaders of all times. In this
essay, there are analyses of the leadership style of Mandela under the scope of
Transformational leadership theory and the remarkable quote was left to the
future generations by Mandela. The meaning of nationalistic was taught by
Mandela (Read, 2010). He also gave a vision for Africans that African nationalism
would be a good force that stood for liberty and accomplishment of Africans. He
changed unfairness, subjugation, and misery that the Black Africans faced into a
national fight. It was a fight of the Africans, by an Africans for the right to live.
According to Mandela, what he intended was not the dominance of one individual
group but fairness of all. His practices and leadership style are still an
encouragement to many people until today.

References:

 Varela, E. A. D. R. (2013). Critical Analysis of Nelson Mandela’s Leadership

Style.
 Read, J. H. (2010). Leadership and power in Nelson Mandela’s long walk to
freedom. Journal of Power, 3(3), 317-339.
 Suttner 1, R. (2007). Understanding Nelson Mandela. African Historical
Review, 39(2), 107-130.