Nelson Mandela’s Leadership Qualities
Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 and later died in 2013. As an African political hero, he fought against the apartheid system in South Africa. As a result, he was jailed for 27 years in prison, 18 years of which he spent in Robben Island. He was very instrumental in uniting the people of the Republic of South Africa. His speeches were captivating an inspiring and brought about a significant change in how people view leadership in the world, a thing that won him a Nobel Peace Prize. One of his major writings was a book called Long Walk to Freedom. This write-up aims at discussing Mandela’s leadership characteristics, the model of leadership he used, cultural effects on his leadership, ways in which he solved critical problems in his reign and ethical principles which governed him.
The following are some of the qualities that made Mandela a great leader.
Mandela was a focused leader and was a mission-oriented personality. He chose a goal that carried essential meaning in his life and those of others. He fought for a South Africa free from racial discrimination and social segregation. Additionally, he was a positive thinker. He never revenged, and he looked for a future where Africans and the whites in South Africa could work together to build the nation (Sternlight et al., 2015). He was also enduring. He served for many years in jail without losing hope that one day he would become free. Besides that, as a great leader, he was inspiring. He made several travels in the country to encourage his followers to understand the importance of their nation and the need to fight for equality (McCarthy, 2015). People were convinced and satisfied with his speeches.
Mandela applied the situational model of leadership during his era. Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard developed this model during their research work on Organizational Behavior Management (Thompson & Glasø, 2015). The model’s fundamental principle is based on the fact that there is no single leadership style considered as the best. The theory advocate that effective leadership is relevant to the mission of the organization and leaders would only succeed when they adapt their leadership style to the ability and willingness of the people being led. The model has two central concepts such as leadership style and the group level of performance readiness.
Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela was an effective leader who focused on the mission of ensuring a country free from oppression associated with the government using the apartheid system. He developed a relationship with his Africa National Congress followers that promised them to hope to continue with the struggle for freedom (Sampson, 2018). Mandela leadership concurred with the four types of behavior categorized by the situational model. These behavior types are named from S1 to S4 and include directing, coaching, supporting and delegating. To lead the actions of his followers, Mandela delivered speeches that the role of every individual in bringing change to the country. In 1990 he advised his fellow citizens to use their votes to win the struggle and to avoid fighting a war that they could not win.
Situational Model of Leadership
Mandela was brought up in a royal family of Thembu people and was primarily influenced by their customs. Also, he attended a Christian Mission school in Wesleyan in the early years of his life. He was baptized in a Methodist church, and at one time he taught in Sunday school (Singh, 2016). The Christian values he learnt in the church must have had an influence in his later life in the university. After joining Fort Hare university is when Mandela learned the realities of racial discrimination.
Generally, Mandela’s life was shaped by his social character in which he liked sharing with people. He recalled that he never remembered any occasion in his childhood when he stayed at home alone. Therefore it is correct to say Mandela was a man of the people. This provided him with an opportunity to learn social skills to deal with issues concerned with interpersonal relations in the future.
In 1941 Mandela and his cousin Justice left home to Johannesburg to escape the arranged marriages. Mandela urged that people should respect traditions, but they should not let those traditions to affect their relationships with others (Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2016). In his writing, he talked about people who used cultural mores raised to undermine others. This is evidence that Mandela’s belief on Christian values had grown to a level to affect his decisions and visions.
The death of his father Henry Gadla marked a turning point in his life. He then had to be separated from his mother and adopted by Regent. Privileges and opportunities characterized his life in royal resident at Mqhekezweni. He secured a chance to examine the way in which Regent listened to peoples’ problems and give his views to solve them. He developed listening and communication skills required by any leader and the need to be liberal.
Apartheid system in South Africa promoted racial discrimination and social segregation. After its formalization in 1948, it formed a basis for political as well as economic dominance by the whites (Clark & Worger, 2016). This brought about a significant problem where African political rights were restricted in their country. This led to the banning of the opposition political parties, and their leaders were imprisoned, sent to exile or killed. Mandela and his party employed various approaches to fighting against the Apartheid system. Among these approaches were; use of protests, armed struggle, and negotiations. The citizens’ protests was an effective means, but more often it leads to the loss of lives and damage to property. This justified Mandela’s saying that “there is no easy way to freedom (Tomlinson, 2017).” For example, the 1986 Sharpeville Massacre oversaw the killing of students by the police.
Cultural Effects on Mandela’s Leadership
Mandela also used negotiation means to curb the problems associated with the apartheid system. He involved leaders both within and outside the country, and finally, they agreed on using constitutional methods and elections. This led to the unbanning of its party, the African National Congress (ANC), and suspension of armed struggle.
Mandela effectiveness was majorly affected by ethics. Moral authority was one ethical aspect of his leadership. Mandela was a great moral leader who was respected by many around the world (Antonakis & Day, 2017). After serving for many years in prison, he could still forgive those responsible for his oppression. He fought for those who were mistreated in the society and still was responsible for the outcome of his actions. His speeches were influencing, persuasive and carried moral authority, an aspect that earned him a great following. He assisted in preventing civil wars from occurring in South Africa. He demonstrated bold ethical values in his reign to guide followers evade all forms of violence, and consider the state of the situation before acting violently (Lawton & Páez, 2015). Mandela was an honest leader. He was able to represent the grievances of the oppressed black community and simultaneously asked the South Africans to forgive one other and forget the past. He said that when he left the prison’s door, he left it with hate behind and had forgiven those who jailed him.
Conclusion
Conclusively, the qualities of a good leader can influence the actions of others, and this can contribute to the achievement of the organizational or societal goals. Using the best leadership model can result in developing a better relationship with others. A leader should always be ready to face the challenges that obstruct him in his pursuance of the leadership goals. It also evident from the above discussion that the background of a leader can impact on his future decisions.
References
Antonakis, J., & Day, D. (2017). The nature of leadership. New Delhi: Sage publications.
Clark, N., & Worger, W. (2016). South Africa: The rise and fall of apartheid. Chicago: Routledge.
Lawton, A., & Páez, I. (2015). Developing a framework for ethical leadership. Auckland: Activity press.
McCarthy, C. (2015). Cultivate the top 5 characteristics of an extraordinary leader. Wellington: Activity press.
Ndlovu-Gatsheni, S. (2016). Nelson Mandela and the Politics of Life. In Governance and the Crisis of Rule in Contemporary Africa. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Sampson, A. (2018). Nelson Mandela: the authorised biography. Merdan: Bentang Pustaka.
Singh, A. (2016). Policing and crime control in post-apartheid South Africa. Washinton: Routledge.
Sternlight, J., Schneider, A., Menkel-Meadow, C., Mnookin, R., Goldstone, R., & Andrews, P. (2015). Making Peace with Your Enemy: Nelson Mandela and His Contributions to Conflict Resolution. Johannesburg: Adventure Works Press.
Thompson, G., & Glasø, L. (2015). Situational leadership theory: a test from three perspectives. Auckland: Atuanui press.
Tomlinson, R. (2017). Urbanization in post-apartheid South Africa. Chicago: Routledge.
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