Nelson Mandela
Born
on 18th of July 1918 in Transkei, South Africa, Nelson Mandela is
regarded as one of the most progressive leaders in Africa. He
received his education at Fort Hare University College and the Witwatersrand
University where he received he graduated as a lawyer. It wasn’t until the year
1944 that he joined the African National Congress and got involved in
resistance activities against the government apartheid practices. He was tried for treason between the years1956 to
1961 and was acquitted in 1961.
In the year 1960 after the banning of the
ANC by the government, Mandela argued for the creation of an armed wing of the
ANC. This demonstrates idealization as he developed a new idea to overcome the
challenges that the ASNC political wing was facing. He proposed the use of violent tactics to
make the country ungovernable and force the government to concede to their
demands for equity. In 1964 he was charged with attempting to overthrow the
government and sentenced to life in prison together with seven other ANC
members.
He
was incarcerated from 1964 to 1982 in Robin Island Prison. On February 11th,
1990 Mandela was fully released, and he proceeded to become South Africa’s
first black president. Nelson Mandela is
not only recognized for his efforts in fighting against apartheid in South
Africa, but he also advocated for human rights and helped to bridge the racial
divide that existed between white and black South African making it a unified
country.
- Leadership Style
a) Charismatic
Just
four years after joining the ANC, Nelson Mandela was regarded as one of the
most popular leaders in the fight against the practice of apartheid in South
Africa. He managed to achieve this by easily relating with the people he was addressing.
He utilized rallying cries to spur the people’s interests and unify them
towards a common purpose. Mandela’s style of leadership was considered to be very captivating and
successful because it was centered primarily on interaction with the people
that he was leading.
Through the interaction, Mandela was able to
understand the needs of his people and make himself accessible to the people
this enabled him to be an effective leader. His close relations with the people
demonstrated his realtor talents which helped to hold the trust that existed
between him and ANC-party members during his 27-year incarceration. The strong
emotional relation’s that existed between him and his followers made his
followers to revere him and look upon him as the father of the South African
Nation.
Mandela’s charismatic leadership style is
also seen after he assumes the position of South Africa’s president. When
serving as president, Mandela managed to develop strong diplomatic relations
between South Africa and other countries. He learned from other countries that
had overcome racial challenges and as a result managed to successfully bridge
the divide that existed between white and black South Africans by working
closely with the white leaders.
b) Transformational
Transformational leadership is a leadership
style where the leader coordinates with his subordinates to identify areas that
are need of change, develop a vision to guide the change and execute the
change. It is largely based on adaptability
and changing as per the situation that the leader is facing at a specific
moment. Nelson Mandela utilized this style of leadership to bring a lot of
developments into South Africa. While living in Johannesburg, South Africa,
Nelson got exposed to the horrors of apartheid in the country..
He
joined the ANC and together with other ANC members devised a plan that would
bring an end to apartheid policies in the country. They proceeded to rally the
people to their cause and together they managed to end the practice. Nelson
Mandela also demonstrates his transformational leadership skills during his
presidency when he identified racial discord between blacks and whites as a key
inhibitor to the country’s growth and implemented strategies that aimed to heal
the discord and unify the country.
He managed to achieve this and production in
the country increased significantly. Mandela also identified illiteracy as a
major inhibitor to the success of black South Africans. He encouraged them to
educate themselves by setting up academic institutions and implementing
policies that made education more affordable for the people of South Africa.
c) Inspirational
The
ability to inspire other people to action is one of the most effective
leadership styles. For an individual to be a leader him or her needs to first
develop it. Nelson Mandela developed his inspirational leadership skills during
his early years in the ANC. He inspired supporters of the ANC by helping them
understand the importance of an apartheid-free South Africa and its benefit to
the people. Through his positivity, he managed to inspire a lot of young people
to take up his vision and make it theirs.
He
did this by organizing numerous educational rallies where he got the chance to
interact with the people and teach them. He also encouraged his supporters to
develop their understanding of what was important for the country.
Through his inspirational leadership style,
Mandela helped South Africa overcome apartheid and develop into a modern
democracy. He also managed to inspire other African leaders to strive for peace
in their countries. When he became president, Mandela managed to
convince his followers to restrain themselves from conducting any violent or
discriminatory acts against members of the minority white population. In doing
this, he helped to unify the country and expedite the country's development
process
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