Discussion

The ability to lead people towards a common goal, motivate and inspire them and is committed towards a cause and takes responsibility as well as ownership or accountability of the managerial decisions and performance of the team. Through leadership, individuals can improve coordination, creativity and innovation within the team and help support better performance (Fairhurst & Connaughton, 2014). A leader can take several roles, including that of a mentor, motivator, coach, visionary, providing strategic directions and also help the team to grow and learn, delegating important tasks to the members and instill the values of integrity, accountability, clarity, cohesion, cooperation, mutual respect, honesty, creativity, loyalty, courage and positivity in the team (White et al., 2016). In a social context, a leader aims to develop collaboration, education and engagement in order to bring about an overall social development (Haslam & Turner, 2014).

In the book ‘Playing the enemy’ written by John Carlin describes how Nelson Mandela was able to unite the people torn by apartheid, getting everyone to cheer to the national rugby team and motivating the national team to defeat the world ruby champions to become the best team in the world (Carlin, 2008). The same story was also portrayed in the Hollywood film ‘Invictus’ directed by Clint Eastwood in 2009, named after the poem that inspired Mr. Mandela himself (Eastwood, 2009; Theresia & Meisuri, 2013; Pietersen, 2015).

Discussed below is how Mr. Mandela used leadership practices to bring cohesion and lead his people towards a common vision of a nation united. How such a vision shaped the mindsets of the national rugby team of South Africa as well as all the citizens, and how such leadership traits and actions could be related to different leadership theories by relating the leadership styles exhibited by Nelson Mandela described in the Movie Invictus and the book ‘Playing the Enemy’ (Pietersen, 2015).

-Description of leadership practice and consequence:

With the fall of the apartheid era in South Africa that saw innumerable forms of inequalities between the black and white skinned Africans in the country, a significant divide still existed between the two major divisions in the population. The divide was reinforced through a sense f mutual distrust, intolerance and hostility towards each others. This divide could be seen during sporting events such as rugby games in which the national team is one of the highest ranked team (Clark & Worger, 2016; Tomlinson, 2017). However since the team has predominantly white skinned players, they were seen to be representatives of the Apartheid era as a result of which they never got any support from the blacked skinned population of the nation. Instead they would always cheer the opponents (Stephens & Fourie, 2017). The divide also existed among the security detail of the president Nelson Mandela based on the same feeling of mutual distrust between the white and black skinned personnel (Sternlight et al., 2015). When such mutual animosity was tearing down the nation, Nelson Mandela used the 1995 Rugby World Cup event as a catalyst to develop solidarity among his people, with the vision that the sport can once again bring together the people torn apart by apartheid and develop mutual respect and trust, finally breaking the stigma that separated his people for decades (Heere et al., 2016; Scott et al., 2017).

Critical Analysis of the situation, theory identification, integration and application

According to the “Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership” proposed by Kouzes (2014), that actions that can be practiced by an efficient leader includes modeling the way for others, inspiring a shared vision, challenging the flawed processes, empower others to take action, and encourage people to do that is right.  Such practices were clearly exhibited in the actions of Nelson Mandela, who set an example which others can follow about the values of tolerance and forgiveness (Posner et al., 2015). After being imprisoned for over 30 years, Nelson Mandela was ready to forgive what was done to him and prevent the past history continue to divide the people. He also inspired the people as well as the national rugby team through his own story and a poem by William Earnest Henley, called ‘Invictus’ which have him his strength to endure the hardships he faced in his life (Tutu, 2018). He envisioned that through this national support, a nation of passionate but yet divided sports lovers can be united and thus pave the way towards social cohesion. The following lines by John Carlin in the book ‘Playing the Enemy’, he quoted “Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, the power to unite people that little else has…It is more powerful in governments in breaking down racial barriers” to explain Mandela’s vision and strategy to unite South Africa which he used to inspire the national team to its victory in the world cup 1995 tournament (Carlin, 2008; Sternlight, 2015).

Mandela also was able to challenge the process, looking for opportunities, taking risks if needed be in order to implement his vision and mission towards social harmony. Thomas Aquinas once famously quoted “If the highest aim of a captain was to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever” which implies that the ability to take risks is an important leadership attribute since it helps to develop knowledge and understanding through practical experience and take difficult decisions which might seem risky at first but has a huge potential of positive impact (Riggio et al., 2015). In a nation that was divided by the color of the skin, Mandela was able to engage both the white and black skinned people to a common cause and thus negotiate a truce between them, which was quoted by John Carlin in his book as “Most important of all, Mandela stated that the way to a negotiated solution lay in a simple-sounding formula: reconciling white fears with black aspirations” (Carlin, 2008). At the core of his action was the ability to inspire the team to give their best performance defeating every adversary on the way to the World Cup Champion trophy, using the sport to rally every South Africans of all color to overcome their differences and support the national team to its glorious world cup victory. Carlin pointed out that such a ‘dedication’ of Mandela was the reason for the success of the team and ultimately helped him to unify the people of South Africa (Pietersen, 2015; Stephens & Fourie, 2017).

Through the analysis of the situations that were depicted in the book and the film, different theories could be applied in the context, showing how Nelson Mandela was able to effectively lead the national rugby team and the entire nation towards harmony and peace (Sternlight et al., 2015). Some of the most prominent theories that can be applied in this context have been discussed below:

Great Man Theory by Thomas Carlyle- This theory assumes that great leaders can arise from the people in times of great need. According to this theory, great people have special characteristics they are born with, which makes them different from everyone else, and in times of great need, such people often steps up and takes the onus to turn the things around and address  the needs of the people (Spector, 2016). The ability of Mandela to continue his struggle to end the apartheid era in South Africa regardless of the hardships he had to overcome and step up to the challenge of uniting a nation of people who have been torn through ages of discrimination, bigotry, inequality, stigmatization and exploitation is a sufficient proof of the greatness of his character, strength, morals and vision thus showing how he can be considered as a ‘Great man’ according to the definition set by Carlyle (Mpofu & Ndlovu-Gatsheni, 2018; Sternlight et al., 2015). In such as aspect, a ‘great’ leader sets himself/herself apart from the rest on the basis of their achievements, accomplishments and abilities which others can look up to and thus allowing the individual to motivate others. Thus, even though a leader would work amongst the people, he/she would be always looked up to and revered by others. Such a value of leadership was also supported by John C. Maxwell who quoted “Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them”( Maxwell, 2014; Maxwell, 2018).

Trait Theory by Stogdil- This theory is similar to the Great Man theory, in which it is assumed that great leaders have inborn traits and skills that are suitable to lead people. Through these traits and skills, a leader is able to adapt to various challenges and overcome them and motivate others to achieve the best potential (Lee, 2018). Traits such as emotional stability, intellect, interpersonal skills, communication skills, persistence, responsibility and ambition allowed Nelson Mandela to overcome all odds to achieve what many consider impossible, which was shown in the film ‘Invictus’, where the captain of the national Rugby team (Allen, 2018). When Mandela met with François Pienaar, he showed significant uncertainty about Mandela’s vision to unite the nation through the sport, feeling that this was an almost impossible ask, given the extent to which the apartheid era have torn apart the people. However, Mandela was still able to inspire him to head his team to victory in the world cup tournament in 1995. By developing such traits, Mandela was also able to develop a social capital though better cohesion among people (Eastwood, 2009).

Participative Theory- Mandela’s leadership style can also be compared to the participative theories of leadership in which he fostered participation and contributions from across the nation, involving people from all skin colors, developing support for the national team in the tournament (Ghaffari et al., 2017. He was finely attuned to the inputs he received from the team captain, including his concerns which he was able to address and thus encourage him to play his role to lead the national team, under Mr. Mandela’s guidance (Ferraris, 2015).

Transformational Leadership- This is one of the most significant theory can be implied within the leadership style followed and exhibited by Nelson Mandela. Through his efforts, conviction and vision, he was able to bring about a transformation of a nation of people disenfranchised by the apartheid era into a nation where people of both black and white skin can live together in harmony and work towards a common goal of national pride (Jordan et al., 2015). He was able to develop a relationship across the racial divide in order to bring people together and develop a high moral and ethical standard among them (Holder et al., 2014). Mandela was able to impress upon the nation that ‘freedom’ is for everyone, regardless of the skin color and its constructs are the same for everybody, which was quoted by John Carlin as “Your freedom and mine cannot be separated” in his book ‘Playing the Enemy’(Carlin, 2008).

A lot can be learnt from the example of Nelson Mandela about how to become an effective leader, and how to persistently work towards the bigger picture despite all challenges. From the book ‘Playing the Enemy’ and the film ‘Invictus’, I was able to learn several valuable lessons which I believe can help me to develop my own leadership skills, which have been discussed below:

Communication: My short term goal is to develop my communication skills through which I can engage the stakeholders and members of the team in a more meaningful and effective way, as well as share the common goals and objectives and thus orient them in the right direction.  I intend to develop my communication skills by attending communication workshops, seminars and presentations where I would be able to learn about effective forms of both verbal and non verbal communication (Men, 2014).

Risk Taking and Risk Analysis: This is my Mid Term goal since developing the ability to take calculated risks depends on how well one can understand and analyze the various risks associated with a strategic decision and taking the best path forward. I believe that through an effective ‘risk taking’ behavior it is possible to take certain risky decisions in order to reach promising outcomes. I plan to develop this ability by enrolling in various managerial programs on risk analysis, as well as by strengthening the ability through professional practice (Shin & Eom, 2014).

Efficient Situational Analysis: This is a long term goal, as the ability to effectively analyze a situation can be complicated, requiring the assessment of several factors, both internal and external.  This strategy can help me to take strategic decisions that are more appropriate to the situation while addressing the objectives of the action. I believe that by working as a management intern, I can develop my skills in situational analysis, which can help me in professional development (Northouse, 2018; McCleskey, 2014).

As a result of my learning experience through the analysis of the leadership style of nelson Mandela, I was able to identify certain gaps in my own leadership abilities, which I need to work on in order to become a better leader in an organization and thus take on more responsibilities to lead people (Duckworth, 2015). I believe that communication and honesty are very important values for any leader, as it helps the individual to effectively share his/her vision across the organization and ensure that there is no ambiguity in their communication thereby preventing any misinterpretation (Nasaruddin & Rahman, 2016). Effective risk analysis is another aspect that I need to develop since it can help me to analyze a business or organizational challenge more effectively and thereby take more appropriate decisions. The story of how Nelson Mandela was able to use sport to unite a nation also showed how it is vital to have a persuasive vision which can be used to motivate people, which  was another gap I found in my leadership abilities. Such insights also meant that by developing such skills, I would be able to develop team work and cohesion and help in the development of social capital within the team.

Conclusion:

An effective leader is one who has the ability to lead people towards a common goal, regardless of the challenges and adversities, and has the ability to implement his vision of a better future and motivate others towards it. Nelson Mandela showed incredible leadership qualities when he united the people of South Africa that was divided based on the skin color in the post Apartheid era, based on mutual distrust on each other. Mandela used the national rugby team to unite his people during the world cup tournament, getting everyone to cheer for the national team for the first time and thus allowed the color divide to be broken and bring together his people.  His story provides us a valuable lesson of how effective leadership can help to create great changes and help in the upliftment of people.

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