Critical Analysis Essay

The leader I chose for my Critical Analysis  is Nelson Mandela who was the President of South Africa from 1995 to 1999. Nelson Mandela played a major role in uniting the people in South Africa and ending the major issues and problem of racial injustice and racial discrimination. Nelson Mandela’s life is essential because he made history in providing South Africa and its people with a life of equality and no racial discrimination and racial injustice in its system. Nevertheless what is interesting is that Nelson Mandela’s leadership did not just stop and influence South Africa but influenced the globe.

He played a major role in ending apartheid in his country. This was a positive outcome that Nelson Mandela achieved because liberating South Africa from apartheid allowed people to live there in peace without fear of being racially discriminated against and facing injustice. The life of Nelson Mandela is important because it presents to us another piece of history where a leader fought against an unjust system and came out victorious in this fight. In addition what makes the life and story of Nelson Mandela is how he went about ending the unjust system and apartheid in hiss country. In addition to the trials and tribulations he experience when he stood up and decided to be a leader in ending apartheid in South Africa. His life represents growth in the Leadership Approach he has and demonstrates various Leadership Truths in facing the unjust system in his country. Nelson Mandela did not achieve this success alone however, with the help of institutions such as African National Congress and confounding the Armed Resistance Movement slowly but surely the dream of peace was achieved in South Africa.

  The thesis statement that I developed directly from my proposal states that Nelson Mandela’s leadership traits, the Trait Approach and Transformational Leadership that he inherited and improved throughout his life time, in addition to credible reputation he built, his ability to look forward to the future and his grit and determination were all essential aspects that allowed the leader Nelson Mandela to play an important part in reconstructing South Africa from a country under the influence of apartheid into a county under the influence of pluralistic democracy. 

Two Leadership Approach

Nelson Mandela demonstrated two leadership approaches in his fight against apartheid and racial discrimination. These two leadership approaches are the Trait Approach and the Transformational Leadership. Nelson Mandela shows the Trait Approach when giving his “I Am Prepared to Die” speech to his followers on his view on apartheid and how the people of South Africa must go about ending apartheid. In his speech he shows traits such as confidence, honesty and integrity, and also ambition and motivation. In Nelson Mandela’s speech he states “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die”. In stating this Nelson Mandela also demonstrates hope which is what a leader must have to also influence his followers to believe that their goal is attainable.  In addition Nelson Mandela also shows the trait of commitment. Commitment is an important quality or trait to have as a leader because it convinces your followers that you are willing to do everything possible to achieve the goal both you and your followers hope to attain. Nelson Mandela’s commitment is crucial and impactful because at the end he states that the ideal for equality is something that he is willing to die for.These are traits that make a leader and these are traits that Nelson Mandela has in his leadership arsenal. These traits are what build a strong, and worthy leader who can influence his followers and pass these traits down to them.

Nelson Mandela demonstrated Transformational Leadership in his push for a new society for South Africa. Nelson Mandela fought so that South Africa can be a society where everyone is equal and their is no more apartheid system and racial injustice. He went about eradicating and ending this system in numerous ways such as in the court as a lawyer by helping cases that involved racial injustice and discrimination. He  changed or transformed to an anti-apartheid  activist and participated in protest. After he was released he became president of South Africa to end apartheid in his country. Nelson Mandela was fighting the same fight but through transformational Leadership he was able to fight against in numerous ways and as a result he was able to transform his country into a county under equality.

Nelson Mandela did not only transform and change South Africa he also changed as well and without this internal transformation he would not have had the ability to take on the position of president of South Africa and influence it to fall under an anti apartheid system. In the biography A Long Walk To Freedom he peacefully protested along with the ANC to protest against apartheid in South Africa in January 11th 1962. The reader can view this as Nelson being a follower because he is not leading or in charge of the ANC protest although his will in fighting against injustice was still strong. During this time Nelson was slowly becoming the leader that will soon play a huge role in the abolition of apartheid. As time progressed Nelson was freed from jail and this climax or point of his life truly tested his will and upon his release Nelson Mandela’s official leadership status was born. The reason is because Nelson Mandela faced extreme adversity and even after his mindset was still fixated on the goal of ending apartheid and racial injustice. Nelson Mandela soon came president of South Africa which gave him more power to influence his philosophy and ideas of having South Africa under a pluralistic democracy and anti apartheid system.

Three Leadership Truths

Nelson Mandela also showed three leadership truths as well which are Truth 7: Challenge is the Crucible for Greatness, Truth 2: Credibility Is the Foundation of Leadership, and Truth 4: Focusing on the Future Sets Leaders Apart. Nelson Mandela’s grit and strong will to survive in jail for 27 years and then released as person still willing to fight against apartheid demonstrates Truth 7: Challenge is the Crucible for Greatness. In addition another way Nelson Mandela demonstrated grit and perseverance was simply the dedication to battling political and social rights for his people. This took immense amount of grit because not too many people were willing to go the lengths for that long in fighting for something like that. The passion he had for his people of South Africa is what fueled him to be so determined and have an immense amount of grit. As a lawyer he dealt with cases where time and time again the unjust system of apartheid was victorious over him however he never wavered and gave up and that demonstrates Nelson Mandela being Crucible for Greatness. 

His connection to his followers and the fact that his followers are willing to follow him show leadership under Truth 2: Credibility Is the Foundation of Leadership. In addition his titles as former lawyer, anti-apartheid activist and South African president are position that show credibility and shows that he is a great leader. Nonetheless his titles of credibility were just the tip of the iceberg. Numerous times he showed that he was a credible leader through his actions. To elaborate, he never deviated from the goal of ending apartheid even when he was in jail for 27 years he stayed focus on the goal not only for himself but for his followers as well. In addition he was constantly searching and doing things to find a way to influence his ideas on how South Africa should be run and presented so he found ways to get in position of power to influence others how wrong and unjust the system was. In addition in reference to biography Nelson Mandela’s credibility of him fighting against apartheid and this poor system in South Africa supported and uplifted his credibility even more. The reason for this is because his followers can trust and believe that Nelson Mandela ran for president for that purpose, to eradicate apartheid from the country.

Lastly Nelson Mandela was constantly worried and focused on South Africa’s future. He put in place many changes and foundations so that when he retires and steps down from being involved in social and politics South Africa will still strive. Do demonstrate he put in place the Nelson Mandela Foundation before he retired. Also during his fight against apartheid he was attempting to change the society and rules in South Africa because those current principle would have negatively effected South Africa and its people. To elaborate under apartheid Black South African’s were being racially discriminated against and the system was injustice. Nelson Mandela developed  and put in place things such as the  Nelson Mandela Foundation to continue out his goal and uphold it so that they never revert back to the ways of apartheid.  In reference to Truth 4 which states “In a related study we found that the desirability of thinking about legacies —an extension of being forward looking—is important to the majority of managers at every level but becomes even more important as you move up the ladder of responsibility”. With Nelson’s position being a position of high responsibility it demonstrates that putting a foundation in place to continue the ideal of equality is his way of looking to the future and preparing his country and his people to continue when he not only retires but for when he passes away and is no longer there with them. These actions and scenarios demonstrate that Nelson Mandela has the Truth 4: Focusing on the Future Set Leaders Apart in his leadership package.

Conclusion 

The leadership characteristics of Nelson Mandela, the Trait Approach and Transformational Leadership he inherited and strengthened during his life, established a credible reputation and had the capacity to look to the future. His grit and determination were essential elements that allowed Nelson Mandela to play a role in rebuilding, under the influence of pluralistic democracy, South Africa from a country under the influence of apartheid into a county. 

The lessons that can be learned from Nelson Mandela’s actions and leadership qualities is to never give up or back then in something that you firmly believe in. This lesson was projected in his determination and grit aspects in life such as when he stuck to the dream of having a pluralistic democracy even when he was freed after 27 years of jail. Through this Nelson Mandela prove that if you. stay true to your dream and your goal and constantly push for it to come through, eventually it will.

Another lesson Nelson Mandela projected in his life in making history was to always have plans and look forward to the future because you are not only living for today you are also living for other days as well. Nelson Mandela had a mentality which was planning for South Africa and its country’s future in hope that it did not still experience racial injustice and discrimination and that pluralistic democracy as well as equality would be enforced. Nelson Mandela new change would not happen overnight and he went about this content with the fact that he may not see his goal complete but he simply continued out of love for his own country and its people including  future generations as well.

These lessons can easily be applied to not only leadership challenges in my world but in broader society as well. To elaborate the lesson of never giving up on your dreams or goals can be applied to something as simple as learning a new song on the piano. If I were to stop practicing and simply conclude my pianist career I will never see this dream of me learning this new song or even other potential songs if I lose my grit and determination simply because I messed up a few times. If however I continue to pursue the goal of achieving the new piano song eventually I will master it and my goal will be achieved. The lesson of looking towards the future in a broader sense of society can refer to technology in the perspective that people are constantly innovating technology so that our lives can  be easier in the future. That is simply the purpose of innovating technology and generating new technological devices. They are meant to improve people’s daily lives similar to Nelson Mandela’s purpose in looking towards the future as he hopes to improve and make the lives of the future generation easier by erasing the problematic issue of racial discrimination and racial injustice.

Works Cited

Biography of Nelson Mandela. Nelson Mandela Foundation. Date accessed October 13,2020

https://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography

Leadership: Theory and Practice “Transformational Leadership: Full Chapter” accessed December 7th, 2020

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Leadership: Theory and Practice “Trait Approach: Full Chapter” accessed December 7th, 2020

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Nelson Mandela timeline of achievements,Nelson Mandela timeline of achievements Vukuzenzele,Date accessed,October 14,

https://www.vukuzenzele.gov.za/nelson-mandela-timeline-achievements

Nelson Mandela Childhood Nelson Childhood, Nelson Mandela’s Date accessed October, 14,2020

http://nelsonmandelas.com/nelson-mandela-childhood/

Timeline, Nelson Mandela Foundation,Date accessed October,14

https://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/timeline

The Truth About Leadership “Truth 2 Credibility is the Foundation of Leadership” accessed December 6th, 2020

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The Truth About Leadership “Truth 4 Focusing on the Future Sets Leaders Apart” accessed December 6th, 2020

file:///home/chronos/u-a870c42f62dbd007f3be7298403a53a89ab19f15/MyFiles/Downloads/Truth%20Four_Focusing%20on%20the%20Future%20Sets%20Leaders%20Apart.pdf

The Truth About Leadership “Truth 7 Challenge is the Crucible For Greatness” accessed December 6th, 2020

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