LEADER THAT I ADMIRE THE MOST

   

The leader is a man who comes closest to realising the norms of a group that values the highest.  This conformity gives him his high rank, which attracts people and implies the right to assume control of the group. The underlying need-structure of the individual is what motivates his behaviour in various leadership situations. Leadership style thus refers to the consistency of goals or needs at different situations. One of the great leaders who had the above qualities fulfilled in him is the former South African president, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela.  Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela (18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, political leader, and philanthropist, who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was the country's first black head of state and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid by tackling institutionalised racism and fostering racial reconciliation. Ideologically an African nationalist and socialist, he served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997.

     The Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), originally known as the Boycott Movement, was a British organisation that was at the centre of the international movement opposing South Africa's system of apartheid and supporting South Africa's non-whites. The AAM changed its name to (ACTSA), Action for Southern Africa, in 1994, when South Africa achieved meaningful democracy in the form of multiracial elections.
     A revisionist interpretive approach enables us to understand Mandela's greatness and his achievement - the deliberate assembly of a messianic personality that originates in a movement awareness of organisational short comes and willingness to compensate them by directing its own ideas through a charismatic individual. This is indeed part of Mandela's story, for the ANC certainly began to intentionally contrive a public legend around. Mandela's leadership in "defiance campaign" prior to his imprisonment, in 1952, was when collective decisions and activities attributed to his personal genius. Mandela himself took pains to ensure the media images matched the messages his comrades and he wished to project.

     Mandela's political experiences came when he was enrolled to the University College, Fort Hare, he worked forward to obtain a Bachelor of degree in Fine Arts. During his course, he got elected as the Student's Representative Council of the student political organisation. Soon he was expelled, for participating in a protest in the campus (ANC archive). Because of this, he left to Johannesburg where he finally obtained his degree in BA. After that in 1942, he joined the African National Congress, during World War II. Nelson Mandela formed a group with other members of the ANC under the leadership of a colleague, Anton Lembede. The main focus of the group was to change the African National Congress into a mass movement. Mandela played a major role in many political endeavours, many anti-apartheid movements such as the Program of Action, a policy based initiative that was founded on the principles of non-violent "civil disobedience, boycott, strike, and non-co-operation".

     In 1962, Mandela was nominated as the leader of the armed resistance group that was formed the same year known as the Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation). Mandela explained his reasoning, he assessed the situation of South African, along with some of his colleagues, he came to a conclusion that: as long violence was inevitable in his country; it was considered unrealistic and wrong for African leaders to preach on peace and non-violence when the government met their peaceful demands by force. In 1991 eventually he was elected as the President of the ANC. Later he was elected democratic manner as the President of the State of South Africa in 1994.It is true that Mandela had important collaborators who helped him become hero and became the beneficiary of social context and historical circumstances. The iconic status of Mandela is not just his theatrical capacity to inspire or motivate. His actions have continued ever since his supposed retirement. Nelson Mandela was one man who was able and willing to stand up and fight back. Indeed, we can also see how this man developed his legacies through his years in prison, his activist years and his elaborate life afterwards.

     Nelson Mandela strongly believes in democracy, equality and learning. Despite being repeatedly provoked, he never answered racism with racism. He has always been an inspiration, in South Africa and to the world, to all who opposed deprivation & oppression. Mandela personifies struggle, still leads the fight against apartheid with extraordinary vigour and resilience after spending close to three decades in prison. For his people, he sacrificed his personal life and his youth, and is South Africa's loved hero. Nelson Mandela reinforces the fact that leaders have very different qualities and that leadership success is more complex than just identifying few traits or preferable behaviours. He's endowed with many personality traits; this makes him a natural leader and also has developed many leadership skills and strategies in his lifetime. Mandela's consensus attributed to his leadership success. Consensus is considered as a superior decision making process to build motivation and commitment in group members towards their objectives. Using consensus aids in making the best possible decision and utilises the resources. In conclusion, Nelson Mandela is considered as a revolutionary leader with an ability to empower and motivate others using his strong regard for consensus and the democratic process.


QUOTABLE QUOTES OF NELSON MANDELA.

"Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement." 

"A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination." 

"Only free men can negotiate. Prisoners cannot enter into contracts." 


"Communists have always played an active role in the fight by colonial countries for their freedom, because the short-term objects of Communism would always correspond with the long-term objects of freedom movements." 

SOURCE: https://www.ukessays.com/essays/history/nelson-mandela-a-great-leader-history-essay.php