Was Nelson Mandela A Great Leader History Essay

Was Nelson Mandela A Great Leader History EssayINTRODUCTIONThe leader is a piece of music who comes closest to realizing the norms the assemblage values the highest this conformity gives him his high rank, which attracts people and implies the right to assume control of the group. (Homans, 1950).The underlying need-structure of the individual which motivates his behavior in various leaders situations. Leadership style thus refers to the consistency of goals or needs over different situations. (Fiedler, 1967).One of the great leaders who had the above qualities fulfilled in him was Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, occasion president of South Africa and world acclaimed international statesman. The following would be a detailed analysis of his leadership traits, behavior and the situations in which he had proved himself a good leader.ABOUT NELSON MANDELANelson Rolihlahla Mandela comm whole known as Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 in Umtata, Transkei, South Africa son of Henry Mandela (a Te mbu tribal chief). He get married Evelyn Ntoko Mase (a nurse), 1944, divorced, 1956 married Nomzamo Winnie Madikileza (a social prevailer and policy-making activist), June 14, 1958, divorced married Graca Machel ( virtueyer), 1998 children (first marriage) Thembi (a son deceased), Makgatho (son), Makaziwe (daughter) (second marriage) Zenani (daughter), Zindziswa (daughter).He took up a correspondence course with the University of South Africa (now UNISA) to complete his first degree. He was awarded his Bachelors degree in 1941, and in 1942 he was articled to another firm of attorneys and started upon a law degree at the University of Witwatersrand. By 1948 Nelson Mandela had failed to pass the exams required for his LLB law degree, and he decided instead to settle for the qualifying exam which would allow him to practice as an attorney. bread and butter AS A PRISONERDuring the 1940s and fifties he rose rapidly through the ANC hierarchy but was frequently subject to police harass ment, detention, and banning.When the ANC was outlawed in 1960 he went underground and organized its force wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation). In 1962 he wasSentenced to five years imprisonment for inciting Afri put ups to strike and for leaving South Africa without a valid travel document. In 1964, whilst still in detention, he was charged with treason and, later on giving a memorable four-and-a-half hour speech criticizing apartheid, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.Living in a prison had the same(p) meaning as living in the worst place in South Africa Robben Island. ANC pris championrs earned D classifications, which was prisoners who were the most dangerous and had the least rights. They were kept in cells with hay carpets and thin blankets as beds and iron buckets for toilets. The daily menu was always the same small portion of corn soup with extra vegetable or meat chop for dinner. The men were wearing thin shirts from khaki and shorts, even during the winte r, and were restricted from reading newspapers or magazines-they were not allowed to read any news at all. The prisoners spent most of their epoch in a chalk mine, where they worked real hardAs one of the leaders of the group, Nelson received more harsh manipulation than the others. He was kept 23 hours in his cell every day, shined only by a lamp. This made him unable to sleep or know what the time was. He was only allowed to have one visitor every six months and once he was not allowed to see his wife for two years, Winnie. He could only write and receive one letter every six months. The letter he received was screened by the guard, who would cut the move that were considered to be unsafe, effectively erasing those parts even though there were writings behind those parts.In total Mandela spent twenty-seven consecutive years in detention. From 1964 to 1982 he was held on Robben Island, from 1982 to 1988 in Pollsmoor Prison, ness Town, and from 1988 to 1990 in Victor VersterPri son, Paarl.From 1985 on he rejected several offers of conditional release which would have imposed severe limits on his political activities. In many ways his imprisonment increased his, already considerable, political status and resulted in a worldwide campaign for his release.During the 27 years that Mandela spent in prison, hidden from the eyes of the world while he quarried limestone and harvested seaweed, his example of quiet suffering was just one of numerous pressures on the apartheid government.Public discussion of Mandela was illegal, and he was allowed few visitors. But as the years dragged on, he assumed the mantle of a martyr. In 1982 Mandela was moved to theMaximum security Pollsmoor Prison outside Cape Town. This move app arently stemmed from fears by the South African authorities that Mandela was exerting too great an influence on the other prisons at Robben Island.Mandela spent overmuch of the next six years in solitary confinement, during which he was allowed a wee kly 30-minute visit by his wife, Winnie. He was offered a conditional freedom in 1984 on the condition that he settle in the officially designated black homeland of Transkei, an offer Mandela refused with an affirmation of his allegiance to the African National Congress. In 1988, Mandela was hospitalized with tuberculosis, and after his recovery he was returned to prison under nearlywhat less stringent circumstances. In February 1990 he was unconditionally released to scenes of joyous celebration at home and abroad.LIFE AS A POLITICIANAnother revisionist interpretive approach is to understand Mandelas greatness as a embodiedly manufactured achievement the deliberate gathering of a messianic personality originating in a movements awarenessOf its own organizational shortcomings and willingness to compensate for them by directing its ideas through a charismatic individual. This is so part of Mandelas story, for the ANC certainly began to intentionally contrive a public legend aroun d Mandelasleadershipwell before he went to prison during the 1952 defiance campaign, when collective decisions and activities were attributed to his personal genius. The appearance in South Africa at this time of popular photo-journalism aimed at black readers made this easier, and Mandela himself took pains to ensure that the media images matched the messages he and his comrades wished to project.Mandelas earliest political experience came while enrolled at the University College of Fort Hare, where he was working to obtain a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. While at the college, he was elected to a student political organization known as the Students Representative Council. Soon after, Mandela was expelled for participating in a protest on campus (ANC archive). Because of this, Mandela attended Johannesburg where he finally obtained his BA. Soon after, he joined theAfrican National Congressin 1942, during the height ofWorld War II. Nelson Mandelas personal fixation with freedom brou ght him to work with many other members of the African National Congress to form a group under the leadership of a colleague, Anton Lembede (ANC archive). The groups main focus was to change the African National Congress into a mass movement, including all people from urban communities to those in the country.Mandela was instrumental in many political endeavors, many of which were anti-apartheid movements such as the Program of Action, a policy based initiative which was founded on the principle of using the non-violent weapons of boycott, strike, civil disobedience and non-co-operation (ANC archive). This eventually became the modus operandi of the African National Congress.And yet, some of our greatest leaders and role models have to resort to evil in order to do well. Mandela, being no exception to this, was the leader of an armed resistance group known as Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), formed in 1962. Mandela explains his reasoning At the beginning of June 1961, after long and anxious assessment of the South African situation, I and some colleagues came to the conclusion that as long violence in this country was inevitable it would be wrong and unrealistic for African leaders to continue preaching quiescence and non-violence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force. -Nelson Mandela. He was eventually elected President of the African National Congress in 1991. Later, in 1994, he was democratically elected President of the State ofSouth Africa.QUOTABLE QUOTS OF NELSON MANDELALet 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-run objects of freedom movements.SELECTED WRITINGS OF NELSON MANDELANo Easy Walk to Freedom, Basic Books, 1965.The Struggle Is My Life, Pathfinder Press, 1986.Long Walk to Freedom The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, Little, 1994.AWARDS GIVEN TO NELSONJawaharlal Nehru Award for planetary Understanding from the government of India, 1980 Bruno Kreisky Prize for Human Rights from the government of Austria, 1981 named an honorary citizen of Rome, 1983 Simon Bolivar International Prize from UNESCO, 1983 W. E. B. DuBois Medal, 1986 Nobel Peace Prize, 1987 Liberty Medal, 1987 Sakharov Prize, 1988 Gaddaff Human Rights Prize, 1989 Houphouet Prize, 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, 1993 numerous international honorary degrees, including honorary doctorate degree, Open University, Cape Town, 2004 honorary degree, Amherst College, New York, 2005.CLOSING THOUGHTSTrue, Mandela had important collaborators that helped him to become a hero and he was the beneficiary of social consideration and historical circumstances. But no reassessments are likely to detract from Mandelasa chievementsas a political performer whether following his own strategic intuitions or playacting out a collectively contrived script. Mandelas understanding of politics as performance is well documented it is obvious and explicit in his courting of the media as early as the 1950s, and his fascination from that time with costumes and disguises. But Mandelas iconic status is not just the consequence of his theatrical capacity to motivate and inspire. His authority is to a fault the product of the occasions when he has acted against the grain, when he has asserted his own individual will. Such actions have continued since his supposed retirement.Nelson R. Mandela, in the wake of political turmoil, was one man who was both willing and able to stand up and fight back. Indeed, we can see how the man developed his legacy through his activist years, his years in prison, and his much more elaborate life afterwards.Despite Mandelas history of supporting terrorism (was on the offical US Terr orist Watch List), the South African air Corporation poll for the Greatest South Africans, had Mandela ranked number one greatest South African of all time.ConclusionNelson Mandela has never wavered in his obedience to democracy, equality and learning. Despite terrible provocation, he has never answered racism with racism. His life has been an inspiration, in South Africa and throughout the world, to all who are oppressed and deprived, to all who are opposed to oppression and deprivation. Mandela personifies struggle and today he is still leading the fight against apartheid with extraordinary resilience and vigor after spending nearly 3 decades of his life behind bars. He has sacrificed his private life and his youth for his people, and remains South Africas best known and 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 behaviors.He is endowed with ma ny personality traits that make him a natural leader, and over the course of his lifetime, he has also developed many leadership skills and strategiesMandelas leadership success can be attributed to his use of consensus. Consensus is considered to be the superior decision making process to build commitment and motivation in group members towards group objectives. Using consensus aids in making the best viable decision and utilizes the resources of everyone involved.In conclusion, Nelson Mandela is viewed as a revolutionary leader for his ability to empower and motivate others using his strong regard for consensus and the democratic process.