Nelson Mandela: A Life in Pictures

Details of the Leader 

Nelson Mandela is one of the iconic leaders who were praised for their roles in the betterment of their countries and the world. Nelson Mandela was born in July 18 1918 in Mvezo, South Africa ( Barber, 2004 ). He was a Xhosa speaking member of the Thimbu royal family. Mandela went on to study law I the University of Fort Hare before providing to the University of Witwatersrand. After completing the studies, Mandela went to Johannesburg to practice law. It is at that time that Mandela started to take part in anticolonial struggles in the county. He started by joining the ANC ad formed the Youth League. His prominence in the party increased significantly as he strived to end the apartheid rule in the country. As he was struggling to fight for independence, Mandela was arrested and taken to jail Mandela served 27 years in prison. It was only as a result of the recurring international and domestic pressure that the colonial government agreed to release Mandela from prison. Mandela agreed to negotiate with de Klerk on how the apartheid rule would be ended. When the 1994 elections were held, Mandela was elected to become the first African president in South Africa. He led a collation government that was also instrumental in ushering in the new constitution. Furthermore, Mandela played a leading role in reconciling the warring groups in the country and dealing with the issue of racism that had affected South Africa for a long time. 

Nelson Mandela’s name is usually synonymous with peace, forgiveness and recognition. He is one of the leaders who managed to gain the admiration of people from all over the world for the sacrifice he made for his country and how he dealt with the challenges he faced in life. After being released from jail, Mandela made it his personal duty to ensure that the country was liberated and united. He believed that he could only liberate his soul forgiveness ( Ellis, 2016 ). It is for this reason that Mandela agreed to sit down and negotiate with the very people who were responsible for his suffering and years in jail. In addition, he was omitted to bending the broken relationship between the whites and the blacks in South Africa. These efforts made Mandela an icon of peace and forgiveness throughout the world. Nelson Mandela remains an iconic leader whose beliefs, practices, and sacrifices will continue to be appreciate by South Africans and the world. 

Leader’s Alignment to the Four Universal Principles 

The success of every organization or country depend largely on the quality of its leaders. Those countries and organizations that have been able to succeed attribute the success to the input and effort of their leaders. Citizens in countries that have failed have also argued that the leaders were responsible for the failures ( Bromley, 2014 ). In the case of South Africa, Nelson Mandela is accredited to have created the foundation that has continued to drive the country forward. He was a leader who had unique skills and trail that enable him to reform the country and help the citizens recover from the challenges that they were going though. Throughout his life, Mandela showed the four universal principles of a leader. 

The first universal principle of a leader is integrity. Integrity can be described as the quality of being an honest person. In addition, it is a quality that allows a person to live with strong moral principles. Nelson Mandela showed integrity from the time he began to fight for liberation in South Africa. At that time, there people who were willing to work with the colonial government for their own good. However, Mandela choose a different path because he as a person of strong moral quality. He believed that South African could only be saved through unwavering effort of its people. Mandel’s integrity was also apparent when he came out of jail. Nelson Mandela believed that South Africa belonged to every resident. In addition, he never wanted to take any side after getting in jail. The naturalistic position that he took was an indication of the level of integrity that h ad and his commitment to the struggle for a free country. When Mandela was later elected to be the president of South Africa, he carried out his duties with integrity. Unlike other African leaders who were using their positions to mass wealth, Mandela was a person of integrity who was only interested in making the country better. In addition, he wanted South Africans to live a quality life and enjoy the resources that were in the country. In this sense, it can be concluded that he was a person of integrity throughout his life. 

The second principle that good leaders show is responsibility. Responsibly refers to the state of having a duty to care for something or someone. Mandela was a one of the leaders who showed great sense of responsibility. In particular, he was committed to improving the wellbeing of the South Africans ( Bromley, 2014 ). This became evident from the time he started his struggle for independence. Mandela saw it prudent to sacrifice his life for the sake of South Africans. He felt that he needed to be at the forefront in the fight for democracy. After ascending to power, Mandel continued to show a high degree of responsibility by embracing policies that could benefit all citizens. For instance, he adopted policies that could assist and empower the poor members of the community. According to Mandela, political power needed to be used as the basis for economic empowerment. It is for this reason that he used his position as the president to assist the poor and powerless members of the community. He did so because he felt that he owed the South Africans the duty to improve their wellbeing. Mandela also showed his sense of responsibility when he decided to step down after serving for only one term as the president. At that time, Mandela was getting pressure from all over the world to cont8nueserving as the leader of South Africa. However, he did not allow the pressure to blind him. Instead, he stepped down to allow for another election. Mandela believed that he had the duty to show an example to the world and pave way for future elections in the country. His sense of responsibility helped mold South Africa to become one of the democratic nations in Africa and the world. 

The third principles that leaders are expected to show is compassion. This virtue relates to having a sense of sympathy and concern for the misfortunes of other people. Mandela started showing compassion to the South Africans from the start. After moving to Johannesburg to practice law, Nelson Mandela realized that majority of the locals were suffering in silence ( Meredith, 2010 ). In addition, he was not happy to see fellow south Africans being treated unfairly in their own land. To show his compassion, Nelson Mandela joined the fight against the apartheid rule in the country. The struggled led to his eventual arrest and imprisonment for a long time. In this sense, he was showing compassion to the people who were being treated unfairly by the colonial masters. When Mandela came from prison, he faced the reality of leading the same people who had punished in for a long time. In addition, he had to work with some of those who had tortured him and his people for several decades. For the love of the country, Mandela decided to put the events of the past behind and formed a coalition government. Through the coalition government, he was able to initiate projects and programs that significantly improved the wellbeing of South Africans. 

The principle of forgiveness is one of the major traits that Mandela demonstrated. Mandela spent a significant part of his adult life in jail. In addition, he was forced to live away from his family for a long time. When he came out of jail, some expected that Mandela will struggle to work with the colonial government. In addition, there were concerns regarding possible revenge from Nelson Mandela and his followers. However, Mandela made it clear that he was not after any kind of revenge. During the negotiation talks for example, Mandel informed De Klerk that even though the colonial government had strong military power, they could not kill all South Africans ( Barnard, 2014 ). Furthermore, he stated that all that South Africans were interested in was self-rule. It was evident that Mandela would become the South African president after the elections. Some of the colonial residents thought that the new administration would target them and take away their land and property. However, Mandela assured them that South Africa was for both the blacks and the whites. In addition, he informed them that he had forgiven all those who punished and tortured him. The move helped create a united and successful South Africa after years of struggles and fights. 

Bases of Power This Leader 

Leaders are expected to use their positions to assist their followers to achieve their potential. In addition, they strive to find solution to some of the challenges that people face in life. In some cases, the leaders use their positions of power to initiate processes that will bring meaningful change in the society ( Meredith, 2010 ). The leaders usually get their power from different bases. In addition, the leaders can use their powers differently depending on what they want to achieve it life. It is imperative to carefully assess these powers to understand the actions of a leader in the community. 

One of the main bases of power that mandala used was the people of South Africa. Mandela was regarded to be among the leaders who had sacrificed his life for his country. He was willing to live away from his family, stop practicing law, and go to jail for the benefit of his people. As a result, he became a loved and popular figure both locally an internationally. While Mandela was in jail, South Africans were always on the street fighting for his release ( Barnard, 2014 ). The South Africans believed that Mandela was their leader and they could not advance without him. It is for this reason that Mandela was able to influence the power and rule the country with ease once he got out of jail. 

The second major source of power was the international community. South Africa was the last country in Africa to get independence. For a long time, South Africans suffered in the hands of the Dutch rulers who were not willing to let the locals take part in the leadership of the country. The locals were discriminated against and treated as if they were strangers in their own country ( Barnard, 2014 ). This was a major concern for both the locals and the international community. Mandela was seen as the face of the apartheid struggle in South Africa. Therefore, he got the support from all the major powers in the world, United States included ( Meredith, 2010 ). The support from the international community gave Mandela the powers to lead the struggle in the country and later one to rule as the first president of the free South Africa. 

Finally, Nelson Mandela got his power by virtue of being elected the president of South Africa. For a long time, South Africa were forced to follow the stringent laws that had been created by the apartheid government. In addition, they had no chance to elect those who would lead them. After independence, however, they managed to vote in Mandela as their president. The position gave Mandela the powers that he needed to make vital decisions regarding the future of the country. In addition, Mandela was able to lead his country towards prosperity since his powers were all spelt out in the Constitution. 

Beliefs of the Leader 

Mandela showed different belief systems during his life. One of Mandela’s main beliefs that influenced his leadership practice was nationalism. Mandela was known to be an African nationalist who believed that the Africans were capable of ruing their own Issus. In addition, he believed that the colonial masters had no place in African and needed to allow the locals to manage their own affairs. Throughout his life, Mandela strived to support the struggle for independence. In addition, he worked with like-minded leaders to fight for the freedom of the local communities. The second belief that guided Nelson Mandel was his liberalist ideologies. Being a trained lawyer, Nelson Mandela believed in the rule of law. In addition, he believed that Africans needed to be given the right to determine their future and fate. It is for this reason that he supported the liberalist struggles throughout the continent of Africa. Third, Mandela was a believer in democracy ( Barnard, 2014 ). African has been known to be continent where leaders get into position of leadership with the goal of benefiting themselves and their relatives. Mandela came out to be a different breed of a leader who believed in democracy. After serving one term as the president, he stepped down and allowed South Africans to democratically elect another leader to take his position ( Meredith, 2010 ). Finally, Mandela showed socialist ideologies during his reign. In particular, he called on the creation of a classless society in which people were free to achieve their potential. Furthermore, he was opposed to the creation of a country where the rich and the leaders controlled every sector with the rest of the citizens languishing in poverty. It is for this reason that he strived to come up with policies that could help reduce the level of poverty in South Africa. 

References 

Barber, J. (2004).  Mandela's World: The International Dimension of South Africa's Political Revolution 1990–99 . Ohio University Press. 

Barnard, R. (2014). The Cambridge companion to Nelson Mandela . Cambridge University Press. 

Bromley, R. (2014). "'Magic Negro', saint or comrade: Representations of Nelson Mandela in Film. Altre Modernità , 12, 40–58. 

Ellis, S. (2016). Nelson Mandela, the South African Communist Party and the origins of Umkhonto we Sizwe.  Cold War History , 16  (1), 1–18. 

Meredith, M.  (2010).  Mandela: A biography . PublicAffairs.