Comment: Mandela's Leadership Should Inspire Aboriginal Leaders
- Paul Chartrand | December 06, 2013
Nelson Mandela, one of the greatest leaders of our time, died on Thursday, December 5, 2013. His views on leadership should inspire those who aspire to the status of leaders in the Aboriginal community in Saskatchewan and Canada. Some of his approaches, such as seeking consensus rather than telling people what to do (see Number 3), reflect practical approaches that I have also heard promoted by indigenous leaders at the United Nations and elsewhere.
Richard Stengel, one of his biographers and Time magazine editor, published "Mandela's 8 rules of leadership" in the July 9, 2008 issue of the newsmagazine.
Stengel identifies the first rule as "Courage is not the absence of fear - it's inspiring others to move beyond it."
Number 2 is "Lead from the front but don't leave your base behind." Mandela met his supporters and explained his tactics, bringing them along.
Number 3 is the one about consensus: "Lead from the back and let others believe they are in front." Be the last to speak. This works with No 2, for the job of seeking consensus includes time for persuasion.
Number 4 is "Know your enemy - and learn his favourite sport." The best ideas and strategies are tested against the way they are viewed by rivals you are dealing with, and ingratiate yourself. The movie Invictus documents Mandela's use of Rugby to promote reconciliation.
Number 5 is the well-known aphorism "keep your friends close, and your rivals closer."
Number 6 is "appearances matter: and remember to smile!"Not every leader will be born strong, tall and handsome, but anyone can smile and visit a good tailor. Style matters in politics, probably as much or more than substance. Notice anything here about Trudeau and recent polls?
Number 7 asserts that "nothing is black or white." I have come to believe that everything in this world contains at least the seeds of its opposite, and I have been stunned by the experience of meeting persons in authority who see things in black and white. For some, there is only one valid view of the world, and those who happen not to agree with it are people who are wrong, and probably bad people too. Let me quote from Stengel on this one: "Life is never either/or. Decisions are complex, and there are always competing factors. To look for simple explanations is the bias of the human brain but it doesn't correspond to reality. Nothing is ever as straightforward as it appears... Mandela is comfortable with contradiction. As a politician he was a pragmatist who saw the world as infinitely nuanced..."
Number 8 is "quitting is leading, too" - the tough decision to know how to abandon a failed idea, task, or relationship. Mandela is a rare instance of an African leader who stepped down from office willingly, wanting to set an example for Africa: "he would be the anti-Mugabe (the Zimbabwe dictator) the man who gave birth to his country, and refused to hold it hostage." Where do our Aboriginal political leaders stand on this one?
Mandela is dead: a man who will be remembered amongst the greats of the 20th century, joining a very small group of leaders such as Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi. He was an indigenous leader who included everyone in his vision of justice.