LDR531 Leadership Style 2

Leadership Style
LDR/531

Leadership Style
On the 5th December 2013, the whole world was mourning the death of a leader who was considered, as one of, if not the greatest leader the world have known in the 20th century. Symbol of peace and justice, Nelson Mandela was born on July 18th 1918, in Mveso, Transkei, South Africa. At the age of 24 he joined the African National Congress one, the black party fighting against the South African government and its racist policies. After many years of peaceful and violent fights of which 27 were spent in prisons, He was inaugurated in 1994 as South Africa’s first black president. He finally died at his home at the age of 95. He served one mandate and decided that it was enough.
It is true that many gave their life fighting apartheid; nevertheless Mandela’s symbolic role was far greater. Charismatic leader, he had a vision he was ready to die for and was sensitive to the needs of his followers. On 20 April 1964 as he was standing in the Dock, in trial, facing the death penalty he stated: “ 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 achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” This reinstates his determination and readiness to sacrifice his life for a vision he believed in. He stood out in the mist of others with his unconventional behavior. Considered as a symbol of global peacemaking his birthday, July 18th, has been declared “Mandela Day” to promote global peace for which he himself has fought. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993.
Transformational leader he inspired others to put the society and others before themselves. Even in jail he will refuse privileges if he was the only beneficiary. He was full of humility and modesty. He was stranger to personality cult. He was courageous, generous and loving. According to … “His greater achievement was to see the need for reconciliation, to forswear retribution and then to act as midwife to a new, democratic South Africa, built on the rule of law.” That was his destiny and he has accomplished it. He can easily be single out among other African leaders. The sweetest part of his story is the fact that unlike many other leaders who were ready to die for their vision, he lived long enough to see it through.
Doing a self-assessment has revealed to me that my leadership style is far from being perfect. I still have room for improvement. There are several items that I have taken note of. First of all I will need to improve on my meeting preparation. I will need to get better information prior to meeting with my team. I will also need to have a listening session with my team just to record their complaints and issues.
The various issues that will be recorded will need to be prioritized in order to work on them a couple at a time. While working on those issues, it will also be very important to keep the team informed of my progress and provide them with realistic goals.
Employees will need to be congratulated for their work. Not only do we need to encourage those who perform just what is required of them. Quite often leaders tend to encourage those who go beyond their normal duties and forget those who are always meeting expectations. In the absence of one, I will need to create a rewarding program, which will enable me to recognize my team members for their work.
In the light of all that have been said above, it appears that Nelson Mandela was indeed a great leader. He is charismatic and transformational. Compare to him I have a lot to catch up on and the improvement plan set up above will be one of the steps toward getting closer to what Nelson Mandela stood for and believed in.

Reference: http://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21591539-nelson-mandela-man-who-freed-south-africa-apartheid-died-december-5th-aged http://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography http://www.biography.com/people/nelson-mandela-9397017