Prepared By: Abdulmajeed Almadhi
ID: 221121093
Date: 3/22/2022
To: Dr Rakan Alyamani
ANALYSIS OF NELSON
MANDELA
LEADERSHIP STYLE
Leadership and Organizational
Behavior
(EM 571 Section 899)
I.
Introduction
Nelson Mandela is well regarded as one of the greatest leaders in the history of humanity. His life
story is an exemplification of how a transformational leader should be. Transformational
leadership requires leading followers to “accomplish more than what is usually expected of them,”
and this is evident that Nelson Mandela has done exactly that (Northouse, 2012). He had a truly
inspiring life where he achieved his vision of freedom and equality of all races through leadership,
empowerment, dedication, commitment, charisma, and intellectual motivation. His life mission
was to end apartheid, which is a discrimination system that violated black people human rights
and prevented them from citizenship.
In this essay, I will analyze the leadership style of the renowned leader Nelson Mandela. His
leadership style will be examined through traditional theories of leadership which are trait theories,
and behavioral theories. This analysis will determine the effectiveness of his leadership style
supported with real life examples derived from his biography.
II.
Brief biography
Before analyzing Nelson Mandela leadership, it is important to shed light on his up bringing,
education, and major events that occurred to him during his life which played major role in shaping
the great leader he has become. He was born July 18, 1918 in a small village in the south eastern
part of South Africa. He grew up in a powerful family dedicated to serving the community where
his father was chief of the village. Since a young age, he started learning about African history and
the injustice they face as a result of racism. He learned many lessons from his father as a child and
was subjected to good education.
Growing up, he was admitted to Fort hare university studying Bachelor of Arts. He was the head
of student representative council, by which he started a protest again the university due to lack of
satisfaction regarding multiple issues. He was given a choice to stop the protest or will be expelled
from the university. He chose the latter and left the university. This is an example that is a recurring
trait in his personality, sanding by his principles and refuse to bend to authority. Then, he went to
University of the Witwatersrand where he obtained bachelor’s degree in Law.
Mandela started to involve in politics by 1942 and joined the African National Congress in 1944.
In 1952, he was nominated as the chief of the Defiance Campaign against white radicals. Due to
his moves against the government, Mandela was arrested on 1956, and convicted for Treason. He
was imprisoned for 27 years. During his imprisonment, he rejected six offers of release under
conditions to stop his rebellion. In 1990 he was released from prison and ANC were unbanned by
government. In May 1994, he was elected as South Africa’s first democratically elected President.
He passed away in his house in Johannesburg on 5 December 2013 (Retrieved from: Nelson
Mandela Foundation).
III. Analysis of the effectiveness of Nelson Mandela leadership style
A.
Trait Theory
Trait theory focuses on personal attributes and characteristics of leaders. They help in predicting
if someone is more likely to become leader rather than evaluating effectiveness of that leader. In
its essence, trait theory suggests that if a person has a combination of traits, he can be successful
leader. In other words, some are born leaders while others are not (Robins and Judge, 2016). In
this section, we will use the following traits for evaluation: extraversion, assertiveness,
conscientiousness, and emotional intelligence.
1.
Extraversion
Extraversion can be described as the state of being outgoing with high energy state. Extravert
people draw energy or “recharge” by being with other people. As per R. E Lucas “ Extraversion is
a broad personality trait that encompasses a number of more specific characteristics such as
sociability, assertiveness, high activity level, positive emotions, and impulsivity” (Lucas, 2018).
In trait theory, extraversion has been found to be highly correlated with leadership.
Nelson Mandela was in fact an introvert. In his autobiography he referred to himself as an introvert
and compared himself with his friend just by “Justice and I became friends, though we were
opposites in many ways – he was extroverted, I was introverted; he was lighthearted, I was
serious”.
2.
Assertiveness and Conscientiousness
An assertive person is a one who can stand for the rights of himself and other people in a peaceful
and constructive way, without being either hostile or passively accepting wrong (Lorr and more,
2014). Conscientiousness is the trait of which one would do work tirelessly to completion. I
believe these are the most important traits that Nelson Mandela possesses. Through his
assertiveness and conscientiousness, he was not afraid to speak out against oppression where he
was committed to remove the unjust apartheid system. During this process he was imprisoned for
27 year and that did not deter him, but in fact fueled his passion to end this injustice. During his
imprisonment he was offered to be released six times under conditions to stop the armed struggle
of the African National Congress. He refused six times by responding that he would cease violence
when the white government do the same. Eventually, he succeeded to claim the rights of the
oppressed and became the first black president of his country. Therefore, Nelson Mandela
possesses these traits to a high degree.
3.
Emotional intelligence
A person who possesses emotional intelligence is aware of their own emotions and the emotions
of others. A person with high emotional intelligence is able to communicate with others effectively
and uses empathy to great extent. Jade Trader-wolf described a person with high emotional
intelligence to should have: Self-regulation/management, social skills, empathy,
motivation/passion, and self awareness (Wolf, 2013).
Figure 1. Aspects of emotional intelligence
Nelson Mandela autobiography is full of examples where he displayed high emotional intelligence.
Nelson Mandela said “If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with
your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”
Self-awareness is the ability to understand your feelings, your strengths, and your weaknesses and
act accordingly to address any shortfalls (Wolf,2013). Nelson Mandela says “I am the master of
my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” Which indicates high self-awareness that is one form of
emotional intelligence.
Second example of Nelson Mandela emotional intelligence is his social skills. He has a great ability
to empathize with others to make the best out of them. He is well known as an empathetic leader.
He built a strong relationship with his white jailor, Christo Brand. He turned his enemy, General
Costand Viljoen, into a believer and an ally. Viljoen was chief of south African defense which was
supporting white supremacy and crushed black protestors. He met with Mandela several times and
was influenced by Mandela’s views then later stopped the moves against the blacks. When
Mandela was elected as a president, Viljoen gave a standing ovation and called him “the greatest
of men” ( J Blake, 2021). Nelson Mandela said “If you want the cooperation of humans around
you, you must make them feel they are important, and you do that by being genuine and
humble”. Nelson Mandela’s high emotional intelligence is rare and something to be taught to
others as a great example to be followed. Therefore, for trait theory, Nelson Mandela scores
exceptionally high in this trait.
B.
Behavioral Theories
In this section we will examine Nelson Mandela leadership style from the lens of behavioral
leadership theory. This theory suggests that you do not need to be born with leadership traits, in
fact, leadership can be taught and practiced. The theory categorizes leader behavior under two
families: initiating structure and consideration. Leaders with high initiating structure are also called
production centered leaders who are more concerned of getting the work done. In the other hand,
leaders with high consideration are also called employee centered leaders who place strong
emphasis on their employees well fair (Robins and Judge, 2016).
Nelson Mandela advocated for leading from behind as a leadership method. He compared a leader
with a shepherd: “He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the
others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind”. This leadership
philosophy allows followers to feel more empowered and involved in the overall strategy and
contribute to a cause larger than themselves. Nelson Mandela believed in this concept and based
on his teachings, this style of leadership has become popular. Leaders who follow this leadership
style are called “servant“ leaders. Sophie Johnson stated that servant leaders priorities the needs
of their followers and create conditions that enable the team to shine and contribute. In addition,
servant leaders support the growth and development of their team. (Johnson, 2019).
Nelson Mandela used both power and persuasion to achieve his vision. Power by means of armed
resistance of the African National Congress (ANC) was only used when all other options were
exhausted. He used interpersonal skills in many occasions. He learned the Afrikaans language and
history in order to communicate with them effectively. Nelson Mandela explained the reason why
he had to learn the language and history by saying “If you talk to a man in a language he
understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart”.
He built relationship with his jailors and counterparts by taking interest on things that means much
to them. For example, he conversed with his jailors about their families and gave them advice
when needed. He studied rugby sport which means a lot to white South Africans and discussed the
sport with his jailors (Dimas and Isaac, 2020).
Nelson Mandela effective leadership stemmed from the fact he has an exceptional way to
empathize with others by seeing the world through their eyes. He was a master of his mind, where
he did not allow emotions to get the best out of him. He was able to transition from being a prisoner
to the president for the country he fought for. He succeeded to establish the ideals he lived by and
achieved equality for all races. He did not influence his own country only, he became symbol for
freedom and equality that other counties stive for. Therefore, Nelson Mandela is one of the most
effective leaders the world has ever known. Under behavioral theories, he is considered as a leader
with high consideration.
IV. Conclusion
Nelson Mandela was one of the most influential leaders known to humanity. This paper gave a
brief background about him and analyzed his leadership style using two theories which are: Trait
Theory and Behavioral Theory.
Using Trait Theory, it was apparent that Nelson Mandela exhibited key traits that were
instrumental in making him the leader he was. He had a high degree of assertiveness,
conscientiousness, and emotional intelligence. Regarding extraversion, Nelson Mandela in his
autobiography described him self as and introvert. In fact, many leaders of this world are introvert
in nature such as Bill Gate, Mahatma Gandhi, Warren Buffet, and others. Therefore, Nelson
Mandela exhibited many leadership traits with exception of extraversion, and he was extremely
effective in leveraging the personality traits he had to influence others. In my opinion, emotional
intelligence trait was the most important trait he possessed and the trait that made him so effective
as a leader. This paper showed that he was extremely self-aware of his emotions, strengths, and
weaknesses and had a great ability to empathize with others and make the best out of them.
This paper also examined Nelson Mandela leadership style using Behavioral Theories. It was
shown that he had a high degree of consideration which enabled him to lead the hearts and souls
of his followers. He was a huge advocate for leadership style of “leading from behind”. This
leadership philosophy allowed his followers to feel more empowered and involved in the overall
goal and contribute to a cause larger than themselves. He used persuasion and interpersonal skills
to turn his enemies to allies.
Even though Nelson Mandela faced many challenges, he never gave up. He was a master of his
mind, where he did not allow emotions to get the best out of him. He was able to transition from
being a prisoner to the president for the country he fought for. He succeeded to establish the ideals
he lived by and achieved equality for all races. He did not influence his own country only, he
became symbol for freedom and equality that other counties stive for. Therefore, Nelson Mandela
is one of the most effective leaders the world has ever known.
V.
References
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