Nelson Mandela as a Visionary Leader - Essay Example

?Visionary leadership Insert of Introduction Leaders everywhere around the globe are the key players in the various processes that are in operation all over the world. Every group anywhere concerned with any operation must have a leader and the type of a leader in any of such groups is the prime determining factor used in gauging the performance of a group and measuring the success of the same group in carrying out her responsibilities to achieve the desired goals and objectives. A common saying has been circling around and saying that that a good leader must be the people’s worker rather than the ruler of the people. This is just one among the various theories that try to justify and define what a good leader should be in the real sense. The implication is that a leader must always lead by example which is expressed by doing that which is expected to be done in the correct way and time so that he rest of the population being led can follow the example and do things the way he has done them. Shamir defines a leader as a person that is considered the best in doing something or carrying out an activity, that a leader is the head of an organization or a country and is one that is considered the best in doing things that are supposed to be done by the people or group he or she is leading. He adds that the term leader refers to one who is in front of a group and is responsible for the actions of the group (Shamir, 1991). To this extent therefore what Shamir is trying to imply is that a leader must ensure that the people he or she is leading do the right thing all the times. Good leaders in essence act as mirrors to those that they lead which is a reflection of what the people should do even in the absence of the leader. He is the root map that people view to get the right direction to follow in order to make straight their progress in life, the Pacesetters in everything that goes on in the community around them. A good leader as Shamir would put it is visionary in the sense that he or she leads the people towards the realization if they're set dreams for a better future and a better life in the times to come (Shamir, 1991) . A number of people in the world have satisfied this definition and proved their worth to fall in the list most successful and honored leaders of the world given their excellent performance and determination in leadership positions. This paper is going to examine the qualities of a good leader and define the requirements for good leadership with reference to the example of the former South African Anti- Apartheid activist and president, Nelson Mandela. Nelson Mandela As a Visionary Leader Nelson Mandela was born on July 18th 1918 in the current republic of South Africa. He was adopted by the king of the Thembu tribe of South Africa after his father’s death just a few years after his resignation from the British employment (Mandela, 1994). While growing up among the king’s children, Nelson Mandela learned of the styles of leadership from the way the king used to handle cases brought to him from various regions within his kingdom. He also learned of the mode of relationship that the king had with the neighboring kingdoms in a bid to create peace and unity with the neighbors. In essence, the excellent style of leadership that Nelson Mandela portrayed as the first black president of the new republic of South Africa was learnt in this context right at the king's palace in the Thembu kingdom. (Waldman, 2006) David A Waldman in his journal article entitled Cultural and leadership predictors of corporate social responsibility values of top management: a GLOBE study of 15 countries defines leadership in the context of taking collective social responsibility taken at three levels. Of prime importance in this case is the dimension concerned with the community or state welfare, which he argues extends beyond just a particular stakeholder group include the larger societal entity which involves such values and actions as philanthropy or engaging in community based development projects. Even though my reasons for choosing president Nelson Mandela as a visionary leader extends far much beyond this mere description of a leader by Waldman, he satisfies the description as shown in his free will participation in various community and societal activities which later earns him the widespread fame as the most renown as well as a leader who showed exemplary leadership qualities during his tenure as the president of the republic of south Africa. Mandela, during his school life had started showing suitable signs of exemplary leadership qualities when he was elected the chairman of the student council which he turned down later earning him an expulsion from college (Mandela, 1994). Long before this too, Mandela had been very actively involved in community activities back in Thembu village and earned his first wife who was to be wedded to him in the local, traditional manner as per the chief’s command. During the anti apartheid revolts Mandela was always in the forefront leading the demonstrations aimed at setting the black South Africans free from the white discrimination and earn the republic her now enjoyed freedom as an independent country in Africa Triandis holds to the fact that the values held by a leader are very important in determining the course of his or her leadership. These values, which are culturally related have a strong attachment to the way a person thinks and reacts and leaders are not an exception to this (Triandis, 1998). The values that were held by Nelson Mandela extended far much beyond his personal interest to include the desires and needs of the entire citizens of South Africa. As a matter of fact, he had the feelings and passion of the people at heart and acted in accordance with their dreams. This earned Mandela a lot of fame among his fellow black men and women as the leader who would help them realize their dreams of becoming a free nation and govern themselves as an independent nation free from any form of discrimination ad other forms of human injustices that they witnessed in the country during the period of the British rule. Working in conjunction with the people of South Africa, Nelson would see the republic of South Africa become independent in the year 1994 despite the long period he had been jailed for demonstrating against the discriminating British rule Further, Shamir argues that a leader must be able to show the strong signs of vision which is inclined on strongly grounded ideological values and demonstrate a powerful image of the society by portraying a powerful thinking which develops innovative solution to the major problems facing the community he or she represents. This leader as he argues must be able to show a promising future which can convince the people that he can lead them towards the realization of their dreams and desires. When all this is achieved, the visionary leader is accorded certain privileges in the society as a leader with a noble responsibility for the whole community and who is carrying along with him or her, the interest of the entire community (Shamir, 1991). Mandela’s emergence In South Africa as a leader in whom people believed would help them fulfill their dreams of becoming a free state in some time that was to come clearly showed the confidence they had in him as a leader with a vision that everyone could believe in and that his vision was in line with the dreams of the people. As I had mentioned earlier, Mandela’s vision was clearly in line with that of the entire South African community and Is the reason he was accorded the kind of respect he commands in the country as well as across the globe to date and this is the main reason I consider him a visionary leader, a leader with a selfless vision, the vision of the people. After staying in jail for twenty seven years in the noble course of freeing his people from the cruel and the discriminative British rule, Mandela still did not lose his vision of leading South Africa to gain her independence despite suffering alone in the jail cells for 27 years. This is the reason I call him the leader of his people with the people’s interests at heart. House and Aditya add that a visionary leader must show an explicit kind of relationship between him or her and the people or group that he or she represents. The two go ahead to define key behaviors in common in visionary leadership to include the act of showing determination in the implementing change related objectives aimed at accomplishing the goals of the community they lead, being able to demonstrate and exemplary and inspirational vision that is able to challenge the status quo all pegged upon a powerful sense of purpose and questioning assumptions (House & Aditya, 1997). All these characteristics were shown by Nelson Mandela during his tenure as the leader of the most famous political party in South Africa during the time of the British rule and which lead the country to attain her independence in the year 1994. He challenged the whites’ belief that the Africans are a person of low quality and standards by leading the country to independence and setting a pace in the country that is admired by the whole world today. Indeed, the strong foundation of leadership that was set by president Nelson Mandela in his leadership tenure as the South African president is what set the molded the beautiful image of South Africa as an exemplary performer in all sectors of leadership and democracy, his vision of a better and free South Africa has kept the motivation of the people strong in keeping with the world in building their country based in all the four cornerstones for development, economic, social, political and technological developments. A number of things remain unmentioned which keeps President Nelson Mandela a visionary leader in the African continent and which are worth noting in a bid to complement the president for the exemplary work and leadership he has demonstrated to the whole world. Unfortunately, such visionary leaders will not be the icon before them that they oppose and whom they stand to correct. As the saying goes, change comes with a lot of resistance, most if not all the visionary leaders will always face fierce opposition from merely all angles resisting him on his or her path to attain the desired dreams and fulfill the vision mandated to them. As is seen in the case of president Nelson Mandela that we have just discussed, several obstacles met him on the way trying to hinder him from forging ahead with his mission. Just like in the case of many other leaders with similar qualities such obstacles coming from the people that the leader meet and interact with in the course of his journey to the fore seen land. The visionary leaders however always manage to navigate their ways to the fulfillment of their desired dreams or in some cases, if these dreams are not fulfilled by them, then their apprentice always take the burner and keep them lit to see the light of day. Business Conditions Requiring Visionary Leadership The business world requires well designed systems of operation grounded upon strongly held vision and mission statements. Virtually all business premises require visionary leaders to steer their advancement into the required levels of achievement. To be specific, just to mention but a few, the technology sector still has a lot of empty spaces that have not been exploited by the developers. A few have pushed it forward to notable levels such as Bill Gates with his famous Microsoft inventions, a software company that has greatly redefined the way people use technology today as well as Sergey Brin & Larry Page who have invented the Google software which helps people across the world to access the vast information from the internet. Other sectors include the commercial sectors such as banking among many others. Conclusion To conclude, I would like to bring to everyone’s attention that as it is evidenced, the most prospective companies and organizations around the world are determined by the type of leadership that steers them up. A good leader is a visionary leader who is able to develop a vision which is in line with the people’s vision and lead them towards the realization of their dreams. A visionary leader is he who does what the people he leads expect of him and is a role model to the people he or she leads. The accomplishment of these dreams is regarded as the peoples’ achievements while fame and honor goes to the visionary leader as in the case of president Nelson Mandela discussed above. References Waldman D. A. (2006). Journal of International Business Studies. Social Responsibility Values , 37, 823-837. House, R. J., & R, A. (1997). Journal of management. The Social scientific Study of Leadership , 23 (3), 409- 474. Mandela, N. (1994). Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. Boston: Little, Brown and company. Shamir, B. (1991). The Leadership Quarterly. The Charismatic relationship: alternative Explanations and predictions , 9 (4), 45- 55. Triandis, H. C. (1998). Culture and Social Behavior. New York: McGraw- hill. Read More