Was Nelson Mandela A Great Leader History Essay

Was Nelson Mandela A broad Leader History EssayINTRODUCTIONThe leader is a bit who comes closest to realizing the norms the group values the highest this conformity gives him his high rank, which attracts people and implies the veracious to assume control of the group. (Homans, 1950).The lowlying need-structure of the someone which motivates his behavior in sundry(a) leadership situations. Leadership style thus refers to the consistency of goals or necessitate over different situations. (Fiedler, 1967).One of the great leaders who had the above qualities execute in him was Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, former president of sulfur Africa and world acclaimed international statesman. The pursuance would be a detailed analysis of his leadership traits, behavior and the situations in which he had proved himself a good leader.ABOUT NELSON MANDELANelson Rolihlahla Mandela comm entirely cognise as Nelson Mandela was born in 1918 in Umtata, Transkei, southerly Africa son of total he at Mandela (a Tembu tribal chief). He married Evelyn Ntoko Mase (a nurse), 1944, divorced, 1956 married Nomzamo Winnie Madikileza (a social worker and semipolitical activist), June 14, 1958, divorced married Graca Machel ( equityyer), 1998 children (first marriage) Thembi (a son deceased), Makgatho (son), Makaziwe (daughter) (second marriage) Zenani (daughter), Zindziswa (daughter).He took up a rest course with the University of to the south Africa (now UNISA) to complete his first degree. He was awarded his Bachelors degree in 1941, and in 1942 he was articled to an different firm of attorneys and started upon a law degree at the University of Witwatersrand. By 1948 Nelson Mandela had failed to pass the exams required for his LLB law degree, and he decided instead to settle for the qualifying exam which would all in allow him to go for as an attorney.LIFE AS A PRISONERDuring the 1940s and fifties he rose rapidly through with(predicate) the ANC hierarchy but was often dates subject to police harassment, detention, and banning.When the ANC was outlawed in 1960 he went underground and form its military wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation). In 1962 he wasSentenced to five old age im prisonment for inciting Afri bottoms to touch and for leaving South Africa without a valid travel document. In 1964, whilst yet in detention, he was charged with treason and, after giving a memorable four-and-a-half hour speech criticizing apartheid, he was sentenced to smell imprisonment.Living in a prison had the same meaning as living in the worst place in South Africa Robben Island. ANC prisoners earned D classifications, which was prisoners who were the tumesce-nigh dangerous and had the least rights. They were kept in cells with hay carpets and thin blankets as beds and iron buckets for toilets. The daily menu was al slipway the same small service of process of corn soup with extra vegetable or meat eggbeater for dinner. The men were wearing thin shirts from khaki and shorts, even during the winter, and were restricted from read newspapers or magazines-they were not allowed to read any news at all. The prisoners played out most of their epoch in a chalk mine, where they worked truly thornyAs one of the leaders of the group, Nelson received more harsh give-and-take than the others. He was kept 23 hours in his cell all(prenominal) day, shined only by a lamp. This made him unable to sleep or feel what the time was. He was only allowed to confound one visitor all(prenominal) six months and once he was not allowed to see his wife for devil years, Winnie. He could only write and receive one letter every six months. The letter he received was screened by the guard, who would cut the separate that were considered to be unsafe, effectively erasing those parts even though there were literature behind those parts.In total Mandela spent twenty-seven consecutive years in detention. From 1964 to 1982 he was held on Robben Island, from 1982 to 1988 in Pollsmoor Prison, mantel Town, and from 1988 to 1990 in superscript VersterPrison, Paarl.From 1985 on he rejected several offers of conditional release which would have imposed severe limits on his political activities. In many ways his imprisonment increased his, already considerable, political status and resulted in a worldwide campaign for his release.During the 27 years that Mandela spent in prison, clandestine from the eyes of the world while he quarried limestone and harvested seaweed, his example of quiet wretched was just one of numerous pressures on the apartheid brass.Public discussion of Mandela was illegal, and he was allowed fewer visitors. But as the years dragged on, he assumed the winding-sheet of a martyr. In 1982 Mandela was moved to theMaximum security Pollsmoor Prison outback(a) Cape Town. This move app atomic number 18ntly stemmed from fears by the South African authorities that Mandela was exerting too great an influence on the other pr isons at Robben Island.Mandela spent much of the next six years in alone(p) confinement, during which he was allowed a weekly 30-minute visit by his wife, Winnie. He was offered a conditional freedom in 1984 on the condition that he settle in the officially designated black homeland of Transkei, an offer Mandela ref subroutined with an affirmation of his fealty to the African content Congress. In 1988, Mandela was hospitalized with tuberculosis, and after his recovery he was returned to prison under some(a)what less stringent circumstances. In February 1990 he was unconditionally released to scenes of joyous celebration at home and abroad.LIFE AS A POLITICIANAnother revisionist interpretive approach is to understand Mandelas greatness as a collectively manufactured achievement the deliberate assembly of a messianic personality originating in a movements awarenessOf its own cheekal shortcomings and willingness to compensate for them by directing its ideas through a charismatic individual. This is thus part of Mandelas story, for the ANC certainly began to intentionally contrive a public legend around Mandelasleadershipwell before he went to prison during the 1952 insubordination campaign, when collective decisions and activities were attributed to his personal genius. The appearance in South Africa at this time of popular photo-journalism aimed at black readers made this easier, and Mandela himself took pains to ensure that the media images matched the messages he and his comrades wished to project.Mandelas earliest political experience came while enrolled at the University College of Fort Hare, where he was working to obtain a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. duration at the college, he was elective to a student political organization known as the Students Representative Council. Soon after, Mandela was expelled for participating in a protest on campus (ANC archive). Because of this, Mandela attended Johannesburg where he finally obtained his BA. Soo n after, he joined theAfrican National Congressin 1942, during the height of gentleman War II. Nelson Mandelas personal fixation with freedom brought him to work with many other members of the African National Congress to form a group under the leadership of a colleague, Anton Lembede (ANC archive). The groups main focus was to change the African National Congress into a mass movement, including all people from urban communities to those in the country.Mandela was instrumental in many political endeavors, many of which were anti-apartheid movements such as the Program of Action, a policy based initiative which was founded on the precept of using the non-violent weapons of boycott, strike, civil disobedience and non-co-operation (ANC archive). This eventually became the modus operandi of the African National Congress.And yet, some of our greatest leaders and role models have to resort to evil in order to do well. Mandela, being no exception to this, was the leader of an gird resista nce group known as Umkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), formed in 1962. Mandela explains his argument At the beginning of June 1961, after long and anxious assessment of the South African situation, I and some colleagues came to the conclusion that as long furiousness in this country was inevitable it would be wrong and unrealistic for African leaders to continue preaching peace and non-violence at a time when the government met our peaceful demands with force. -Nelson Mandela. He was eventually elected President of the African National Congress in 1991. Later, in 1994, he was democratically elected President of the State ofSouth Africa.QUOTABLE QUOTS OF NELSON MANDELALet freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a forgiving achievement.A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination.Only free men can negotiate. Prisoners cannot enter into contracts.Communists have always played an active role in the fight by colonial countries for their freedom, becaus e the short-term objects of Communism would always gybe with the long-term objects of freedom movements.SELECTED WRITINGS OF NELSON MANDELANo Easy Walk to Freedom, base Books, 1965.The Struggle Is My Life, Pathfinder Press, 1986.Long Walk to Freedom The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, Little, 1994.AWARDS given up TO NELSONJawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding from the government of India, 1980 Bruno Kreisky Prize for Human Rights from the government of Austria, 1981 named an honorary citizen of Rome, 1983 Simon Bolivar International Prize from UNESCO, 1983 W. E. B. DuBois Medal, 1986 Nobel pacification Prize, 1987 Liberty Medal, 1987 Sakharov Prize, 1988 Gaddaff Human Rights Prize, 1989 Houphouet Prize, 1991 Nobel Peace Prize, 1993 numerous international honorary degrees, including honorary doctorate degree, Open University, Cape Town, 2004 honorary degree, Amherst College, New York, 2005.CLOSING THOUGHTSTrue, Mandela had important collaborators that helped him to become a submarine and he was the beneficiary of social context and historical circumstances. But no reassessments are likely to detract from Mandelasachievementsas a political operator whether following his own strategic intuitions or acting out a collectively contrived script. Mandelas understanding of politics as performance is well documented it is obvious and explicit in his courting of the media as previous(predicate) as the 1950s, and his fascination from that time with costumes and disguises. But Mandelas iconic status is not just the consequence of his theatrical capacity to motivate and inspire. His authority is overly the product of the occasions when he has acted against the grain, when he has asserted his own individual will. Such actions have continued since his supposed retirement.Nelson R. Mandela, in the wake of political turmoil, was one man who was both willing and able to stand up and fight back. Indeed, we can see how the man create his legacy through his activist years, his years in prison, and his much more elaborate manner afterwards.Despite Mandelas history of supporting terrorism (was on the offical US Terrorist mark List), the South African Broadcasting Corporation poll for the Greatest South Africans, had Mandela ranked number one greatest South African of all time.ConclusionNelson Mandela has never wavered in his devotion to democracy, equality and learning. Despite yucky provocation, he has never answered racism with racism. His life has been an inspiration, in South Africa and end-to-end the world, to all who are oppressed and deprived, to all who are opposed to conquest and deprivation. Mandela personifies struggle and today he is still leading the fight against apartheid with wondrous resilience and vigor after spending nearly 3 decades of his life behind bars. He has sacrificed his private life and his youth for his people, and remains South Africas best known and loved hero.Nelson Mandela reinforces the fact t hat leaders have very different qualities and that leadership success is more complex than just identifying few traits or preferable behaviors.He is endowed with many personality traits that chip in him a natural leader, and over the course of his lifetime, he has also developed many leadership skills and strategiesMandelas leadership success can be attributed to his use of consensus. Consensus is considered to be the superior decision making process to build freight and motivation in group members towards group objectives. Using consensus aids in making the best possible decision and utilizes the resources of everyone involved.In conclusion, Nelson Mandela is viewed as a revolutionary leader for his ability to empower and motivate others using his sloshed regard for consensus and the democratic process.