Paper Sample on Nelson Mandela's Transformative Leadership in 'Invictus

Invictus is a movie that is based on the true story of Nelson Mandela and the attempt for the unification of the South Africans. After he was newly elected as the president in the nation, his vision for elimination of racism and unification of the nation was facing a lot of challenges. He had a belief that he could unite the people through the rugby team as they were set to host the Rugby world cup in 1995. The team for the South Africans was made of more Afrikaners and was dominated by the white players. Mandela is seen to try and bridge the gaps between the groups in society and putting down the initiatives that would bring them together.

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Mandela uses the symbol of 'Springboks' as a transformational leader to unite the team and to lead them to victory in the Rugby championship. He makes everyone join the team, cheering them, and national support makes them beat the 'All Blacks team' (Eastwood et al., 2009). That win was made the communities to join hands in the celebration for the win. The act could only be seen in transformational leaders such as Mandela (Tomlinson, 2009). He makes the people think in a changed mindset, and they believed in his vision.

One of the impressive intervention by Nelson Mandela is transformation leadership. The intervention, as indicated by Eastwood et al., (2009), involves the stirring of the followers beyond their self-interest through an idealistic influence, inspiring them and stimulation of their intellectual as well as the individualization of the considerations. That leadership involves leaders such as Nelson Mandela inspiring the followers with a strong vision and making them working towards a transformation of the organization (Tomlinson, 2009). The character of Nelson Mandela in the movie is a demonstration of transformation leadership.

The society by the time Mandela was elected as president after serving imprisonment, society was divided into apartheid as indicated by Heinkel (2009). Therefore he was tasked with the role of uniting the South Africans. As the first Black president in the nation, Mandela had to balance between the aspirations by the Blacks who faced oppression in the prevailing racism as well as the fears by the white people. His aim was the eradication of the racism that was prevailing in his time (Tomlinson, 2009). The vision was having a more united South Africa as indicated in 0:10:15 to 0:11:50 as he arranges the meeting with office staff, and he communicates his vision. He is seen to have convinced the employees in the presidential office, more so the white stuff. That acted to remove fears as they worked in the new government (Tomlinson, 2009). That was an encouragement for them to stay back by sharing the vision as he instilled confidence in the employees. That is an indication of the way Mandela was people-oriented, and he treated every employee equally without prejudicing on any. He is seen focusing on the fulfillment of the duty and takes charge in the development of a strategic plan on the consensus among people.

Transformative leadership is also demonstrated in the strong mindset demonstrated in the opposition from the Sports Council in the resolve to remove the Springboks identity that was made by whites (Tomlinson, 2009). Mandela stands strong when the committees voted for changes in the name Springboks to Proteas. He convinces them so that they can retain the name (Heinkel, 2009). He indicates that it was not the time for revenge, but it was a time for rebuilding the nation together. He succeeds in convincing the committee to forgive the whites for the pasts as they reconsidered the decisions to vote. That is an indication of a participative leadership that was demonstrated by Nelson Mandela.

His words were aligned with his actions and did not just give inspirational speeches but also abided to them. That is seen in one of the rugby match scenes where he is thanking people for waving the flags despite the threats in security. Mandela, as seen, is seen to be humble, as seen in the actions (Tomlinson, 2009). As a step to identify every team player and give them required recognition, he takes an effort and knows every player and their representation in the South African Rugby teams and wishing them good luck before any tournament. The recognition of the team members is seen to boost their confidence and giving them the motivation to do better in the upcoming challenges and tasks.

As a leader, I would also consider transactional leadership by motivating the followers in an established goal that would clarify the roles and tasks that are required in the leader. I would involve a give and take relationship with followers, as indicated by Tomlinson (2009). I would exhibit qualities such as those of Francois Pienaar in transactional leadership. This is to avoid being directionless like Mandela seemed at the beginning as the captain, where he barely managed the role as the leader of the team. Transactional leadership would make sure that I satisfy the team by making them aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the opponents.

References

Eastwood, C., Freeman, M., Damon, M., & Peckham, A. (2009). Invictus. United States: Warner Bros.

Heinkel-Wolfe, P. (2009). Six Games to Glory, Graham Linscott Co-Author, The Crucible From the Denton Record-Chronicle (Texas)."The Story Behind 'Invictus': Man Aided Team Now on Screen," by Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe, Thursday, December 24, 2009.

Tomlinson, J. (2009). Review: "Invictus."