We’re all aware that Nelson Mandela is critically ill in
hospital and close to his passing. It seems a shame we always wait until the
inspirational icons are no longer with us, before we start to contemplate and
celebrate their legend. In a world where people frequently express their
disillusionment with politicians and their inability to make a difference, he’s
a shining star. For me, there are seven profound lessons that CEOs and leaders
can learn from the great Nelson “Madiba” Mandela:
(1)
Master your meaning and your emotions
“I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul,”
Mandela still likes to quote from W. E. Henley’s Victorian poem ‘Invictus’.
Prepared to go to prison for his political beliefs, Mandela stood tall. When
his African National Congress (ANC) had been banned by the apartheid South
African government in 1960, Mandela had advocated that the party abandon its
policy of non-violence, leading to a sentence of life imprisonment. He said, “I
was made, by the law, a criminal, not because of what I had done, but because
of what I stood for.”
Reflecting on the moment when he entered Robben Island
prison, off the coast of Cape Town, Mandela said, “how you’re treated in prison
depends on your demeanor.” Threatened with violence by an Afrikaans prison
guard, he told him, “You dare touch me, I will take you to the highest court in
the land. And by the time I finish with you, you will be as poor as a church
mouse.”
Keeping his emotions in check, relations with his captors
improved as he sought to “communicate with them in a message that says I
recognize your humanity”. His official biographer Anthony Sampson argues that,
during his 27 years in jail, Mandela was able to develop “a philosopher’s detachment,”
as well as, “the subtler art of politics: how to relate to all kinds of people,
how to persuade and cajole, how to turn his warders into his dependents, and
how eventually to become master in his own prison.”
CEOs operate in a much more time-compressed environment,
yet should work towards attaining a similar state of Zen-like calm and
detachment. In this place, they will not only benefit from better health and
wellbeing, but keep sight of the bigger picture and avoid getting buffeted by
day-to-day issues.
(2)
Treat the losers with dignity and turn them into partners
In 1989, apartheid South Africa suffered from racial
violence and a faltering economy at home, while it was shunned abroad. The
continuing struggle between the black and white populations seemed like a
recipe for mutual destruction, like Israel and Palestine. However, the arrival
of new president F.W. de Klerk finally presented Mandela faced with a more
pragmatic political opponent, who was minded to free him from prison. For
years, Mandela had stood for freedom from oppression. How to approach his
captor and would-be liberator? Mandela’s lawyer George Bizos explained the
thinking: “Let’s help him. Let’s not keep him in his corner by calling him an
oppressor. Even the term can become such a stigma.” Mandela helped de Klerk to,
“move from that concept called oppressor to that of a partner”.
Mandela understood that in a negotiation, both sides have
to gain. There must be no winners and no losers: the South African people as a
whole must win. Learning the lessons from Germany at end of the First World
War, he believed, “You mustn’t compromise your principles, but you mustn’t
humiliate the opposition. No one is more dangerous than one who is humiliated.”
The process through which Mandela managed to free himself,
end apartheid and create a new South African constitution was testament to his
tremendous generosity of spirit. George Bizos added that Mandela believed that,
“we don’t have to be victims of our past, that we can let go of our bitterness,
and that all of us can achieve greatness… he did it not through beating anybody
down; most people wouldn’t have the forgiveness to do that sort of thing.”
(3)
Shift perspectives through symbolism and shared experiences
Through his example and presence, Mandela has always led
from the front. Like Gandhi or Churchill, he learned early how to build up and
understand his own image. His trademark colorful shirts mirror his exuberance
and optimism while reflecting his tribal roots. The 1995 Rugby World Cup provided
an even bigger stage for Mandela to fuse his own image with that of the new
nation that he was trying to build.
How do you get 42 million people to tolerate one another?
Rugby was traditionally a white man’s game in South Africa, and the black
majority population would routinely support the teams of opposing nations.
However, Mandela seized upon the PR opportunity of South Africa hosting the
1995 tournament to rebrand the Springbok team, whose kit took on the colors of
the new national flag. One team, one country, all would walk tall under the new
flag. Mandela even demanded that the team learn the words of the new national
anthem, ‘Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika’, asking God to bless Africa for all of us.
Although the firm underdogs, the national team was able to beat the New Zealand
All Blacks in the final – Mandela’s single act of wearing the Springbok jersey
was said to bring on side 99% of the white and 99% of the black South African
audience, in a single stroke.
Team captain Morné de Plessis helpfully argued that this
campaign was “respecting the people that we represented and what we could give
back.” After the game, the team took a boat trip to the Robben Island prison,
further adding to the national symbolism. “The world needs moments of great
joy… the world needs to see that there are moments that we can live together,”
de Plessis said, adding: “Sport is the great leveler. [Our victory was inspired
by] the father of this nation, the one who inspired to come together when we
never ever believed that we could do it. That’s called leadership.”
The other big shared experience designed to bring together
opposing factions was the creation of the Truth & Reconciliation
Commission. This was about creating a public forum where people could air
confront their former aggressors, make their voice heard and get to the truth.
Mandela wanted to avoid the acrimony of the Nuremburg trials, which he felt had
turned into a vengeful witch-hunt. Instead, this was “soft vengeance… the
triumph of a moral vision of the moral world.”
CEOs too can learn to acknowledge the past and draw a line
under it. Then, through shared experiences, they must forge a powerful new
purpose that people can connect to and believe in.
(4)
Embody the spirit of Ubuntu
In 2007, in partnership with entrepreneur Richard Branson
and singer Peter Gabriel, Mandela founded ‘The Elders’. Composed of former
heads of state, revolutionaries, peacemakers and chaired by Archbishop Desmond
Tutu, The Elders work as a small, dedicated group of individuals, using their collective
experience and influence to help tackle some of the most pressing problems
facing the world today.
In the launch address, Mandela talked about bringing “the
spirit of Ubuntu: that profound African sense that we are human only through
the humanity of other human beings.” In a thread that defines his whole life,
he said, “I believe that in the end that it is kindness and accommodation that
are the catalysts for real change.”
With such high ideals, Mandela was alert to the potential
dangers of his own personality cult. He learned to talk less about “I” and more
about “we,” and was determined “to be looked at as an ordinary human being”.
Mandela himself has repeatedly said that “I’m no angel,” and his presidential
predecessor F.W. de Klerk concurs: “He was by no means the avuncular,
saint-like figure depicted today. As an opponent he could be brutal and quite
unfair.” However, while people may have disagreed with the policies Mandela
pursued, they don’t question his integrity. His biographer believes that “it
was his essential integrity more than his superhuman myth which gave his story
its appeal across the world.”
CEOs are rarely, if ever, depicted as angels, but people
have to trust them. Even if they’re not liked, people will rally behind them if
they know what they stand for and what they believe in.
(5)
Everybody feels bigger in your presence
Time and again people comment on Mandela’s strong
personality, saying that he has a aura about him. Fêted by crowds around the
world, Mandela mixed politics and showbiz; criticized for prioritizing social
engagements with the Spice Girls or Michael Jackson over a visiting head of
state.
The adoration of crowds did not faze him: “I am not very
nervous of love, for love is very inspiring.” However, Mandela is also a man of
intrinsic humility, with the ability to laugh at himself. “I’m only here to
shine her shoes,” he said when meeting Whitney Houston. At a White House
reception for religious leaders, Bill Clinton paid an emotional tribute to his
guest: “Every time Nelson Mandela walks into a room we all feel a little
bigger, we all want to stand up, we all want to cheer, because we’d like to be
him on our best day.”
Leaders and CEOs who have this x-factor succeed. Our gut
feels their absence when they are replaced by a less charismatic successor,
even if we delude ourselves that the new guy is a welcome sobering contrast.
British prime minister Gordon Brown was no match for the towering presence of
Tony Blair; and even if seen to be doing many of the right things at Apple, Tim
Cook lacks the swagger of innovator-supreme Steve Jobs.
(6)
Build a sustainable fellowship around your cause
It is interesting to speculate how Nelson Mandela would
have fared in the age of social media. Confined to his prison cell, much of the
technological era passed him by. However, he was never short of followers, and
he understood that mass engagement began with a solid core base. Permitted to
converse with other prisoners at Robben Island only when laboring at its mine,
his inner core was variously termed the ‘brotherhood’, ‘kitchen cabinet’ and
‘university’. The bedrock of his trusted inner sanctum provided him with the
foundation from which to keep on being inspiring. Those who were admitted to
Mandela’s close fellowship during those years also flourished: close friend
Ahmed Kathrada went on to hold senior government positions, while Thabo Mbeki
and Jacob Zuma graduated to lead the party. Political prisoners admitted that
they actually looked forward in a sense to going to prison, as they would get
to meet the true leaders of the country.
Often seeming to be above race, once in power Mandela
broadened his fellowship to include white and Indian colleagues, whom he
trusted them completely. He made former president F.W. de Klerk his deputy, and
his “rainbow cabinet” was one of the few genuinely multiracial governments in
the world. Looking to the corporate world, Jack Ma of Chinese e-commerce
company Alibaba has also been effective at drawing to his cause a group of
highly loyal co-founders. CEOs should develop a true fellowship structure that
devolves responsibility and brings on promising talent.
7)
Bottle the dream for future generations
After 27 years in captivity, it is easy to overlook the
fact that Mandela was only actually president of South Africa for five years.
He said that he was one of the generation “for whom the achievement of
democracy was the defining challenge”. Aged 80 by the time he stepped down in
1999, Mandela argued that, “when a man has done what he considers to be his duty
to his people and his country, he can rest in peace… We take leave so that the
competent generation of lawyers, computer experts, economists, financiers,
doctors, industrialists, engineers and above all ordinary workers and peasants
can take the ANC into the new millennium.”
Many great leaders are true ‘one-offs’ and it is too
simplistic to suggest that they should seek to bottle their essence to be
preserved in aspic. Rather, the big challenge for them is to groom the next
generation and ‘blend the essence’ so that it’s fit for their current and
future organization. His chosen successor and fellowship member, Thabo Mbeki,
was effectively running the country for some of the years while Mandela was
still president, with Mandela taking on an increasingly ceremonial role.
The verdict so far on his successors? The next generation
of ANC leaders has not been seen to deliver universally good governance: the
country continues to be blighted by crime, and the OECD reports that more than
50% of the population is living in poverty. However, South Africa is still is a
young country, one that Mandela stamped with the concept of racial tolerance
and cooperation as firmly as his predecessors had stamped it with intolerance
and segregation.
What we’ve experienced from Mandela’s life is potentially
just the start, and his legend is going to be bigger still. In the corporate
world that’s my life’s work, we desperately need a new generation of companies
that are truly global, courageous and entrepreneurial, and institutions that
people care for. Their future leaders would do well to adopt the Mandela
mindset and his seven profound lessons.
Having discharged his duty to his people and his country,
Mandela can truly rest in peace. He showed us how one person with humility, a
dream and a connecting cause could magnify himself and inspire us all. He
should take great pride in the legacy that he leaves behind, as it continues to
ripple across the world and through future generations. Nelson Mandela: a true
legend.
By
Steve Tappin
