Research Paper On Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandel was once quoted (2015), “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite” (nelsonmandela.org, 2015). Nelson Mandela was a dedicated visionary leader that used his unwavering ethical morals to transform a government from a racially prejudiced apartheid nation to a democratically free one. His refusal to believe in South Africa’s discriminatory apartheid law gave his life a strong sense of purpose to lobby peacefully and sometimes aggressively for equality. Nelson Mandela was a committed leader that stirred South Africa

through his ability to inspirationally motivate his followers by leveraging his ability to critically think and create strategies to strike the right balance. Additionally, his use of Dr. Toner’s ethical principles coupled with his influential free thinking ideology framed his political career and dream of equality in a new democratic South Africa. Nelson Mandela has inspired me to emulate his behaviors, reflect on my own transformational leadership propensities, and nurture diverse, inclusive environments by advancing my capacity to ethically and critically evaluate my decision-making methods.
Visionary Leader
A visionary leader is transformative, charismatic, communicates a vision in a precise, powerful and engaging manner, and is an intelligent risk-taker. In South Africa, apartheid (meaning separateness) grew to be a system of governance that discriminated against black South African’s and from 1948-1994 was made law. The idea of 'grand apartheid' was essentially one of political separation, while 'petty apartheid' had more to do with segregation. People in South Africa were segregated into categories of white, black, Colored, Indian (nelsonmandelas.com, 2015). At a young age, Nelson Mandela was actively involved in anti-colonial politics, which led him to join the African National Congress (ANC) in 1944, leading various initiatives from the Defiance Campaign that sanctioned civil disobedience against 6 unjust laws in 1952 to forming the Congress of the People in 1955. According to the Barnes Center for Enlisted Education [BCEE] Diversity lesson (2014d), “the direct personal commitment of leaders is essential at every phase of diversity work and the ability to articulate why diversity is beneficial to the organization is a litmus test for leadership” (pp. 9-10). Striking the right balance between Nelson Mandela’s need to support his culture and lack of the government’s desire to recognize racial equality in politics led to many fruitless legislative endeavors. To further his cause, Mandela used inspirational motivation through his deeds and the spoken word which helped provide momentum for his vision for a must achieve future.
In the BCEE Full Range Leadership Development lesson (2014a), “inspirational motivation involves developing and articulating visions that paint an optimistic and enthusiastic picture of the future” (p. 14). The vision and strong sense of purpose he erected provided the energy that drove all his campaigns and elevated performance expectations and inspired followers to put forth extra effort to achieve the vision. Unfortunately, complications compelled Mandela to transition from peaceful demonstrations and lobbying events to radical measures further complicating his revolutionary vision for South Africa.
Ethical Leader
According to nelsonmandela.org (2015), “Nelson Mandela, profoundly influenced by Gandhi, set on the path of non-violent resistance; however, he slowly moved to armed struggle due to failure of peaceful protests against apartheid and increasing violence from the state” (Biography). In his 67-year political career, Mandela led numerous movements, faced many ethical dilemmas, was arrested, convicted and imprisoned various times, the longest being 27 years for treason. According to the BCEE Ethical Leadership lesson (2014c), “Dr. Toner’s three O’s tell us that we must understand what we owe, order, and ought to do, while the three P’s, put principle first; purpose second; and people third” (p. 7). Nelson Mandela fully understood what he owed his people, bringing peace to the black majority by eliminating racism and giving them the right to vote in South Africa’s elections. He ordered his campaigns on principles of deep-seeded truth telling in support of equality, articulated a strong sense of purpose, and never forgot the people. Finally he knew what he ought to do and convinced a racist government to alter archaic policies to bring about equality and democracy for all ethnicities.
Nelson Mandela had strong core values and was a highly motivated free thinker that restrained his own desires to have confidence in apartheid law because of societal pressures to conform.

According to the BCEE Critical Thinking lesson (2014b), “Intellectual courage is having a consciousness of the need to face and fairly address ideas, beliefs or viewpoints toward which we have strong negative emotions and to which we have not given a serious hearing. This courage is connected with the recognition that ideas considered dangerous are sometimes rationally justified and that beliefs instilled in us are sometimes false or misleading” (p. 5). Mandela displayed courage and remained true to his own thinking even though the penalties for nonconformity were severe. While imprisoned, Nelson Mandela continued to deliberately negotiate with South Africa’s government despite the fact he was still behind bars. Mandela’s reflective thinking allowed him to stay in touch with his supporters and make measured political decisions that sought to further their interests in a way that did not impose on the rights of others (BCCE, 2014b, p. 15). Upon his release in 1993, he won the Nobel Peace Prize and in 1994, South Africa held its 1st democratic elections in favor of Nelson Mandela, the country’s first Black President. He ended the apartheid rule & established a new Constitution, with a strong central government based on majority rule and that guaranteed the rights of minorities and the freedom of expression. He died at his home in Johannesburg on 5 December

2013.
Personal Relevance
From my own personal leadership perspective, I have reconsidered my traditional practices when dealing with the sometimes overwhelming complexities of the Air Force. I must hone my ability to articulate why diversity is beneficial to the organization and recognize when my organization needs a shift in policy to strike the right balance when current climate or culture does not foster an inclusive environment. When faced with a change I will strive to create strategies for responding to it by being highly adaptable. There are many things that I’ve learned about myself through considering Mandela’s example but the one aspect that I would like to emulate more is the transformational leadership behavior inspirational motivation. By building an optimistic picture of the future, motivating my Airman, and presenting the unit’s vision as a must achieve future are all critical to developing confidence in my team, in me, and directly supporting the AF mission to fly, fight, win…in air, space and cyberspace.
As Airman serving in the world’s greatest Air Force we all took an oath to support and defend the U.S. Constitution. We understand that we owe our service and potentially our lives to preserve our way of life. We also leverage Dr. Toner’s ethical principles to properly order our actions, decisions, and behaviors. The foundation for behaviors that guide our conduct are the Air Force core values that constantly remind us what we ought to do to protect liberty and ensure mission success. Through my research I’ve gained a renewed admiration for Nelson Mandela and stand highly motivated to put in the necessary effort to evaluate the multiple sides of an issue before making judgments. I’ve learned that being a free thinker means speaking up and presenting concepts that may be unpopular or outside the norm of AF policy. Additionally, my leadership perspective has transformed in that I’ll take time to consider if group conformity is motivating my decisions, and if so, have the intellectual courage to abandon my current position until I can complete a more objective evaluation (BCEE, 2014b, pp. 4-5). In order to build and preserve healthy relationships my leadership actions, decisions, and behaviors will combine reflective thinking with ethical decision-making. A major charge placed on ALL SNCOs is to make innovative and moral decisions, behave in ethical ways, and to see that the organization understands and practices its ethical codes of conduct.
Conclusion
Visionary leadership requires total involvement, tremendous work, a willingness to put everything on the line & continuous engagement. Nelson Mandela was an ethical leader that inspired and motivated his followers through his diverse, courageous, and free-thinking visionary strategies. Mandela had courage to question and oppose societal pressures to conform even while imprisoned and never wavered in his devotion to democracy, equality & learning (nelsonmandelas.org, 2015). I am now more committed to fostering inclusive environments by intimately reflecting on diversity within my organization to strike the right balance through my inspirational motivation leadership actions, decisions, and behaviors. Additionally, Dr. Toner’s 3 O’s and 3 P’s have provided me with a framework to lead and make ethical choices. Emulating Mandela’s leadership affinities will enable me to consider (objectively) all angles of a problem and make the most ethical and well-thought out conclusions. Finally, I will continue to develop my free thinking abilities and have courage to speak up and offer “outside the box” ideas when dealing with any and all changes in the future.