Leadership lessons from the movie “Invictus”

My leadership philosophy revolves entirely around the Army Values. In every action I take as a leader, I assess whether or not it lines up with the Army Values and the potential impacts. I have had a variety of leadership assignments during my career, all requiring a different leadership approach, spanning from team leader through platoon sergeant. My conflict resolution skills have greatly evolved through my twelve years in the Army, from rudimentary conversations to in depth problem solving. My professional development has had a profound effect on my leadership abilities, from NCOPD’s to mentorship from senior non-commissioned officers (NCO’s).

This concise paper addresses a lifetime of learning on part of the author and the gracious graduated squadron commander interviewee who leant his time and wisdom. In the next few paragraphs the three key elements that will be addressed include: the author’s leadership philosophy, elicited in the hot seat from the Group Commander, a summary of the author’s commander interview, and an analysis of the interview through the lens of the author’s own philosophy.

The Marine Corps has 11 Leadership Principles. Of the eleven, there is one that states, “Seek Responsibility and Take Responsibility.” This is instilled in every Marine from Private (Enlisted-1) to General (Officer-10). Throughout the Bible, God placed responsibility upon His people and expected them to act accordingly. However, He did not punish the son for the father’s sin and vice-versa. There were times in the Old Testament that this occurred. For example, with Achan (Jos. 7:14-15) when he stole spoils from battle, did not confess it, and he along with his family was killed. Another instance happened when the accusers of Daniel and their families were thrown in the Lion’s Den (Dan. 6:24). Sande states, “Another way to avoid responsibility for our sins is to shift the blame to others or to say that they made us act the way we did.”

1. The movie “Invictus” shows great examples of the trait leadership theory that Mandela portrayed as the President of South Africa. Mandela was able to influence the people of South Africa through his traits of being an extravert leader and having great integrity. According to the text, extraverts are sociable, assertive, and energetic people. Mandela displayed traits of an extravert leader. Whenever he would greet people he always had a genuine smile and good intentions towards everyone he met. Even the people who worked for him, especially his security, were expected and required to always have a smile to portray a welcoming atmosphere. Mandela was a very sociable person, he made sure to go to all the rugby tournaments and had a very

Traditionally, analysis on roles for effective leadership surround corporate or military settings with clearly defined problems, discernable issues, and areas where hypothesis can be made, models formed, predictions tested, and outcomes verified. Analyzing a film like Seabiscuit for the roles of leadership present many interesting questions about leadership and what it means to be a leader. The film Seabiscuit chronicles the lives of individuals as they become intertwined to produce an outcome, training a horse to race. At what point do individuals stop seeing themselves, in their daily lives, as individuals and begin seeing themselves as members of groups having to take on leadership and

The story depicted by the movie Invictus is just a glimpse at the many hearts that he touched through his transformational leadership approach proved to be a success in the accomplishment of his end goal of equal diversity amongst the citizens of South Africa. Mandela experienced a great amount of satisfaction from his role in changing the government’s environment and finding peace for

Throughout my life and my military career I have experienced various leadership styles, from civilian employers to military Officers and Non-Commissioned officers alike. Each had their own approach to leadership, some I found to be effective and others I did not. I have attempted to create a leadership philosophy based on a fusion of the leaders I have encountered and my own personal experiences.

“I can 't promise you that I will bring you all home alive. But this I swear, before you and before Almighty God, that when we go into battle, I will be the first to set foot on the field, and I will be the last to step off, and I will leave no one behind. Dead or alive, we will all come home together. So help me, God.”

The 1989 movie “Glory” shows the true meaning of leadership and sacrifices that need to be made within a group of people in order to show what team work is really about. During the film many tensions were high specially because it happened during the time of The American Civil War and people of colored were being allowed to join and become soldiers. In the movie everyone had the opportunity to meet one another and sent down the rules and regulations that needed to be followed in order for everyone to succeed together. However, there are certain characters that will be closely looked at in order to understand their behavior, the type of leaders that they are, and the way they handle things in a certain way.

The Springboks were seen as the whites’ team. The blacks hated and rooted against the Springboks, who had fourteen white players and just one black player (30 for 30). They would cheer when the opponents would beat or hurt the Springboks, because in their eyes they saw the people oppressing them being beat. However, Nelson Mandela decided to embrace the Springbok team and use them as an opportunity to bring the nation together. Mandela put on the Springbok hat at a rally in Soweto, endorsed the Springboks, and asked the black South Africans to support them too (Lodge 212). The blacks met the speech with boos, skepticism, and anger. Black South Africans hated rugby, and the Springbok logo was one directly associated with apartheid oppression (Carlin 192). Nelson Mandela was a very calculated political leader, and he understood that the black South Africans would be reluctant of accepting the Springboks. However, he also understood the impact of sports and that an entire nation rooting for their national team would bring the country together. South Africa was a very fragile nation at the time, and if things at the World Cup went wrong, it could have backfired. Mandela’s plan relied on both the whites and blacks

The life story of Nelson Mandela has long become a legend, a story that transcends race, borders, culture, or language. He is one of the greatest leaders to ever step foot on this Earth. He was willing to give up his own personal freedoms for the good of his people. Still, his decisions at major points in his lifetime hold lessons for individuals who are inspired of becoming good leaders. Many leaders are inspired by the actions and decision-makings abilities of Mandela. He kept the interest of others before his own. This is what made Nelson Mandela a great leader, and worthy of winning a Nobel Prize. From the decisions he made, and his life experiences while fighting for human rights, one can conclude that Mandela is truly

When reflecting throughout America’s history, two people in particular exemplified the essence of true leadership traits, Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela. While others displayed a vast variety of traits, Martin Luther King Jr. as well as Nelson Mandela displayed traits of leadership that stood the test of time, and while today, their traits still influence, as well as affect people in today’s society. Throughout his time as political activist, as well as South Africa’s first African President, Nelson Mandela’s

This paper explores the four frames of leadership described by Bolman and Deal (2013) through the analysis of Nelson Mandela’s Leadership. Mandela is known as a great leader but when this paper explores is how he got to be, what happened in his life that developed him into such a great leader. This paper will explain his leadership in each frame one by one.

The movie invictus portrays a very controversial issue that has been presented throughout history in many ethnic groups and is seen in societies up to these days. The apartheid is clearly pictured in the movie through many of the attitudes and actions that people take towards the other race they live in their day by day. What is more, Mandela constitutes one of the most important figures in South Africa, especially for the black race as he liberated them from the apartheid. From those days Mandela has been recognized worldwide as a major symbol of the rainbow nation; a reality of distinction between the black and the white people and its establishing differe nces.

Nelson Mandela was the man who abolished Apartheid, freeing South Africa from the binds of racial segregation forever. However, it was not an easy road and Mandela needed patience, strength of character, focus, passion, understanding, perseverance, and most importantly, forgiveness, to achieve this. For more than forty years, black South Africans were subject to the harsh racial segregation of the Apartheid system; despite making up over 70% of South Africa’s population, they had little to no rights.