FEATURES OF TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP

Based on the film "Invictus”

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Invictus, a film released last December 2011, was primarily based on John Carlin’s book "Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation”. The story followed the story of former South African President Nelson Mandela, from the time of his release after 27 years of imprisonment, the challenges he encountered during his term, and how he was able to overcome such challenges— in the most unpredictable of ways by using the South African Rugby team Springboks.

One of the best scenes I found on the movie was when Mandela talked to Springboks Captain Pienaar about leadership. Pienaar told Mandela that he chose to lead his team by example but Mandela asked him a very challenging question: "How do you make them better than they think they can be?” According to Leadership Consultant and Harvard Business Columnist John Baldoni, "A leader’s job is to get followers to believe they are capable of doing more than they think possible. Encouraging people to believe in themselves so that the organization can achieve its noble quest requires a leader who can not only see over the horizon but make what is over the horizon tangible. Experts call this transformational leadership.”

Pienaar, during that conversation, failed to answer the question all on his own. He was, however, able to follow some examples shown to him by Mandela. In this sense, how do we lead people the way these two gentlemen did? How do we make leadership a transformational one?

The first thing that Mandela did when he took over presidency was to know his people. He went around the office while greeting everyone with courtesy and grace. He looked inside offices. He observed. He recognized the need for revitalization and created a new vision based on all he’d seen. He wanted all his people, regardless of skin color or background, to unite once and for all. Then he called a meeting that included everyone in the organization. In this meeting, he challenged everyone to join him in his endeavour or to leave for good. He sought the organization’s united commitment toward the new vision.

In order to drive this commitment to change, he started to let Afrikaners and Native South Africans to work together starting from the government offices, his bodyguards, and later on, in the country’s Rugby team. When the native South Africans decided to change the rugby team’s name and emblem (the team was dominated by Afrikaners with only one Native South African as a member), he immediately interceded. When asked by his secretary about risking his future as their leader in doing this, he simply replied, "The day I’m afraid to do that is the day I’m no longer fit to lead.” He held on to his vision and was persistent in the institutionalization of the change he sought.

Thriving toward a common vision was no easy task especially in a nation where people used to fight against each other because of Apartheid. In times like this, a transformational leader should do the least expected, the one move that will create the biggest impact. When his head bodyguard fought him over working with an Afrikaner, Mandela listened to him and tried to appeal to him by testing his very nature, "Forgiveness never hurts the soul. It removes fear that is why it is such a powerful weapon." In this subtle way, he told his head bodyguard that forgiving the Afrikaners and working with them, makes him a better— stronger person than most Afrikaners believed.

Mandela also showed how a leader should be an example of the vision he was implementing. He lived his values. He said in an interview, "If I cannot change when circumstances demand it, how can I expect others to?” Therefore, he visibly attended rugby practices and games. He also readily joined international ventures to improve the government’s economy (which has been one of his two main goals upon taking over presidency, the other one was national unity) and international standing without any ill-feelings towards those who contributed to his imprisonment or to those who’d made some transgressions against his country. He believed on moving forward. He showed compassion and generosity because that was what he wanted his people to do.

Mandela showed intellectual stimulation when he invited Pienaar for tea and talked about leadership. He let Pienaar think on his own while trying to feed him his desired outcome. Mandela also open-handedly shared his leadership experience to the rugby captain. He told Pienaar to inspire his people in order for them to exceed their expectation of themselves. Inspiration may come in different forms though. Mandela used poems and music. Pienaar went back to basics in order to inspire his team. He made the team go into community practices where they were able to see kids who looked up to them. They got to know these local people, know them truly and not just see the differences in their skin color or their historical background. They were also able to see the current state of their country during these travels. They were able to see what their current president had to endure in order to be where he was at the moment. Pienaar’s method— and Mandela’s by default, manipulative as some may think, was quite successful in lighting up a flame of motivation in their rugby team to fight not just for the sake of winning but also for the cry: "One Team, One Country.”

Mandela was also able to show how a leader should never forget to recognize achievements of his people within the organization. He boldly congratulated the rugby team when they won the 1995 World Cup and told them how they were able to unite a country that was so torn by the Apartheid. One other favourite line I got from this movie was Pienaar’s response when he was told that he had the support of 63 thousand South Africans in winning the cup, "No, we didn’t have the support of 63 thousand South Africans, we have the support of 43 million South Africans.” In this simple statement, he announced to the world how South African people were finally united as one.

Mandela showed the kind of transformational leader that does not stop in creating a vision and spreading it. He also seeks his organization’s commitment to it, patiently and persistently. He finds ways to work on the vision and willingly acts upon them for the benefit of all involved. He sets himself as an example of the change he seeks but never forgets to inspire his people to do more than they thought they are capable of. And once they were able to achieve their goal, he doesn’t forget to recognize everyone’s contribution to their success.

And because Mandela was able to play a genius political game by using the Afrikaners’ love for rugby and the Native South Africans’ thirst for own identity and equality, the 1995 World Cup didn’t only meant a trophy. It became South Africa’s rally in beginning a new era for itself where its citizens are united: "One Team, One Country” indeed.

Invictus is truly one of the most inspiring films ever created not only because of the values it thought, the great performances of the actors and the splendid cinematography but mostly because it was based from a true story. It was based on real people and real events. It is a living testament that there is still something to hope for in a world full of apprehension and distress.