This paper will give an analysis of a leader that I admire Nelson Mandela. It will cover the strong prophecy, inspiration, compassion, innovative, persistence, and ethical qualities of Nelson Mandela. This assessment will also cover the evaluation of my leadership style and will identify my leadership characteristics. The purpose of this analysis is to allow the reader to understand my leadership style and identify my leadership characteristics. It will cover a development plan for improving my effectiveness as a leader based on my comparison with my admired leader Nelson Mandela.
The development plan will provide me with methods and tools to enhance my skills as a leader in an effort enhance my leadership goal within my career path. Nelson Mandela was born Rolihlahla Mandela on July 18, 1918 in Mvezo, South Africa. His name Rolihlahla which in his native language of Xhosa which means “pulling the branch of a tree. ” The Xhosa language translates “pulling the branch of a tree” to mean “troublemaker. ” He was an antiapartheid revolutionary, politician, and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 until 1999.
His legacy to the world was to establish respected principals of equal opportunity for all regardless of your race or sex. He was able to protest his believe without being violent. I admire Nelson Mandela for his courage and sacrifice to endure 27 years of incarceration to fight for what he believed was right Mandela. (2014). Nelson Mandela was a leader who exemplified a vision and passion to achieve human rights and racial equality. A leader who can inspire people with enthusiasm and energy show characteristics of a Transformational Leader.
In 1942 Mandela joined the African National Congress (ANC) to fight against the South African government his vision to end discrimination against his own people in their own country. Mandela’s charismatic and transformational leadership style allowed him to motivate his followers to trust in his belief. I believe I exemplify characteristics of Participative Leadership. Whenever I am given the opportunity to lead a team project or work group I strive to incorporate my subordinates to keep all decisions fair to all.
I believe when you incorporate your stakeholders it makes them feel a part of the organization which eliminates a disconnection between staff and management. In comparing my Participative Leadership Style to Nelson Mandela’s Transformational Leadership Style confirms that there is more than one way to lead. I use the characteristics of participative to empower my group into a democratic leadership style to remain fair when making decisions that affect the entire group.
Whereas Mandela’s uses the characteristics of transformational to motivate followers into his vision. To obtain effective leadership I will develop a development plan that will allow me to enhance my skills as a leader. First, I want become familiar with all the theories of leadership to allow me to adapt my skill according to the need of the work environment. Second, I will work to incorporate the different theories of leadership into any and all leadership opportunities.
Last, I will strive to encourage the minds of subordinates to move in the direction of the organizations goal. According to Prive the top 10 qualities that make a great leader are honesty, ability to delegate, communication, have a sense of humor, confidence, commitment, positive attitude, creativity, intuition, and ability to inspire (Prive, 2012). My skills as a leader would greatly benefit me at being an effective leader by working on the top 10 qualities to enhance my leadership goal within my career path.
