Discuss about the Leadership in Invictus.
Leadership refers to the art of motivation of a group of people that can help in the achievement of a common goal. Leadership can help in providing inspiration to others and effective leadership is on the basis of ideas. Invictus refers to a American- South African sports film that came out in the year 2009. It was a sports drama that was directed by that of Clint Eastwood. This essay focusses on the key facts within the film and describes the character of the leader along with is leadership style. It reviews the responsible leadership theory and contextual situation within Invictus that can pave the path for responsible leadership.
Nelson Mandela was released from the Victor Verster Prison after he has spent 27 years within the jail. Mandela becomes the President of the South Africa and his presidency had to face large amount of changes in that of post-Apartheid period. Mandela becomes concerned regarding the racial divisions that existed in between the black along with the white South Africans. Ill-will was harboured between the two groups and there was mutual distrust in between the parties. In the event of Mandela attending the game between that of Springboks along with England, Mandela witnessed the fact that black people were engaged in cheering the people within England. The white Springboks represented the aspect of prejudice within their mind. Mandela was instrumental in arranging a meeting of the South African sports Committee that could support that of the Springboks (Fernando and Sim 2011). He met with Francois Pienaar and he felt that the victory of Springboks can prove to be a great step in uniting the nation. The black people felt that the Springboks represented that of the white supremacy. Mandela along with Piennar felt that this game can help in uniting South African country. The Springboks defeated Australia in the opening match (Knights and O’Leary 2006). Piennar motivated his team for that of the final. Mandela arrived on the field and he was wearing that of a Springbok cap. Springboks beat that of the All Blacks with the help of a goal from Stransky. Mandela along with Piennar came together for the celebration of the victory. Mandela handed Piennar Ellis Cup that signalled the fact that Springboks were the world champions.
The movie “Invictus” bears testimony to responsible leadership theory that showed Mandela portraying the role of that of President of the South Africa. Mandela could influence people within South Africa by exhibiting traits of extravert leader with a lot of integrity. The two characteristics of extravert are that they are assertive along with being energetic people. Mandela in the course of this film displayed the traits of being an extravert leader. In the event of Mandela greeting people, there was always a genuine smile on his face and he had good intentions for everyone whom he met (Pless and Maak 2011). The people who worked for Nelson Mandela had to always smile for portraying a atmosphere that is welcoming. Mandela was a social person and he attended all rugby tournaments. His magnetic personality was revealed to every person with whom he maintained contact. Mandela shook the hands of the players at every tournament and he used to be in the stand so that he could greet the fans of the game. Mandela was instrumental in leading the country with a great amount of integrity. Nelson Mandela had strong values that helped him in winning Presidency election within South Africa (Doh and Quigley 2014). The strong integrity of Nelson Mandela helped in uniting the country. He had to face many hardships but he continued to lead his people. The family of Mandela did not confirm to the viewpoint of Mandela and hence he had to lose his family.
The responsible theory of leadership stresses on the fact that the traits of the leader are innate and these traits are imbibed in the individuals since the time of birth. It harps on the fact that a leader is endowed with certain traits like being assertive, co-operative, energetic and self-confident that helps him in acting in a responsible manner towards many stakeholders. The skills that a leader has pertains to being clever and conceptually skilled. Nelson Mandela displayed these traits that helped him in emerging as a successful leader who could successfully lead the people (Pearce, Wassenaar and Manz 2014). The personal style of Mandela enabled him to win appreciation and it is this style that won over Piennar. Nelson Mandela was able to challenge process in different scenes owing to the fact that he could challenge his staff because of the charisma of his personality. Mandela was able to challenge the black head of that of security that helped them in working in a collaborative manner with the white colleagues who were more experienced (Dinh et al. 2014). Mandela challenged Pienaar so that he could think in a positive manner in situations when the odds were stacked against them. The personal commitment of Mandela and responsible leadership style of Mandela helped him in acting in a manner that could successfully lead the team (Antonakis and Day 2017).
Responsible leadership focuses on building a relationship that is trustful with the stakeholders. Globalization makes it necessary for the leaders to deal with different kinds of stakeholders. The leaders in the present age should be imbibed with social abilities that can help them in coping with various kinds of stakeholders (Waldman and Balven 2014). An important attribute of responsible leadership is relational intelligence. The leaders should have great amount of emotional intelligence so that they can understand the emotions of other people. Responsible leadership helps the leader to deal with relationships that are complex. Responsible leadership exhibits traits of ethical intelligence and they want to make profit by taking into consideration the moral principles. Responsible leadership has empathy that helps him in understanding the opinions of the stakeholders. The responsible leaders engages in that of charity and behaves in a manner that is responsible. Responsible leadership will know how to act in a situation of moral dilemma and they propose solutions that are ethical and can be accepted by various stakeholders. The moral development within responsible leadership can help the leader in dealing with the moral problems (Miska, Hilbe and Mayer 2014). The personality traits of Responsible leadership have a bearing on the behaviour of the people. Moral intensity is an important element of responsible leadership and this helps the leaders in behaving in a responsible manner. The element of collectivism in responsible leadership prompts the leaders in thinking how their decisions can affect a large number of stakeholders (Waldman 2014).
The post-apartheid period of South Africa shows it to be on the verge of a civil war. Black population was asking for retribution from the oppressors. Nelson Mandela exhibited traits of responsible leadership and his behaviour was diplomatic as he had to satisfy all the different stakeholders. Mandela on the one hand was trying to appease the fellow oppressed and on the other hand he wanted to earn the trust of those people who were responsible for jailing him. Mandela attended the game of rugby and he felt that this game can help in uniting the divisive team (Jones Christensen, Mackey and Whetten 2014). His primary objective became to make the team win world cup that aws going to be hosted within South Africa.
Responsible leadership does not merely follow the public opinion but it aims at persuading the people so that it can move the passions of the people. Mandela went against the wishes of people who wanted to rule out Springboks that can act as a payback for that of apartheid. Mandela instructs Francois that the leaders should be able to encourage best within the people by the help of their actions (Lynham and Chermack 2006). Mandela encourages the black bodyguard for forgiving white bodyguards along with whom he had to carry on the work. Mandela stressed that forgiveness can help in liberating the soul. Hate acts as form pertaining to slavery and it is a kind of oppression that even exists after the lifting of the physical manifestations in relation to subservience. Responsible leadership necessitates the fact that human nature should be understood. The aide of Mandela accused him of doing political calculations that can help to support rugby team. Mandela trusted the fact that people could change. He knew that the replacing of hate with that of love can be possible by taking recourse to athletics (Maak and Pless 2006). The capacity of sports for creating unity can be said to be timeless. Element of good will can help in uniting a team and a nation. Mandela understood the importance of sports power and he believed that political leadership can perform a lot more than simply addressing the material problems pertaining to economies along with jobs. A responsible leaders should act in a Christ-like manner that can help him in keeping nation together. The forgiveness displayed by Mandela manifested his Christ-like traits that could be imitated by the believer (Dawson and Daniel 2010). Mandela went against the crowd so that he could bring the crowd in his side and he always stood for truth. The film ended on a triumphant note when Mandela was thinking that he could act as the master of his fate. It helps in portraying that of a Christian worldview and it brings out the fact that people can be imprisoned in an unjust manner and families along with friends can be killed. The enemy cannot however conquer the soul of the individuals.
Nelson Mandela showed the aspects of an extravert leader that helped in influencing the people of South Africa. A responsible leader is assertive and energetic and Mandela had these two characteristics. A responsible leader should be clever and skilled that can help to a great extent in leading people successfully. According to me, a skilful leader can win over the people and it is this trait of Mandela that helped him in winning Piennar. Mandela enabled Piennar in thinking in a positive manner even when the circumstances were against him. I think that personal commitment pertaining to Nelson Mandela helped him in successfully leading the team. A leader who is responsible does not abide by the public opinion but they want to move the passions pertaining to people. I think that Mandela displayed aspects of an ideal leader as he often went against the wish of people wanting to rule Springbok out so that it could act as payback pertaining to apartheid. The instruction provided by Mandela to Francois helped in bringing out the best in people and encouraged him to take action that can successfully lead the team.
References:
Antonakis, J. and Day, D.V. eds., 2017. The nature of leadership. Sage publications.
Dawson, P. and Daniel, L. (2010), “Understanding Social Innovation: A Provisional Framework”, International Journal of Technology Management, Vol. 51, No. 1, pp. 9-21.
Dinh, J.E., Lord, R.G., Gardner, W.L., Meuser, J.D., Liden, R.C. and Hu, J., 2014. Leadership theory and research in the new millennium: Current theoretical trends and changing perspectives. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), pp.36-62.
Doh, J.P. and Quigley, N.R., 2014. Responsible leadership and stakeholder management: Influence pathways and organizational outcomes. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 28(3), pp.255-274.
Fernando, M. and Sim, A.B., 2011. Strategic ambiguity and leaders’ responsibility beyond maximizing profits. European Management Journal, 29(6), pp.504-513.
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Maak, T. and Pless, N. (2006), “Responsible Leadership in a Stakeholder Society – A Relational Perspective”, Journal of Business Ethics. Vol. 66, No. 1, p. 99-115.
Miska, C., Hilbe, C. and Mayer, S., 2014. Reconciling different views on responsible leadership: A rationality-based approach. Journal of Business Ethics, 125(2), pp.349-360.
Pearce, C.L., Wassenaar, C.L. and Manz, C.C., 2014. Is shared leadership the key to responsible leadership?. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 28(3), pp.275-288.
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