This
week I took a webinar from the Queen’s School of Business entitled “Lessons in
Leadership from the Life of Nelson Mandela”. It was presented by South African
Professor Dr. Julian Barling. It was very interesting and the session passed
quickly. In a nut shell, here are the ten lessons in leadership from the life
of Madiba that were discussed:
1. Role modelling your
vision.
2. Know and respect the
opposition.
3. Influencing your
opposition is more important than rallying your supporters.
4. Reciprocity – the fundamental
principle of effective persuasion.
5. The power of many.
6. It’s never too late
for wonderful leadership.
7. Is leadership born or
made?
8. Humility builds
respect.
9. Your successor
(developing your successor is important)
10. Leadership is about
moments, and the smallest possible things you do in those moments.
In everything discussed, there was one thing about Madiba’s leadership that I had
not heard before. That was his failure to address the pandemic of AIDS, recognized
as Mandela’s biggest failure during his tenure as President of South Africa.
The reasons for this were discussed – age, cultural beliefs, etc. It wasn't until his own son died of AIDS in 2005, when the disease affected him
personally, that Mandela addressed and took a leadership role in the AIDS
pandemic. This of course speaks to number six above - it is never too late for
wonderful leadership:
Let us give publicity to HIV/AIDS and not hide it,
because the only way to make it appear like a normal illness like tuberculosis,
like cancer, is always to come out and say somebody has died because of
HIV/AIDS, and people will stop regarding it as something extraordinary. (Nelson
Mandela)
I
continue to be intrigued by every facet of this man’s life. In the webinar,
Professor Barling talked about “Mandela moments”. These moments when everyday
people like myself met him, and he made them feel special. He made them feel like
he was excited to meet them. He made a “moment” in that person’s life they will
never forget.
Sometimes
I still have to pinch myself when I think about my Mandela moment. In the
summer of 2006, I was chosen to participate in an Internship at his Foundation in
Johannesburg, South Africa. On a Friday morning, three weeks upon my arrival in
Jo’Berg, I was led into his office and was given the opportunity to meet this
great leader and shake his head. Yeah, this farm kid from rural PEI had a
Mandela moment. I still wonder how my life brought me to that moment. However I
got there, I am grateful.
When
I got home from work the day he died last December, I can’t say I was surprised
to hear the news. His health had been in decline for quite some time. When
anyone lives to be 95, it should be celebrated, yet I couldn’t help be a little
sad. Let’s face it; the world needs people like Madiba. It’s always hard to let
these people go.
As
I sat there and watched the TV coverage from South Africa, I was happy to see
the people that gathered outside his home in Houghton singing in celebration.
He would have loved that. I then recalled his 88th birthday celebrations
in 2006 and I got out my photos from that day. I had never posted any of these
photos on social media with the exception of one blog post a few years ago. So,
I posted a photo to my Facebook (FB) page to share it with friends and
family. It was a photo of Madiba cutting his birthday cake surrounded by staff
of his Foundation. And I am standing in the back row.
What
happened next still boggles my mind.
My
brother David had never seen this photo before so he proudly shared it on his
FB page. Because he is PEI’s Fire Marshal, a lot of media personalities are
contacts on his FB page. Literally within hours, I was contacted by CBC Radio
(Charlottetown). I agreed to do a five minute interview the following morning.
It went well. Radio interviews are always so much easier. I had done a couple
of radio interviews with Matt Rainnie in the past and it always went smoothly.
As soon as I was finished, though, they asked if I would consider taping
another short segment for the CBC (Charlottetown) supper hour news. D’oh. My immediate
typical introvert reaction was to (a) dig in my heels or (b) bolt. Bolting is
even easier to do on the phone. But I thought of my Mom and Dad and that they
would probably want me to do it. So I agreed. I asked my manager to take ½
vacation to make the trek down to the CBC studios on Front Street to do the
taping. When she heard what I was going to be doing, she told me I could do it
on work time and after the interview was over, I could work the rest of the day
from home!! Like the radio interview, the CBC news segment was short. I enjoyed talking
to Bruce Rainnie and I brought up his recent book (Thank you David for giving
this to me last Christmas!!). Before I knew it, it was done – in one take. I
wiped off my lipstick and got untangled from my microphones. What *was* cool, was
that it was taped in the main newsroom. I had been in that room once before
with a friend who used to work at the CBC, but never did I think I would ever
be taking anything for the news here.
I went home that afternoon and was glad it
was over. Or so I thought. I wasn’t home an hour when the PEI Guardian newspaper
contacted me. I did that interview right away to get it behind me. And I was
done. I am seriously shy by nature and the older I get, the more introverted I
get. All I could think was, “How do people do this every day?”
Friends, family, colleagues and acquaintances
all left kind responses on my Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter sites. Just when I
thought it was over, my fellow Archivist and mentor Loryl MacDonald sent the
link to my radio interview out over the Archan-l listserv. This resulted in my
Director and Assistant Deputy Minister (the Archivist of Ontario) also finding
out about this Mandela moment of mine. I can’t remember who initiated it – it may
very well have been my Manager – but I was contacted for another interview by MGS
(Ministry of Government Services – my ministry) Communications. So another
article appeared there, as well as on the Intranet of the OPS (Ontario Public Service).
It was *my* Mandela moment, but in all these interviews,
I was able to take my family and my community on a fun ride. After the
interviews and articles, so many people called my parents, which sincerely
touched me. That’s what it is like when you grow up in a small town. Many were
proud that a local gal had been able to have this experience. Although I found
the entire thing rather stressful, it felt great to do this for my family. My
Mom, Dad, brothers, sister-in-law, aunts, uncles and cousins all seemed to get
a real kick out of it.
And I’m just glad I didn’t fawk up.
Here is the photo that started it all. Rest
in peace Tata.
