Finding the Leader in You: NELSON MANDELA USES POWER FOR THE GREATER GOOD
It is a great film and lesson all in one. On the surface, it is a film about a rugby team in South Africa just after the transition to black rule; on a deeper level, it is about Nelson Mandela and his use of power. Invictus (Latin for undefeated or unconquered) is a compelling story of how Nelson Mandela used his personal power and position as president to help transform a whole society using a rugby team.
The story is simple. After being imprisoned from 1964 to 1990 Nelson Mandela becomes president in 1994. The nation is split between whites and blacks and is on the verge of an outright racial war. While the South African blacks hate the national rugby team as a symbol of white power and dominance, the Springboks are beloved by the whites. Mandela reaches across the divide the support the Springboks in their attempt to win an international title when they host the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Of course, the Springboks win, as this is a Hollywood film, but this is not the lesson. Where does this once imprisoned leader find it within himself to not only forgive his captors, but support them? It was always there, as captured in the quote from the poem Invictus by William Earnest Henley, "I am the master of my fate: I am captain of my soul." Why not marginalize the white population in the same say they marginalized the blacks? The blacks won the election and they are the vast majority in the nation. Why not follow the popular sentiment?
Over the objections of his advisers, Mandela provides visible support for a team that is not expected to even be in the finals. He is at the games. He meets with the team and its leader. He supports the games as evidence of a new South Africa. The nation is not black or white, it is black and white. This is not the old South Africa, but a new nation, and the Springboks are a new symbol of a new vision of South Africa.
From the "Finding the Leader in you" highlight on page 272 in the text, we read about Nelson Mandela's use of power for the greater good. Using the books' discussion of power and influence as a backdrop, analyze Mandela's power from multiple perspectives and assess how his use of power changed the perspective of a nation.