Leadership lessons from the movie Invictus:

The movie Invictus is the latest brainchild of Director Clint Eastwood who

explores in his newest film, Invictus, which tells the story of the South
African rugby team's quest for the World Cup. A new vision of post-apartheid
South Africa intersects in the personas of Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman)
and Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) who, as president and rugby-team
captain, work together for the team and, ultimately, to create a new form of
nationhood founded on reconciliation and redemption.

Bringing a vision to fruition is not for the faint of heart. As Mandela explains
to Pienaar in their first meeting, 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 is a 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.

Getting followers to buy into the transformative process is a leadership

challenge and getting people to believe in themselves and the organization
is at the heart of the process. To drive this kind of change successfully, the
leader needs do five things.

One, make change real. Organizations abound with vision statements;

many are even printed on posters or wallet cards. The challenge is to provide
an insight into this vision. Give people a taste of what the future can hold by
communicating to their individual aspirations. You excite them about future
possibilities, and you make it real through vivid images that conjure up the
better tomorrow.

Two, identify behaviors. Organizations do not change; people do.

Therefore, if you want an organization to strive to be best in class, or a
world-class employer of choice, you must talk about the behaviors necessary
to achieve such an aim. Identifying those behaviors and holding people
accountable through performance measures and even compensation sends a
signal that change is real.

Three, do the unexpected. When people disagree, listen to them.

Marginalizing them without listening to their ideas or concerns plays into
their resistance. Seeking rapprochement is always desired, but not always
possible. Find ways to reach across the divide to find common ground. But in
the end, do not let those who say "no" hold back the entire organization.
Four, hold fast to the vision. Few organizations readily embrace change;
they need to be pushed and prodded as well as coddled. You can drive
change while recognizing that some people will take longer to get on board.
Patience with those not yet on board becomes a virtue -- yet never an
excuse for not continuing to the initiative. And so it takes a tough leader to
stay on the change message in face of resistance.

Five, live your values. Visions do not become real by taking about them.
They become real through hard work. The vision will only come to pass if
people do what is asked of them. But if the leader expects anyone to follow,
he or she must be the first to act. That is, the leader must be seen doing
what the company needs doing, including behaving as he or she asks others
to behave.

Not every leader is capable of transformational leadership. And that is not a

bad thing. In fact too much transformation can be chaotic. A leader's job
ultimately is to do what the organization needs him or her to do. Most often
that means keeping the organization productive and people engaged. Those
are monumental challenges in themselves.

Mandela's genius was not to punish those who had punished him but to seek
reconciliation. For Mandela rugby, a sport favored by the whites, became an
instrument with which he could, with Pienaar's support, rally a nation to
begin to see a better version of itself -- a people united for a single cause,
the World Cup victory.

Of course, South Africa is a nation that is still very much a work in progress
and its current generation of leadership falls very much short of Mandela's
aims. But it should be noted that the nation did avoid the bloodshed that
racked the majority of African nations moving from white-minority to black-
majority rule.

When transformation is required, the leader must not only believe in the
vision but also communicate that vision in tangible terms so that others see
the same possibilities and, more importantly, are willing to act upon them for
the benefit of all.

Morgan Freeman and Clint Eastwood have created another very special
movie now playing across North America. Invictus is the story of Nelson
Mandela’s early days as President of South Africa, and particularly how he
viewed the country’s Rugby team, the Springboks, and an upcoming World
Cup event to be held in South Africa, as an opportunity to bring the country

together.
The year is 1995. Mandela (Freeman) is in his first term as President. He
recognizes the tremendous challenges facing his government in a land torn
apart by apartheid. Racial tensions are at an all time high, people are
struggling with the effects of crippling unemployment, and a new black
government has shifted the balance of political power. <!–more–>

The World Cup is to be held in South Africa. Mandela senses that this might
be a great opportunity to attempt to bring blacks and whites together with
pride in a winning home team. Traditionally whites cheered enthusiastically
for the Springboks at every game. The black population cheered for anyone
else but the home team because they felt the team, and even the game
itself, represented all that was white and oppressive in South Africa.

The Leadership Challenge and the 5 Practices deeply permeate Freeman’s

portrayal of Mandela. In several scenes Mandela’s quiet reflective
confidence, his commitment to lead from values, the personal connection he
makes with everyone he meets, are all evidence of his skill in calmly
<strong>Modeling the Way</strong>.

One iconic scene features Mandela in his first meeting with Francois Pienaar,
a white Africaaner and the Springboks captain, played beautifully by Matt
Damon. Pienaar is invited to meet the President and arrives at Government
House with trepidation, uncertain of the reason for the meeting. Mandela’s
personal style, his warmth, the way he treats everyone around him with
great respect and appreciation completely charms Pienaar who leaves with
the realization that something very significant has just happened to him.
During their brief but meaningful time together Mandela has skillfully
<strong>Inspired a Shared Vision</strong> about the importance and
meaning of a Springboks win to South Africa.

The title of the movie Invictus comes from the Latin meaning Unconquered.
We are led to believe that Mandela had a poem written on a scrap of paper
in his prison cell while he was incarcerated. In the movie, Mandela gives the
poem to the team captain Pienaar, before the start of the World Cup. At one
point in the story the Springboks are touring Robbin Island and Pienaar
spends a quiet few minutes in Mandela’s old cell contemplating the kind of
moral courage it would take to spend 27 years there. He is transformed.

Mandela <strong>Challenges the Process</strong> beautifully in several

scenes. He consistently challenges his staff to think differently about issues
and policies. For example he challenges his black head of security to ensure
his black staff works collaboratively with their more experienced white
colleagues. How they learn to work together as a single team, both cheering
for the Springboks, provides one of several great sub-texts to the story.

Mandela challenges Pienaar to think positively and creatively about the

possibility of a win even though the odds are stacked against them. His
challenge, his personal commitment, his quiet leadership enable Pienaar to
begin to see the long shot as a possibility, thus <strong>Enabling him to Act
</strong> to lead his team to train harder than ever.

A scene where the local (all black) sporting organization passes a motion to
change the name of the team to suit a different blacker South Africa is a
study in Challenging the Process when Mandela, despite the cautions of his
aides to not get involved, appears just after the vote to ask them to think
differently. When he gets only a small minority of the group on his side, he
sees it as a small win rather than a defeat.

There are several scenes where Mandela demonstrates his expertise in

<strong>Encouraging the Heart</strong>. For instance, there is great love
for him among his staff who affectionately call him Mandiba, the name of the
clan of which he is a member. Mandiba is the name of a Thembu chief who
ruled in the Transkei in the 18th century. It is considered very polite to use
someone’s clan name because it is much more important in this culture than
a surname, referring as it does to the esteemed ancestor from which a
person is descended.

In turn, Mandela is always interested in each of his staff members as

individuals; he knows everyone by name, asks about their families,
appreciates everything they do for him. In one of the scenes Damon’s
character watches him with admiration as he introduces and speaks with a
woman who has brought in the tea.

In another memorable scene, Mandela quietly memorizes the names of each

of the Springboks players so he can give them each a personal greeting.

Matt Damon is well cast as the captain of the team. Francois Pienaar is an
Africaaner whose father plays the redneck card saying things like “these
people will ruin our country.” Pienaar must reconcile his growing admiration
and respect for Mandela with what he is hearing at home. Obviously he was
successful as it is said that today Mandela is Godfather to one of Pienaar’s
children.

Like many others who have seen it, I was totally captured by this movie and
all it can teach us about leadership, courage, building and sustaining
relationships. It is not so much a movie about a team that comes from
behind to win the championship as it is about a process of leadership, vision,
courage and commitment to build a unified country against steep odds.

Invictus is an amazing, true story that you need to see with your children.

Invictus chronicles how South African President Nelson Mandela and rugby
star Francois Pienaar joined forces to unite the country by winning the 1995
World Cup. Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon each received an Oscar nod
for the movie.

But that's not the reason you should take your family to see this film.
You need to take your children to seeInvictus because it's a story about
leadership. American kids need to see an example of what elected leaders
are actually supposed to do! Most of our elected leaders do not think of the
people they are supposed to serve; they think of themselves and their own
personal gain.

Invictus begins as Nelson Mandela -- a man who had spent 27 years in prison
for fighting against apartheid -- is elected president of South Africa. Though
apartheid has ended, the country is divided between an angry black majority
and a frightened white minority.

Mandela seeks reconciliation as the key to progress for South Africa. He

realizes he needs something symbolic to pull the country together and looks
to unite the country through the national rugby team.

The leaders we elected to serve us and represent our interests in

Washington appear to serve the lobbyists and corporations. That's a problem
that won't be solved anytime soon. In the meantime, my husband and I try to
give our kids a daily example of leadership -- and we'll take our children to
movies like Invictus to see how an elected leader should behave.

I was inspired by Clint Eastwood’s film, Invictus, starring Morgan Freeman

and Matt Damon. The Nelson Mandela biopic was not as gripping as I’d
hoped. The pace was slow and some of the characters were dull. My fellow
Washington Times Communities blogger, Christian Toto, found the movie
“superficial.”

I watched Invictus not from the perspective of a film critic. I was curious
about what lessons I might learn from Nelson Mandela as portrayed by
Morgan Freeman. I find Mr. Mandela to be one of the most compelling
leaders of modern times. His efforts to heal a violently divided nation
deserve profound admiration.

Invictus offers up numerous meaty nuggets to the person who is in search of

leadership lessons. Mr. Mandela is a role model for making the most of
every opportunity. One of the most important responsibilities of a leader is
to understand what’s important to his or her constituents. Mr. Mandela
embraced this responsibility in ways most of us would find difficult to even
imagine.

Mr. Mandela spent 27 years in prison under the custody of white Afrikaner
prison guards. (The white Afrikaner government was the sworn enemy of Mr.
Mandela’s African National Congress during the time of apartheid South
Africa.) Mr. Mandela admits feeling hate toward his captors and the
government they represented. He admitted, too, of wrestling with deep
depression during his stay in prison.

Mr. Mandela's Prison Cell

Most of us held captive unjustly and for so long would likely take on a
combative attitude toward our captors. Or, perhaps, we would retreat from
the world in despair. Mr. Mandela looked for opportunities to further his
cause even while being held in an eight by eight cell.

Mr. Mandela used his time in prison to develop a deep understanding of his
Afrikaner captors. Mr. Mandela engaged the prison guards not as enemies
but as if, one day, they would be his constituents and he their leader.

Mr. Mandela understood that it is not enough to be civil toward political rivals
and enemies. The only way to truly bridge differences and further a
democracy is to understand those things most important to people – even
those who seek to oppress.

Mr. Mandela did not poll the Afrikaner guards about their views of apartheid
or any other political issue. He studied the Afrikaans language, their
celebrations, poetry and pastimes. Mr. Mandela realized that the way to
make true connections is through the culture of daily life. These types of
sensibilities are what elevated Mr. Mandela’s leadership to a fundamentally
different plane.

Invictus did not live up to its potential as a movie. But, I may watch it a
second and third time when it comes out on DVD. There is much to be
learned from Mr. Mandela’s approach to leadership that is highly relevant in
our communities today. Watching and discussing Invictus is a reasonable
way to study.

In an early scene from Invictus, a group of beefy white Afrikaner men crowd
around Nelson Mandela's security detail. It's Mandela's first day as South
Africa's first black president, and his jittery guards leap up to confront the
intruders. "Are you coming to arrest us?" asks the lead officer with an uneasy
smile. But no, the old order truly has collapsed. Racial tensions may have
pushed the nation to the brink of civil war, but Mandela trusts his erstwhile
Afrikaner enemies enough to assign these white security police to protect
him.

Turns out he's right. And by the time the film ends, the white and black
guards have bonded over soccer, rugby—and the leader they are keeping
safe. Hollywood hype? Not this time. Invictus—the title comes from the poem
that inspired Mandela during his 27 years in jail for fighting apartheid—may
be the best depiction yet of South Africa's fraught transition to democracy.
On one level, Clint Eastwood's latest work is a blockbuster story about South
Africa's battle to win the Rugby World Cup in 1995. On a more fundamental
level, forget the games—this is no sports movie. Rather, it's a deft look at
what a difference inspirational leadership can make, even in a nation with
such a seemingly intractable past as South Africa.

Invictus takes us from Mandela’s 1994 election through South Africa's World
Cup quest the following year. It covers the new president's fight to retain the
Springbok name and jersey of the national rugby team, even as his advisers
warn him against squandering valuable political capital by alienating his core
constituency. Mandela's decision to keep the divisive green and gold colors—
beloved by the white minority; a reminder of decades of oppression to the
black majority—was just one of his many gestures of reconciliation to the
country's former rulers. It wasn't simply altruism: Mandela knew that his
political victory was a tenuous one. Although his ruling African National
Congress (ANC) dominated Parliament, whites still controlled the economy.
Extremist Afrikaners remained a threat; their resistance to a black-
dominated government could still plunge the country into anarchy,
insurrection, and terror. It is South Africa's good fortune that Mandela opted
for reconciliation over retribution. His insistence that the Springboks remain
the Springboks was just one of his many bipartisan gestures, but it would be
hard to overstate the symbolic significance of this particular one.

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South Africans worship sport. Of all the sanctions that were imposed on the
regime, there is no doubt that it was the nation's exclusion from international
sports competitions that had the biggest psychological impact on whites. I
covered the country through its final decade of apartheid to Mandela's
inauguration as president (movingly portrayed by archival footage
in Invictus), and I remember vividly an encounter during the landmark 1992
referendum. President F. W. de Klerk had taken the risk of calling an all-white
plebiscite to win support for the faltering negotiations with Mandela's ANC.
De Klerk needed a convincing win, especially among his fellow Afrikaners,
both to prove to the rest of the world that he was serious about relinquishing
power and also to avoid exacerbating racial tensions. Reporting from a Cape
Town polling station that day, I asked a white man for his opinion. "I'm voting
yes [for change]," he said. Why? "Because I want us to play international
rugby again." That man was not alone. Despite predictions to the contrary,
De Klerk won a convincing 68.7 percent of the vote, with many whites saying
openly it was because they wanted the sports boycott to end.
Mandela understood that. He also understood the blow to white morale when
the country was finally allowed back into the international arena—and found
just how badly its athletes had deteriorated during the years of isolation. The
losses weren't only in rugby. But for whites, especially Afrikaners, that was
where they hurt the most. Against that backdrop, Mandela made an inspired
decision—to wear the once reviled Springbok jersey onto the field for the
rugby final. (For the uninitiated, rugby can look a lot like American football,
but it is played without protective helmets or pads; players on each team
play both offense and defense.) Even today, in a South Africa struggling
against problems like massive HIV-infection rates, rampant crime, and
growing corruption, it's a gesture that black and white alike still remember
as a turning point. That makes Invictus an appropriate tribute to a man of
vision.

On a broader level, it's also a case study for a troubled world suffering a
dearth of great leadership. Unlike so much of the "based on a true story"
genre, the movie genuinely is faithful to the mood and reality of the time. If it
glosses over anything, it's the controversy over whether Chester Williams,
the only nonwhite player on the Springbok squad, was a token appointment.
But that's probably a minor point—especially after Williams's high-scoring
performance in the Cup quarterfinals silenced his critics. More authentic is
Morgan Freeman's utterly brilliant portrayal of Mandela. Freeman doesn't
just nail the accent, the voice, and the posture—he captures Mandela's old-
world charm and courtesy as well.

The real Mandela is 91 now. His body is frail; his appearances rare. Since the
end of his five-year term as president, he has made few public statements
about the policies of his successors, Thabo Mbeki and Jacob Zuma. Privately,
however, it would be surprising if Mandela were not disappointed in their
leadership. Mandela, who lost a son to AIDS, campaigned vigorously against
the disease even as Mbeki's failure to develop a strategy against it
contributed to the unnecessary deaths of an estimated 330,000 people.
Later, Zuma's battle to win the presidency from Mbeki split Mandela's ANC.
Nonetheless, many analysts see Zuma's conciliatory post-election steps as
coming straight from the Mandela playbook. Zuma, too, may decide to don
the national team's jersey when the country hosts another World Cup next
year, this time in soccer. And if South Africans no longer see that gesture as
anything out of the ordinary, that may be Mandela's best reward of all.

I was inspired by Clint Eastwood’s film, Invictus, starring Morgan Freeman

and Matt Damon. The Nelson Mandela biopic was not as gripping as I’d
hoped. The pace was slow and some of the characters were dull. My fellow
Washington Times Communities blogger, Christian Toto, found the movie
“superficial.”
I watched Invictus not from the perspective of a film critic. I was curious
about what lessons I might learn from Nelson Mandela as portrayed by
Morgan Freeman. I find Mr. Mandela to be one of the most compelling
leaders of modern times. His efforts to heal a violently divided nation
deserve profound admiration.
Invictus offers up numerous meaty nuggets to the person who is in search of
leadership lessons. Mr. Mandela is a role model for making the most of
every opportunity. One of the most important responsibilities of a leader is
to understand what’s important to his or her constituents. Mr. Mandela
embraced this responsibility in ways most of us would find difficult to even
imagine.
Mr. Mandela spent 27 years in prison under the custody of white Afrikaner
prison guards. (The white Afrikaner government was the sworn enemy of Mr.
Mandela’s African National Congress during the time of apartheid South
Africa.) Mr. Mandela admits feeling hate toward his captors and the
government they represented. He admitted, too, of wrestling with deep
depression during his stay in prison.
Most of us held captive unjustly and for so long would likely take on a
combative attitude toward our captors. Or, perhaps, we would retreat from
the world in despair. Mr. Mandela looked for opportunities to further his
cause even while being held in an eight by eight cell.
Mr. Mandela used his time in prison to develop a deep understanding of his
Afrikaner captors. Mr. Mandela engaged the prison guards not as enemies
but as if, one day, they would be his constituents and he their leader.
Mr. Mandela understood that it is not enough to be civil toward political rivals
and enemies. The only way to truly bridge differences and further a
democracy is to understand those things most important to people – even
those who seek to oppress.
Mr. Mandela did not poll the Afrikaner guards about their views of apartheid
or any other political issue. He studied the Afrikaans language, their
celebrations, poetry and pastimes. Mr. Mandela realized that the way to
make true connections is through the culture of daily life. These types of
sensibilities are what elevated Mr. Mandela’s leadership to a fundamentally
different plane.
Invictus did not live up to its potential as a movie. But, I may watch it a
second and third time when it comes out on DVD. There is much to be
learned from Mr. Mandela’s approach to leadership that is highly relevant in
our communities today. Watching and discussing Invictus is a reasonable
way to study.

This week we'll be exploring the theme that business is inherently personal,
and that we've forgotten that fact to our detriment.

Last weekend I saw the movie Invictus,Clint Eastwood's latest, about the
early days of Nelson Mandela's presidency in South Africa. It stars Morgan
Freeman (of course) as Mandela, and Matt Damon, as captain of the hapless
rugby Springboks, South Africa's version of the Chicago Cubs.

Mandela knew that the Springboks were as hated by the black population as
they were beloved by the Afrikaaner whites. His insight was to see the power
of reconciliation that could be achieved if the team were to pull off the
equivalent of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team's victory.

The movie reviews are mostly positive; even the critical ones suggest that
Eastwood got the critical story right. And the true story itself is so enormous
that it needs no embellishment. For my part, Eastwood has rounded the
sharp edges over the years, and increased the role of heart. For me, he has
earned the right (since as far back as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly et al)
to jerk my heart around pretty much as he wishes.

But this is a business blog, not a movie blog.

The Best Way to Lead, and the Best Way to Manage

We meet Mandela just after he has been elected president, after nearly 30
years in prison. His power lies in the overwhelming respect he merits by
forgiving all those who imprisoned him.

In his first meeting with the Matt Damon character, Pinnear, Mandela asks
him a question: How do you lead? Pinnear's answer is clear, and Mandela
delightedly agrees with him.

The best way to lead is to lead by example.

Mandela leads by refusing to fire the white former security officers, thus
personally demonstrating reconciliation of the highest order on Day One of
his administration.

The second question Mandela poses is, what is the best way to manage? And
his answer is equally clear.

The best way to manage is through inspiration. And the best way to inspire is
to demand of others things they cannot themselves conceive of
accomplishing.

As Pinnear's wife asks him how the meeting went, it dawns on Pinnear that
Mandela has just acted on those two questions--by asking him to lead the
hapless Springboks to (gasp) the World Cup championship, a goal he himself
could hardly conceive of.
Leadership and Management: Whatever Happened to Role-modeling
and Inspiration?

It was only 15 years ago that Collins and Poras conceived of BHAGs--Big,
Hairy, Audacious Goals.

It was 21 years ago that C.K. Prahalad suggested that Strategic Intent--
basically a "stretch" view based on direction, discovery and destiny--should
inform strategy.

Warren Bennis has been preaching for many decades now the importance of
role-modeling.

Yet what do we have these days?

• Chuck Prince, former CEO of Citibank, says "As long as the music's
playing, you've got to get up and dance." Role-modeling? I don't think
so.
• The image that remains today from "Shoeless" Joe Jackson's 1919
conspiracy to fix the World Series is that of a kid saying, "Say it ain't
so, Joe!" In other words, dismay at the betrayal of a role-model. The
fallout from today's flame-out by Tiger Woods is discussed more in
terms of brand image than of leadership.
• The dialogue these days about the financial meltdown is centering on
compensation incentives and structural reform. Management by
inspiration? Not in evidence lately.
The point is not whether scientific management doesn't have its place;
surely it does. But that place has been overdone to the detriment of both
leadership and management.

This is not some untested thesis. Mandela accomplished some remarkable

things by applying these human principles to an "organization" of some 50
million people, and to problems as intractable as racism. Makes Citibank look
like a walk in the park.

Whether you liked the movie or not, Clint Eastwood is channeling a message
for our times.