The Art of Balancing Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Art of Balancing - Assignment Example The examples of such scenarios are rampant around the world, where a few people have decided that there exists a need for change and have gone about it the wrong way resulting in utter failure which has had dire consequences for their cause. This essay discusses the works and leadership tactics of one of the greatest change leaders of our times, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, who lead his nation out of the darkness of the Apartheid and into the burgeoning future, and who has been called one of the most instrumental and inspirational politicians of this century. One of Mandela’s most striking aptitude had been the ability to stay calm under intense pressure and to keep his fear under check so that those who followed him could go. According to Stengel (2008), it was not Mandela’s absence of fear, rather his ability to move beyond it, that managed to make him such an inspirational role model for his people. Researchers such as Groves (2006), note that emotional expressivity is one of the most important skills that a visionary leader has and that it directly affects the level of influence that leader has on the actions of his followers. Hence a leader and his ability to express his emotions a certain way under varying circumstances have a direct impact on the way his followers will react to that same situations. The great leader claims himself that there were many times during his imprisonment in the Robben Island jail, that he was afraid for his life and for the life of the revolutionary change that he wanted to create, but it was his ability to focus beyond the fear which allowed him to maintain and keep strong the faith of those who looked up to him as their leader. As the leader of the African National Congress, and has led an armed struggle against the government, it was to his fellows a great shock when Mandela began negotiations with the government during his imprisonment.