Nelson Mandela

The great leaders are essential for any organisations or societies. Northouse (2007) defines “leadership as being a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal”. Nelson Mandela is one of the greatest leaders in the world and the sets a good example of leadership. The purpose of this essay is to discuss leadership styles and what makes Nelson Mandela such a great leader according to the describing framework leadership style by Darling and Leffel (2010).

There are many studies about leadership styles but this essay will focus on the journal “Developing the Leadership Team in an Entrepreneurial Venture: A Case Focusing on the Importance of Styles (Darling & Leffe, 2010). This journal analyses four different leadership styles in a venture called MedTech. Leadership styles divided into four categories; Analyser, Creator, Connector and Director. The Analysers are leaders who are very logical to get to the conclusion; take time to reach a conclusion and gathering facts and analyse data. The creator type leaders like to take opportunities and risks and act quickly as the decisions made also they are very innovative. The connectors are co-operative leaders who get along with their staff easily and have a natural sense to create a friendly working atmosphere. Also they prefer to motivate people to work together rather than forcing them to do so. The directors tend to be stubborn and focused on tasks and results. Also they are pragmatic. There are many factors that make good leaders such as ability to listen and cooperate with other people, but effective leaders and ineffective leaders cannot be judged. However there are some traits that make an effective leader, for example, aspiration to lead and influence people, being honesty and consistent and intelligence (Kirkpatrick, 1991). On the other hand, ineffective traits include abuse of power, dishonesty and lack of ability to relate to other people. The leaders can have more than one leadership styles

Dubrin, Dalglish & Miller (2006) said “leadership involves influencing people”. This quote is a good description of the leadership style of Nelson Mandela. He is the one of the greatest leaders in the world. He was the first black President of South Africa and helped to overcome apartheid in South Africa. He was born in 1918 in small town of a wealthy family in Transkei in South Africa. He was expelled from Fort Hare University after participating in a student strike. However, he obtained a degree in law from the University of South Africa after he had obtained the degree he joined the African National Congress (ANC). He was arrested in 1956 and charged with treason and released in 1990 when he was greeted with cheering