Part of my UN charge in Nairobi was to discuss leadership. As I thought about it I realized how few real leaders there are. We have lots of people who think of themselves as leaders but who actually rule by position or wealth or power or luck of birth. Who rule because others are forced to follow them rather than because others want to follow them.
The more I thought about it the more I came to think that the truest example of real leadership of our time has been Nelson Mandela. Coincidentally he celebrated his 93rd birthday, certainly a time to reflect on all he represents.
So, rather than lecture, as is my wont I put his name on a flip chart and we talked about what makes him such a universally respected leader…and how he is different from all the others who claim leadership.
An interesting list emerged, a list of characteristics that enabled him to survive years in prison, many enemies, and the chaos of the ending of apartheid without losing his ability to be inclusive, expansive, engaging, and inspiring.
When I started to write this I was going to report on what we listed and discussed as the key characteristics of an inspiring leader. But as I’ve been writing I’ve changed my mind. Our exercise of creating the list, discussing it, and comparing Mandela to those who rule by fiat led to quite a bit of thoughtful silence and contemplation of each person’s own place in the continuum from leader to dictator.
So instead of a prescriptive list of leadership characteristics I offer you the chance to think it through yourself. Or perhaps spend some time with your leadership group discussing Mandela and whether any of you would be able to survive what he went through and emerge the person we all know.
A place to start: inclusive, listener, selfless, honest, patient, open, and knowing how to keep on walking.
And up above where I mentioned “claim leadership”. He never had to.