Be the change you want to see!

As I sit here watching the New Zealand All Blacks play the South African Springboks, I am reminded of the film Invictus.

This is the film about Nelson Mandela taking over the leadership of South Africa, which coincides with the Rugby World Cup, which is being held in South Africa.

President Mandela has the tough task of creating the first government after a very long period of white rule in South Africa, where many native South Africans have been persecuted under the Apartheid system, but he need to create a united government, leading a united South Africa.

This is a tough task indeed, and the threat of failure, the creation of divisions is very real, which could then undermine South Africa’s standing in the global community.

In the film President Mandela, follows Gandhi’s advice of “being the change that you want to see in the world”.

If you haven’t seen the film, I fully recommend it; Morgan Freeman is excellent as President Mandela.

It’s a great lesson in leadership; President Mandela refuses to take revenge on those who wronged him, 27 years imprisonment on Robben Island, to unite the people, all races, into his vision of a Rainbow Nation.

He wants to see a united South Africa, and he leads this change by being the change he wants to see in the world, forgiving his captures and going further in fact embracing them, integrating whites into his new administration, personal security, even in the face of strong resistance from his own supporters.

An excellent example of a Leader setting the culture he wants to see.

So if President Mandela can achieve that on a national scale, in such difficult circumstances, imagine the changes we would create in much simpler circumstances.