Essay Sample on Invictus: Uniting a Nation Through Leadership and Equality

Introduction

The Invictus film tells an inspiring story about Nelson Mandela’s journey to the forces with South Africa’s rugby team captain towards uniting their nation. Upon being locked up for 27 years, Mandela returns to politics to improve his country's condition. Therefore, he symbolizes the new face of South Africa, where both races black and white have the same rights as well as the same opportunities. Among the main themes of the film is leadership and can be fully understood by identifying the different leadership interventions used in the movie.

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Description of a Leadership Intervention in the Film

Among the central leadership interventions in the film is transformational leadership intervention as his leadership quality. Despite the understanding that the country could erupt into political violence with the least provocation, he embraces the opposition with the thought that his supporters would not welcome the idea. With this leadership intervention, Mandela’s chief of his bodyguards initially asked for more guards to join the presidential security refuses to work with the white guards of the former president. Mandela shows the aspect of transformation by setting his organization on a new course that anyone else cannot see (Kets de Vries. Sexton & Ellen III, 2016). The president also shows his transformational aspect by reconciling his bodyguard with the rest of the former president’s white bodyguards. He tells him that “The rainbow nation starts here. Forgiveness starts here too” (Eastwood, Freeman, Damon & Peckham, 2009). As a result of this intervention, Mandela succeeds in advancing his plan of gathering the nation together by bringing the two races together and establish a new country without racism.

Events and Trends that Set the Background of the Leadership Intervention in the Film

Mandela’s transformational leadership intervention is set forth by the 1995 World Cup Rugby hosted by South Africa. With the intent of achieving his goal, Mandela uses the white population symbol, the Springboks team. Therefore, he throws his support to the team representing the nation, using it to change mentalities. He wants the team to improve and be good enough to impress other nations globally. The team's captain is Francois Pienaar, who trends his skills and leadership qualities. Like President Mandela, Pienaar also wants to inspire his teammates using the right techniques. According to President Mandela, individuals can inspire themselves and others, specifically by using others' work (Eastwood, Freeman, Damon & Peckham, 2009). As such, Mandela requires Pienaar to lead by example and as a source of inspiration to the rest of the team and the entire nation. In an instance, the black people wish to change the name of the rugby, a fact that does not succeed upon Mandela's attendance at the committee meeting. He explains that removing the initial name and colors of the team would escalate the whites that were the minority.

Challenges and Opportunities Created by the Events and Trends

The events and trends identified above present both challenges and opportunities to Mandela’s leadership. For instance, among the main challenges of the trends and events described includes the disappointment of some of his supporters towards supporting the team that mostly comprised of the whites; hence most of them had little to no regard for the team’s ability to compete globally. Moreover, as another challenge, most of the white players in the team do not care about Mandela’s plan. Moreover, Nelson Mandela also gets doubt from his support; for instance, Brenda Mazibuko understands that Mandela’s plan of turning a symbol of apartheid to a unifying force is a risky move that put Mandela’s political at risk. On the other hand, the opportunities that present themselves based on the events and trends include the fact that Mandela got the opportunity to unite the nation with success. His relationship with Francois Pienaar enables the team leader to inspire his teammates. He, therefore, takes his responsibility and leads the rest of the team to victory. The events also provided an excellent platform and opportunity for Pienaar to demonstrate his leadership role. This was escalated through his relationship with president Mandela.

Leadership Interventions that I could Apply in the Identified Events

If I were in this situation, I would consider applying different leadership interventions to address the challenges and opportunities identified before. To address the challenges in the events, I would apply autocratic leadership intervention. In this type of leadership, I would be able to take ultimate control of making decisions without consulting others. An autocratic leader possesses a high level of power and authority, imposing sufficient will on the rest of the staff (Chishty-Mujahid, 2016). In the situation about Mandela's leadership in Invictus, I would be able to reduce the doubt from my support and staff and work towards my agenda.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would apply the charismatic leadership intervention to address the existing opportunities in the identified events and trends. With this type of leadership, I would be able to infuse a high amount of energy and enthusiasm in my team by setting as a role model and driving the rest of the team towards high performance (Grabo & Van Vugt, 2016). I would ensure that I am committed to my organization to guide my team effectively towards a prosperous future.

References

Chishty-Mujahid, N. (2016). The prevalent and persistent virtues of autocratic leadership in the corporate sector: An analysis. Business Review, 11(1).

Eastwood, C., Freeman, M., Damon, M., & Peckham, A. (2009). Invictus. United States: Warner Bros.

Grabo, A., & Van Vugt, M. (2016). Charismatic leadership and the evolution of cooperation. Evolution and Human Behavior, 37(5), 399-406.

Kets de Vries, M. F., Sexton, J. C., & Ellen III, B. P. (2016). Destructive and transformational leadership in Africa. Africa Journal of Management, 2(2), 166-187.