Mandela's leadership: Meeting Hope in San Antonio
Nelson Mandela’s role in the world and his leadership qualities are as relevant as ever right now, as the world grapples with a dearth of leaders wherever you look.
Today, 5 December 2023, marks ten years since Nelson Mandela passed away. I have just returned from a speaking tour of the USA, which included 24 different functions/events/talks. Christo Brand, Nelson Mandela’s former prison guard, and myself were incredibly warmly received wherever we spoke. After three years of Zoom calls and gazillions of emails, I also got to finally meet and spend some quality time with Ethan Casey of Blue Ear Books based in Seattle – my publisher, editor, mentor, and now close friend and confidant. Wherever we spoke, our audiences were so eager to hear about Mandela’s legacy and leadership. Everywhere people shared personal examples of how Mandela had touched their lives.
If there is one thing that stood out for me on this trip, it was that Nelson Mandela’s role in the world and his leadership qualities are as relevant as ever right now, as the world grapples with a dearth of leaders wherever you look. Mandela averted a civil war by choosing reconciliation and negotiation over revenge. He persevered 27 years in jail in order to see his dream of a democratic South Africa realised.
One of the attendees at a panel discussion we held at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan wrote this on LinkedIn:
Yesterday I had the privilege of attending the Nelson Mandela exhibition at the Henry Ford Museum and to hear from both Christo Brand (Mandela’s former prison guard turned close friend) and Andrew Russell. … Mandela has long been an inspiration to me, and Russell’s new book The Leadership We Need: Lessons for Today from Nelson Mandela reminds us all that we are all leaders in our own spheres of influence. I appreciated it when he distilled the two greatest leadership lessons from Mandela as:
1) Reconciliation + forgiveness --> this creates genuine leadership
2) Perseverance: Mandela never gave up even when all odds were stacked against him --> his ability to endure even in the bleakest of circumstances should encourage us all.
We met university presidents, chancellors, professors, mayors, and CEOs. And then I met Hope. She was working as a security guard at the Red Berry Mansion in San Antonio, where Christo gave the keynote address at a gala dinner in aid of the NGO Students of Service. Hope recognised my scarf in the colours of the South African flag, and we immediately started chatting. Her daughter had just been to South Africa on a school tour. She told me she herself had grown up with photos of Nelson Mandela in her home. Every day she would ask her grandfather: “Is Mandela free yet?” She now has his prison number, 466/64, tattooed on her arm! When I gave her a South African flag keyring for her grandpa and also a signed copy of my book, she was so chuffed. We chatted for ages. She really touched me. Here in San Antonio was a woman whose life had been massively influenced by Nelson Mandela. Just shows you. This is why I wrote my book The Leadership We Need: Lessons for Today from Nelson Mandela. And why I’m on a mission. To meet people like Hope.
I am hoping to return to the USA in late March/early April 2024 to continue my talks and presentations, and again hopefully in 2025. If anyone is interested in hosting me at your university, company, sports organisation, school, or special interest group, please email me on info@theleadershipweneed.co.za and we can chat further. I would love to find like-minded people interested in leadership to collaborate with and help me spread the word. I have seen myself how important it is right now to share the message of Mandela’s leadership to people of all ages. I look forward to returning to the United States of America and continuing the journey I have begun.
Thank you Andrew for sharing your experiences from your recent tour of the US. I am looking forward to reading your book about leadership lessons from Mandela. More than ever, the world needs this now.
This book, allows one to have HOPE…