Outline four causes of conflict in South Africa during 1990’s as seen in the stimulus. Conflict can be seen as a common occurrence in a group process. In many instances it is seen to arise whenever there is a disagreement among different members of a particular group due to differing opinions.
Clint Eastwood’s Film Invictus thoroughly conveys the concept of conflict between the ‘blacks’ and ‘whites’ caused as a result of the apartheid system of racial segregation, a good visual example in the film was the separation of black and whites in the football game, This conflict within the football field let alone South Africa is seen to occur in the film due to differing of opinions and individual differences as it is seen that distinct characteristics such as ones skin colour has caused a stigma and opinions of negative stereotypes put upon a whole group causing overall conflict.
The conflict in South Africa was also caused by ineffective communication, as the film depicts a country with two racial groups that evidently never exchanged productive conversation of any kind, which in turn disabled groups to see differing point of views. This lack of communication between groups is observed to have created conflict as no positive communications were made, only leaving room for mixed messaged.
Varying values was another key concept that was observed to cause conflict as the ‘whites’ and ‘blacks’ had differing beliefs, morals and attitudes which was affected by the prior Apartheid system. The difference of beliefs and morals was seen to cause a divide between groups in the film as the Afrikaners are observed to be ashamed and degrade the new ‘black’ president comes into power, whereas black Africans reveled and highly valued the new president.
The prior example also exemplifies the incompatible goals within groups that evidently caused conflict. The different goals between the ‘whites’ and ‘blacks’ evidently causes a separation as they are focused on achieving entirely opposite goals, This led to conflict as the achievement of one groups goal, for example the black Africans success of gaining Mandela as a President interferes with the Afrikaans goals, further dividing and creating disagreement between groups.
Describe the leadership style used by nelson Mandela in the movie. The film Invictus depicts Nelson Mandela as a Transformational leader as he is continuously seen to inspire several groups with a vision of the goal ahead and instilling faith, This characteristic of a transformational leader is seen in the scene of Mandela’s first day of office as the former presidents staff are called to a meeting by Mandela after he observes them packing their belongings due to their assumption that they will lose their jobs.
He interacts with the group by creating open communication and creating a trust formed by honesty as he begins to instill faith in them in the meeting by stating that their differences would not get in the way and that it is put in the past and encourages the idea of group cohesiveness to attain those with a mutual goal for the future. He makes it a point that not only does he want the groups help, but ultimately needs it, this shows his ability motivate the group as he establishes them as an integral part of the entire goal, ultimately leaving them feeling empowered and with more responsibility for the task at hand.
He ensures to encourage them that if it is not in their hearts it is ultimately their choice to leave but if they were to stay, if they work to their capabilities he promised he will do the same. This overall shows him commitment to the group not only as individuals but his commitment to the outcome that the groups create. Invictus once again portrays Mandela as one with many traits of a transformational leader.
Transformational leaders have characteristics that instill faith in each member and aid in the development of an individual in a group. This is further examined when Francois, the captain of springboks believes that the team has no chance of winning. Soon after this incident, Mandela individually communicates with Francois encouraging him and motivating him by sharing a poem that kept his spirits up in prison, he empowers Francois by again instilling faith in him with support and encouragement.
This is an ideal example of Mandela’s transformational leadership as he demonstrates that he is committed to the overall success that the whole group is working towards as he communicates with Francois on a personal level and assists and collaborates with him to once again motivate and instill faith in him which ultimately empowers and inspires him to once again become committed to try his best in achieving the mutual group goal. Through Mandela’s action we can truly decipher him as a transformational leader as he ultimately works to inspire the group to achieve the goals that were set together.
He does this by effectively interacting on a personal level with the group individuals by developing them through inspiration and instilling faith throughout the process to enhance the cohesiveness of the people who are aiming for the same goal to ultimately achieve their overall aim to create harmony and rid of any racial segregation in their country. Select two factors influencing Nelson Mandela’s style of leadership. Using Examples, Justify how these two factors influence Mandela’s style of leadership. There are many different factors that need to be taken into consideration that contributes to a style of leadership that one chooses.
Mandela has used his extensive experience in the past both as a leader and a inmate in a jail to influence the type of leader he became. Mandela was a leader of several protests again racist regimes, as a result landing in prison for almost 3 decades. As a result Mandela has experienced several different people and circumstances and ways in which to overcome them which have aided him to become the inspirational and motivating leader Mandela was. This is demonstrated in a scene in which he speaks to unconfident Football captain Francois and mentions a poem that kept his spirits up by instilling a vision while he was imprisoned.
This leaves Francois feeling empowered, motivated and inspired as Mandela uses his own true personal experiences to relate and positively support Francois. This Exemplifies the way in which Mandela uses his past experiences to support those around him by inspiring, motivating and empowering and instilling a faith within, in this case Francois with his own past experience and his past strategies that he has used to again motivate himself. His Past experience allows Mandela to be a leader that motivates and inspires those around them.
These features of Mandela ultimately made him an embodiment of a transformational leader. Another factor that had an extensive influence on Mandela’s style of leadership was the nature of the group. The group that Mandela inherited as he became president was a nation in a extremely negative state due to the conflict between different race groups caused by the apartheid and racial segregation that occurred under the prior presidents ruling. This is evident throughout the whole film invictus as we are able to observe the divide of the black and white in South Africa.
Due to the devastating state the country it influenced Mandela’s to become a more transformational leader that is motivated, encouraging and inspirational which are all key characteristics that are needed to rebuild the nation that was divided due to previous leaders. Transformational leadership is one that was necessary for Mandela to obtain to achieve his goal as it is a leader is confident in their ability to make changes and can see the picture, and lead by example, one that motivates, encourages and positively supports people.
These are all features that Mandela embodied which was crucial in his success to inspire the torn country of the vision ahead turn the devastating effects and racial separation as a result of the apartheid. Assess the effectiveness of this leadership style in helping to resolve conflict situations. Transformational leadership was a style that Mandela chose to manifest as he led the country. He used this form of leadership as it allowed him inspire and instill a vision through optimism, which brought positivity to the whole country that was essentially in a devastating state.
This form of leadership was effective as it meant that Mandela modeled the core values that he was trying to instill in the country, which was essentially harmony. Throughout the film we observe him epitomizing the positive values which are seen several times to inspire those around him. Thus ultimately motivating those with negative attitudes to follow his more optimistic footsteps which in turn one by one begins impacting those around him to alter their attitudes and perceptions which aided the success of Mandela’s goal to rid of racial separation in South Africa.
Transformational leaders in this case Mandela are Innovative visionaries that are confident in their ability. This is observed in the film as Mandela uses an unconventional way to pursue his goal. This creativeness is exemplified as Mandela uses Rugby to Move his country to achieve his ultimate vision and goal of harmony within the country, which in turn is deemed successful as it removes the differences between separate groups, ultimately removing the deep seeded separation between the groups and successfully achieving his overall goal of setting aside the differences.
These types of leaders are known for being highly interactive with groups and Mandela was an impeccable example of this. He was a leader that was flexible as not only did he motivate and encourage those around him he also ensured that he sought advice and considered the opinion of all individuals that wanted to be heard.
Although Mandela was known for his ability to be flexible and consider the opinions of others he also had the ability to decipher and become assertive when he knew it was necessary as it would ultimately benefit the country. This is seen as Mandela listens to a colleagues opinion on his choice regarding the rugby team but chooses to stand firm and pursue his original plans as that’s what he truly believes is ultimately the right choice that will not only benefit his goal but the country as a whole.
His ability to be a flexible leader and great interpersonal skills, ensures that he fully understood what the county wanted and needed giving him an idea of the opinions of the South African society. This allowed him to create strategies and instill plans that not only he thought was needed but also was what the South African’s wanted to see , ultimately having positive impact on the country by addressing the issues between differing groups to ultimately dispose of the conflict.
We can evidently observe that Mandela’s form of transformational leadership was an effective choice as the strategies that he used eventually settled the differences and conflict within the opposing groups in South Africa to create a country of Harmony. This shows us that the the form of transformational leadership successfully aided Mandela to successfully his overall goal to mend a divided country.
