Invictus and Relational Leadership Model PDF

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This paper explores the film "Invictus" through the lens of the Relational Leadership Model from the book Exploring Leadership by Susan R. Komives....

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1 Pelot Anastasia Pelot Gretta Mincer Leadership & Social Change 12 February 2018

The Captain of My Soul: “Invictus” and Relational Leadership The relational leadership model is defined by the book Exploring Leadership as “an aspirational model that [the writers of the book] propose in developing and supporting a healthy, ethical, effective group…a framework connecting five key elements that can serve as a responsive approach to leadership”. It includes five components describing what a relational leader is, as well as the knowing-being-doing model of putting these practices into play. A relational leader should be Inclusive, Empowering, Ethical, have a Purpose and a Process by which to get there. I chose the movie Invictus to display a good example of the Relational Leadership Model. Invictus is the story of two men who work together to create a future in which color doesn’t divide people and takes place in South Africa in the early 1990s. Nelson Mandela, an anti-apartheid revolutionary, had been released after serving 27 years in prison for “conspiring to overthrow the state”, after which he ran for President of South Africa in 1994 and won. During the movie, he attempts to use rugby to unite white and black people by working with the captain of South Africa’s losing rugby team (the Springboks) to give everyone a cause to support. At first, very few people support him, as they feel that the “Springboks represent apartheid” (Invictus). Through leading by example and being an excellent leader, Mandela achieves his goal and in turn inspires the Springboks to become contenders for The Rugby World Cup. An Inclusive relational leader knows themselves and others, they’re open to differences and believe everyone can make a difference, and they have listening skills and do their best to

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enhance and develop the skills of others. This is shown throughout the movie by many times by Mandela, who takes time to greet his staff each morning and asks about their families, as well as addressing his people as “brothers, sisters, comrades” when speaking to them and always using a respectful tone. While Francoise himself feels that he has a lot to learn about being a leader, something he said to his team made it clear that he valued and respected their opinions. At the beginning of one game, Francoise passes out a paper that has the lyrics of the new South African anthem on it. His teammates crumple the paper up in disgust, stating that a few years ago they would’ve been arrested just for singing the song, which was in the language of the black South Africans. Calmly, Francoise acknowledges that the song “is optional, take it if you want. It means God Bless Africa, which you have to admit, we can use” (Invictus). By allowing his teammates to have their own opinions, he is including them in a decision that he could’ve easily made himself. This move also empowers his teammates, as do many of the actions made by both Francoise and Mandela. At the very beginning of the movie, during his first day in office, Mandela gathers his new employees (all white, as he is the first black president of South Africa) and reassures them that “if you are packing up because you feel your language or the color of your skin…. disqualifies you from working here, have no such fear. What is today is today. We look to the future now, we need your help, we want your help. If you would like to stay, you would be doing your country a great service. All I ask is that you promise to do your work to the

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best of your abilities. I promise to do the same. If we can manage that, our country will be a shining light in the world” (Invictus). He knows that although there’s a chance these people hate him, the more confidence they have in themselves and their place under the President, the harder they will work to achieve the goals he has for the country. Mandela also pulls the only black rugby player on the Springboks aside and encourages him by affirming that “[his] country supports [him] completely”. At the end of a disappointing match, Francoise passes out beer to his teammates and states “Do you taste that? It’s the taste of defeat. Remember the taste and promise yourself never to taste it again”. Although his team has lost match after match, he never degrades them but instead encourages them to fulfill the potential that he knows they have. This is echoed in the book, which defines an Empowering leader as someone who knows what power is, someone who believes that each person has something to offer, someone who has concern for others’ growth and values their contributions, and someone who encourages and affirms others. Equally as important as being Empowering and Inclusive is a leader’s responsibility to be Ethical. Although his team and even his father have little faith (and in fact, disrespect) for their new black president, Francoise remains respectful and reserves judgement, even getting nervous to meet with Mandela for the first time. Mandela himself provides many examples of being an Ethical leader, even after 27 years of brutal treatment at the hands of those he now serves as President. He explains to his supporters that even though they have had struggles at the hands of the white South Africans, “[they] must show compassion and restraint” (Invictus). When his

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right-hand woman questions him about the importance of saving the struggling rugby team when there are so many other problems to solve, Mandela gently explains that “if we take away what [the white South Africans] cherish…we just reinforce the cycle of fear between us. I will do what I must to destroy that cycle”. Although he is revered as almost a savior, his security guard admonishes one of the white security guards that “He’s not a saint, he’s a man with a man’s problems”, explaining that Mandela, no matter how good, cannot be perfect to everyone all the time. The book confirms this, explaining that an ethical leader has knowledge of their own and others’ values, a commitment to socially responsible behavior, values integrity, and puts benefit to others over self-gain. Even the most Empowering, Inclusive and Ethical leader must have a Purpose. A Purpose is a vision (whether personalized or shared/socialized). Mandela’s clear purpose is to use rugby to unite both his loyal supporters and the white South Africans that they struggle with so that he can address the crime, housing, food, jobs and currency issues within their shared country. When Brenda (his secretary) argues that he “can’t keep interrupting affairs of state to placate a minority” (meaning the white South Africans), he rebuts that he “must. Because that minority still controls the police, the army, and the economy. If we lose them, we cannot address the other issues”. She asks if that means that rugby is “a political solution”, which he corrects by stating that “it is a HUMAN solution”. Francoise’s purpose, while less formidable and noteworthy, is to

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empower his team by working as hard as they can to succeed in rugby, even though the odds (and many people) are against them. Another important component of the Relational Leadership Model is the Process by which leaders achieve their Purpose. Mandela’s ultimate purpose is to unite the divided people of his country and getting his countrymen to support their national rugby team together is simply the vessel by which he achieves this goal. He works incredibly hard and tries to fit many important tasks into each day, which means waking up before the sun to walk, and working until the point of clinical exhaustion. Even during the first rugby game he attends, he asks Brenda “Why don’t we work while we watch? We have a lot of promises to keep”. This work ethic helps to empower his staff as well, who bolster themselves by telling each other that if “Mandiba (their nickname for Mandela) can do it, we can do it”. Mandela invites Francoise to his house to discuss leadership, and when asked “What philosophy guides your leadership?” Francoise thinks carefully then replies that he “tries to lead by example”. Pleased with this answer but wanting to know more, Mandela pushes him by asking “How do you inspire your team to do their best? How do you get them to believe they’re better than they can be?” In other words, “what is the process by which you lead?”. A Process-oriented leader puts in quality effort, and is skilled at collaboration, learning, dealing with civil confrontation and making meaning in their everyday lives.

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I picked the movie “Invictus” because of the leadership qualities displayed by Nelson Mandela. I knew that a movie about him would have some interesting components of leadership, but I was pleasantly surprised at how both he and Francoise both displayed qualities that so closely adhered to the Relational Leadership Model. While Mandela displays incredible leadership throughout the whole movie, Francoise’s leadership is more of a journey from passively accepting his fate to creating his fate (culminating in the soul-stirring recitation of the poem “Invictus”, in which the author states that he is “the master of [his] fate, [he is] the captain of [his] soul”.)...