Invictus Evaluation and Leadership Dilemmas

1.       

·         Nelson Mandela showed humility when he complimented his aides on something as simple as a dress and asked how his bodyguard’s family was doing. This helped the white bodyguards accept Mandela more as a leader because he gave them respect. One white bodyguard in the movie said he was “invisible” in his previous job, but he felt valued in this job. I learned a person should always be humble, even if they are at a high position, to be equal with others.

·         Francois also displayed effective leadership by motivating his rugby team members to not give up on the World Cup. After the team lost several matches, Francois still was determined to win the World Cup, especially after Mandela inspired him to win it for his country. He tried to get the team members to learn the song Mandela gave him which means “God Bless Africa” and refused to lose hope about the prospects of the team.

·         Both Francois and Mandela worked towards a similar common purpose. For Mandela, this was uniting the whites and blacks. For Francois, this was winning the World Cup which would make it easier for whites and blacks to unite. Both of them had to compromise along the way to achieve their common purpose. Mandela did not have the best family life because of disagreements with his family on working with the same whites who had worked against him before, but he knew bringing together these whites and blacks were crucial for the unity of South Africa. Francois had to go against the popular opinions of the team by encouraging them to learn the anthem and playing rugby with poor children, but knew it was needed to make the team stronger.

2.        

·         A person in my class was caught cheating during a test, and my teacher had to decide what consequences should be given. She could have given the person a zero on the test, put it on their personal record, or just let them go with a warning. This student was hardworking and had not cheated before. My teacher had to decide between the ethical stakes of potentially ruining this person’s hopes for college or letting the person go without understanding the seriousness of the issue. She chose to give the person a zero on the test, but did not put this on their record which was a wise choice, since this person was never caught cheating again.

·         A Winter Track team was introduced in my school in my sophomore year and my coach had to decide if he should pick captains or decide by popular vote. When my coach decided to use popular vote, juniors who were the fastest on the team became captains instead of seniors who were expected to win. My coach still felt he made the ethically correct decision because captains were chosen if they got a majority of votes, so the entire team’s views were better represented this way relating to a leader’s ability to listen to others’opinions.   

-Esha Deshmukh