Reflections on Invictus and Personal Experiences by MICHAEL BECKER

Reflections on Invictus

1. Obviously Nelson Mandela had many leadership skills that allowed him to carry South Africa out of Apartheid and into a democracy. But, there were a few certain skills Mandela had that I think had a huge impact on what he did. First of all, his ambition and persistence in keeping the South African Rugby team as the green and gold Springboks allowed him to keep the white people with his cause. Although the white people probably would not revolt against the government for taking away the rugby heritage, it would have caused emotional barriers between the two. His idea paid off in the end, and everyone was happy when the Green and Gold won the Rugby World Cup. Mandela was also able to very easily pursue an idea and persuade other politicians and citizens to do what he wants. For example, Mandela started with all black security guards, but when they needed more, he hired white guards. This showed Mandela’s dedication to fully integrating the new South Africa. When the black guards first came to Mandela saying they could not trust the men, Mandela calmly explained that he had to appeal to both races and that he needed to show equality at the top, so it could trickle down to the bottom of the power pole. Eventually, the guards became good friends and could work together well. But, Mandela wasn’t the only character that showed leadership. The Springbok Captain, Francoise, also was able to convince his teammates to do what Mandela wanted to, even if it cut down on their time for practice. He was also ambitious, which allowed him to stick with unpopular ideas that he knew would pay off in the end.
2. One Ethical challenge I have faced was during eighth grade basketball practice. I was the team captain, and there were two very talented seventh graders who did not give effort in practice, but complained when they were not put in the game. My coach left me to explain why I thought that they were not getting playing time. It was very difficult to explain to them that coaches want to see effort in practice and reward effort with playing time. It was even harder to get them to want to give effort. By the end of the year, the two both gave a lot of effort and we won the championship with their efforts. Another example of a challenge I ran into was at my synagogue. I had to teach a group of kindergarteners the Hebrew alphabet, which is hard to teach fourth graders. I was forced to basically go step by step and explain it while controlling the kids from getting too crazy. It did not go well, but I learned that I had to show a little bit of authority in those types of situations.
   Michael Becker