Lilley1 Kirstena Lilley Mr.

Glover Honors English 9 18 March 2014

Development of a Leader

Leaders are the most important part of any aspect of society, but the people that lead movements arent always people that others look to for guidance. The way that a leader develops has a crucial effect on what kind of impact they can have on society and people. A leader is someone that other people look to for guidance, and this allows them to have a positive or negative effect on society, depending on how they use their power. All leaders face conflicts that cause them to want to help themselves and others. Good leaders move past those setbacks and rise to the occasion when they must do things that others dont want to do. Leaders exemplify the best way to reach the goal they set and often achieve with the help of others. Nelson Mandela became a leader and activist for racial equality in South Africa to make the lives of all South Africans better. He had a positive effect on the society, eventually forcing out the apartheid system after many years spent in prison and a long battle for equality. Mandela is one example of a powerful leader that developed over time because of his personal experiences. Mandela is an admirable leader because was able to reach equality for an the people of South Africa without the use of violence. Mandelas struggles against the apartheid government was what drove him to make South Africa a better place for everyone. This is also what made him relatable to the South African people because they knew that he had been through similar endeavors.

Lilley2 Like all good leaders, Mandela didnt start out as someone well-known and powerful. He was at one time a law student and little-known member of the African National Congress (ANC). In his lifetime, Nelson Mandela faced several challenges due to apartheid and made it his life goal to right the wrongs done to him and others. The hero we know today as Nelson Mandela would not have become such a powerful leader had he not dealt with these conflicts. The first major encounter Mandela had was in 1948, shortly after he was elected into the ANC, when the apartheid legislation was introduced by a political party that had recently come into power. Mandela and other members of the ANC encouraged peaceful, but direct, protests to object to the unfair and racist laws. Mandela faced many encounters with these laws over a long period of time, the most monumental being spending over twenty years in harsh prisons for charges of sabotage and conspiracy against the government. Mandela also experienced the effects of apartheid in prison. There were white guards that were ruthless, and harassed black prisoners. The black prisoners had the hardest tasks to do and had to bear the worst conditions. Mandela was imprisoned in eight by seven foot room and worked everyday breaking rocks into gravel. After being released from prison in 1990, Mandela used this experience with injustice to fuel his desire to end apartheid. He was very willing make sacrifices and to take a stand against the government and speak his mind for the good of the South African citizens, no matter what the possible price he could pay, which some were afraid to do. Mandelas story made him relatable to people living with the harsh conditions of apartheid everyday. He quickly became globally well-known. The example he set for other anti-apartheid supporters was that peacefully protesting was the best way to reach the goal of equal rights. Although it would have easy to use violence

Lilley3 against the government, Mandela insisted on doing the right thing by protesting peacefully, inspired by Gandhi, which ultimately yielded the result they wanted. Because of Mandelas approach, it was negotiated to have the apartheid laws removed in 1994. Mandela was elected the first black president of South Africa shortly after. Someone could argue that Mandelas experiences did not affect his performance as a leader for equal rights. I strongly disagree with theory simply because without his imprisonment, it is probable that not very much attention would have been given to his story, and the news coverage and other media sources were how he reached people that supported the movement. The experience that he went through was what made citizens of South Africa aware, trusting, supportive and sympathetic of Nelson Mandela. I think the most important stage of the development of a leader is how they respond immediately following the setback or conflict they face. That is what defines them and it determines what kind of person they are and what quality of leader they are capable of being. For example, Nelson Mandela could have easily supported violently protesting against the government, as a way of seeking revenge for what they had done to him. Instead, he always was peaceful and sensible, and that it was made him such an influential leader. In conclusion, the outcome of a leaders character and influence on society heavily depends on how they develop. Specifically the way they respond to major setbacks can determine the changes a person can create in a society.

Bibliography

Lilley4 "Apartheid in South Africa." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Mar. 2014. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. I used this site to find some basic information about apartheid so that I could better understand the movement that Nelson Mandela led. This source was very useful in my preliminary research and also described some of the actions of Nelson Mandela.

"Nelson Mandela - Biographical." Nelson Mandela - Biographical. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. This source helped me gain knowledge about the life and motives of Nelson Mandela as well as his role in the anti-apartheid movement.

"Nelson Mandela." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Mar. 2014. Web. 19 Mar. 2014. This source gave me information about the life of Nelson Mandela, such as his early life and the experiences of apartheid that directly affected him. I was able to gain knowledge of the most important events in his life that shaped him as a leader in depth.