{"id":1496,"date":"2013-12-12T07:33:37","date_gmt":"2013-12-12T13:33:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lovingonme.com\/?p=1496"},"modified":"2017-05-19T10:08:46","modified_gmt":"2017-05-19T15:08:46","slug":"6-life-lessons-from-a-great-leader-nelson-mandela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/2013\/12\/12\/6-life-lessons-from-a-great-leader-nelson-mandela\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Life Lessons from a Great Leader – Nelson Mandela"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Nelson<\/a>\u201cIt always seems impossible until it\u2019s done.\u201d \u2013 Nelson Mandela<\/i><\/p>\n

The world has lost one of our greatest iconic and inspirational leaders. As a South African liberator and central figure in the global movement for justice and freedom, Nelson Mandela\u2019s influence will continue far beyond his lifetime.<\/p>\n

His accomplishments and impact have been so significant that our natural tendency is to canonize him. Yet in his own words Mr. Mandela tells us \u201cI am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.\u201d He gently reminds us that he is but a man, and in doing so challenges us to be a better mankind.<\/p>\n

In the wake of his passing, I can\u2019t help but wonder how we will respond. Will we answer his call to passionately address the compelling issues of our time? Or will we shrink back and wait for others to step up?<\/p>\n

It can be intimidating wondering what we can do that is worthy of Mr. Mandela\u2019s legacy. Yet one of his central messages to us is that we all have a role to play, realizing that \u201cthe time is always ripe to do the right.\u201d So how do we get started on our own path to fulfilling our purpose?<\/p>\n

I believe Mr. Mandela\u2019s life teaches us some powerful lessons about love, leadership and life abundantly. The six I\u2019ve highlighted below, while by no means exhaustive, speak to some of the ideals and actions that made him such a pivotal changemaker, while also serving as a beacon of hope for humanity.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. He accepted the call to the unconventional.<\/i> <\/b>Mr. Mandela was a trailblazer. He lived his values, and in doing so raised the bar for others. He understood to do what had always been done would only elicit more of the same. So he moved beyond his fears and headed onto the roads less traveled \u2013 challenging the status quo, fighting for justice, reconciling a people, and inspiring the world.<\/li>\n
  2. He didn’t let public opinion define his perspective of himself.<\/i><\/b> As a young man, he was branded a terrorist and enemy of the state. As he got older, he was revered as a freedom fighter, hero, and leader of a nation.\u00a0 And yet throughout the course of his life his core values were largely unchanged. Did his understanding of life evolve? Sure. But his true nature stayed the same, and his sense of self \u2013worth was firmly rooted in the person he knew himself to be rather than what others called him.<\/li>\n
  3. He chose his path even when he couldn\u2019t immediately change his circumstances.<\/i><\/b> Mr. Mandela always retained his power to be the person he was created to be, rather than the victim confinement would have him become.\u00a0 He was resolute in his commitment to transformation, and as such time and again resisted the lure of temporary change.<\/li>\n
  4. He valued his position, but understood the bigger purpose.<\/i><\/b> I once heard President John Mahama of Ghana say, \u201cGood leaders know when it\u2019s time to go. Great leaders leave when the applause is the loudest.\u201d Mr. Mandela was a genius in this regard. He understood that in the role of President his job was to help transform a nation, but as a man his ultimate purpose in life was bigger than any one position.<\/li>\n
  5. He waited and worked with expectancy for his vision to come to fruition.<\/i><\/b> In 1944, Mr. Mandela began his work with the ANC. 20 years later he was thrown in jail by those who would see him fail. It would be another 30 years before he became President. 50 years, and he never gave up.<\/li>\n
  6. He led with love, and executed with justice.<\/i><\/b> His pursuit of freedom was never solely for him as a person, but always fueled by his love for the people. Eventually, that became all people. For he realized that unless freedom is for all there is justice for none.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Mr. Mandela inspires us to live fully and completely \u2013 with our hearts and heads engaged, and our hands outstretched to render aid. To be committed to freedom and justice while getting involved in the issues that matter most to us, and to continue our work until the deed is done. For to sit idly by on the sidelines of life is to be alive without ever really living.<\/p>\n

    One of my favorite quotes from Mr. Mandela says, \u201cThere is no passion to be found in playing small \u2013 in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.\u201d\u00a0 Let\u2019s not let Mr. Mandela\u2019s passing be merely a celebration of his life, but rather a collective call to greater living.<\/p>\n

    Dream Big. Love Generously. Serve Passionately. Live Abundantly! \u2764<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u201cIt always seems impossible until it\u2019s done.\u201d \u2013 Nelson Mandela The world has lost one of our greatest iconic and inspirational leaders. As a South African liberator and central figure in the global movement for justice and freedom, Nelson Mandela\u2019s influence will continue far beyond his lifetime. His accomplishments and impact have been so significant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sharing_disabled":false,"switch_like_status":false,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"6 Life Lessons from a Great Leader - Nelson Mandela"},"categories":[204997549,204997546,114917237],"tags":[2214,922,16562,204997786,204997597,122792808,133901,303378,30351,6231],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/nelson-mandela.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4eAxC-o8","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1496"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9065,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496\/revisions\/9065"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lovingonme.com\/2017\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}