I’ve recently become interested in the topic on Leadership and have read afew books and articles.  Here’s one from Time Magazine, which is based on an interview with Nelson Mandela.  If you’re interested to read the whole article, click here:

Here’s the summarised version of his 8 points:

1. Courage is not the absence of fear — it’s inspiring others to move beyond it - A clear and consistent theme that I keep picking up from the various books on leadership is that leaders inspire others to be better.
2. Lead from the front — but don’t leave your support base behind -  I guess this is self-explanatory, leadership is about having the courage to make tough decisions, take unpopular stands and face undesirable consequences.   The difference between a dictator and a democratic leader is the support, the former doesn’t need it and the latter, desires it.  
3. Lead from the back — and let others believe they are in front – Mandela narrated a story of a leader who encouraged others in his team to speak first.  The leader ended the discussion by summarising all that was spoken and then added his input.  The point here was arriving a collective decision and in the process, obtaining the necessary support and commitment from the group.  I’ve stereotypically thought that leading from the back was a sign of weakness, but as Mandela says it, it requires humility to be able to do that, a desirable character trait in many leaders.
4. Know your enemy — and learn about his favorite sport – Mandela says that if you know your enemy, you’d start to look at things from their perspective and you’ll see their weaknesses and strengths.   Simplistically I think it means that this knowledge will open our minds and make us more understanding, it’s like being on the same wavelength, talking the same language, so there’s little misunderstanding.  Many conflicts are due to misunderstandings and wrong assumptions.
5. Keep your friends close — and your rivals even closer – Here’s an except from the article, “Mandela believed that embracing his rivals was a way of controlling them: they were more dangerous on their own than within his circle of influence. Mandela recognized that the way to deal with those he didn’t trust was to neutralize them with charm. “
6. Appearances matter — and remember to smile 
7. Nothing is black or white – We need to be flexible in our minds to accept that, everything does not have to be a choice, that sometimes a wise decision could have more than 1 benefit.
8. Quitting is leading too – Having the humility to admit a mistake and apologise for it, goes against our ego, which wants us to look good all the time, to not admit that we could be wrong.