Leading Like Madiba

This is a book about a many-sided man whose legacy is his unquenchable desire to spend himself for the well-being of others. Through a series of stories told by men and women about how Nelson Mandela touched their lives, the book shows what it is that has made him one of the greatest people of our time: the way he has managed to inspire people through ordinary human actions. Here in essence are some of the key qualities of great leadership. Most of the stories in this book are from ordinary men and women. A few came from newspapers, television and magazines. Whether they happened exactly as they are narrated is not important. What is true about these stories is that they are an attempt by people to describe the 'Madiba phenomenon'. They are a way in which people seek to treasure what Mandela has taught the world. Their significance lies in their ability to inspire those that share and listen to them.

The book that inspired the major new motion picture Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Nelson Mandela is one of the great moral and political leaders of our time: an international hero whose lifelong dedication to the fight against racial oppression in South Africa won him the Nobel Peace Prize and the presidency of his country. Since his triumphant release in 1990 from more than a quarter-century of imprisonment, Mandela has been at the center of the most compelling and inspiring political drama in the world. As president of the African National Congress and head of South Africa's antiapartheid movement, he was instrumental in moving the nation toward multiracial government and majority rule. He is revered everywhere as a vital force in the fight for human rights and racial equality. LONG WALK TO FREEDOM is his moving and exhilarating autobiography, destined to take its place among the finest memoirs of history's greatest figures. Here for the first time, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela tells the extraordinary story of his life--an epic of struggle, setback, renewed hope, and ultimate triumph.

Nelson Mandela, who emerged from twenty-six years of political imprisonment to lead South Africa out of apartheid and into democracy, is perhaps the world's most admired leader, a man whose life has been led with exemplary courage and inspired conviction. Now Anthony Sampson, who has known Mandela since 1951 and has been a close observer of South Africa's political life for the last fifty years, has produced the first authorized biography, the most informed and comprehensive portrait to date of a man whose dazzling image has been difficult to penetrate. With unprecedented access to Mandela's private papers (including his prison memoir, long thought to have been lost), meticulous research, and hundreds of interviews--from Mandela himself to prison warders on Robben Island, from Walter Sisulu and Oliver Tambo to Winnie Mandela and F. W. de Klerk, and many others intimately connected to Mandela's story--Sampson has composed an enlightening and necessary story of the man behind the myth.

Nelson Mandela unequivocally is the greatest leader of our times. He fought for the freedom of South Africa and against apartheid, giving 27 of his life to imprisonment. These are the stories of his leadership after that. How was Nelson Mandela as the president elect of a new country? What makes him the most respected and loved leader for the whole world? These stories movingly bring out his uniqueness as a leader, and serve as inspiration to all those who lead people, and also make this world a better place to live in.

Nelson Mandela was born into a royal family, attended elite schools, became a lawyer, and could have settled into a comfortable life as a member of South Africa’s black middle class. But his sense of dignity and injustice was fierce, and he dedicated himself to the struggle for freedom and democracy. He paid a heavy price for his choice, often putting his life in danger and spending 27 years in prison, away from his family, barely knowing his children. Guided by a deep pragmatism, he evolved into one of the greatest leaders in modern history, a man who inspired and uplifted the world. His story offers valuable lessons for leaders everywhere. Nelson Mandela is a fierce opponent of injustice, a proponent of nonviolent resistance, a moral beacon for the world, a man who changed the course of history and created today’s South Africa. He occupies a place in the Parthenon of great leaders--a symbol of the struggle for freedom and human rights, an inspiration to us all. But his has been a complicated life, filled with nuance and ambiguity. Mandela won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993, yet he once advocated the violent overthrow of South Africa’s apartheid government and was instrumental in creating a guerilla army dedicated to that end. A child of privilege born into a royal family, he benefitted mightily from his family’s connections but was suspended from college and ran away to the slums of Johannesburg to avoid an arranged marriage. New Word City, publishers of digital originals, contributes 10 percent of its profits to literacy causes.

‘You empower yourself and then you reach out to others.’ Uplifting life lessons from one of the greatest leaders the world has ever known... through the eyes of the grandson whose life he changed forever. In his book Going to the Mountain, Ndaba Mandela shares the story of his coming-of-age alongside South Africa’s rebirth. It is a remarkable journey, and one that took him from the violent, segregated Soweto ghettos to his grandfather’s presidential home. As a young boy, Ndaba was constantly shunted from place to place. But at eleven years old he was unexpectedly invited to live with his grandfather, Nelson Mandela, even though he had met him only once before, during a prison visit. And, slowly, they built a relationship that would affect both of them profoundly. Ndaba's teenage years were complicated, but as he approached his twenty-first birthday, Mandela decided that Ndaba was finally ready to ‘go to the mountain’ – a test of courage during which you become a man. At the end of this gruelling ritual journey, the elders of the Mandelas’ tribe gathered and Ndaba’s grandfather was there, as ever, to share his greatest life lessons. From Nelson Mandela, Ndaba learned the spirit of endurance, the triumph of forgiveness, the power of resistance and the beauty of reconciliation. And as Mandela grew older, Ndaba had the chance to repay his grandfather’s love and support by demonstrating the ways in which he’d understood all that he had taught him. Intimate and inspirational, Going to the Mountain is a powerful reminder of how one person can impact profoundly on another, and a testament to the awesome power within us to change ourselves and our world.

Zelda la Grange grew up in South Africa as a white Afrikaner who supported the rules of segregation. Yet just a few years after the end of Apartheid she would become a most trusted assistant to Nelson Mandela, growing to respect and cherish the man she had been taught was the enemy. Good Morning, Mr Mandela tells the extraordinary story of how a young woman had her life, beliefs, prejudices and everything she once believed in utterly transformed by the greatest man of her time. It is the incredible journey of an awkward, terrified young typist in her twenties later chosen to become the President's most loyal and devoted servants, spending most of her adult working life travelling with, supporting and caring for the man she would come to call 'Khulu', or 'grandfather'. Here Zelda pays tribute to Nelson Mandela as she knew him - a teacher who gave her the most valuable lessons of her life. A man who refused to be defined by his past, who forgave and respected all, but who was also frank, teasing and direct. As he renewed his country, he also freed Zelda from a closed world of fear and mistrust, giving her life true meaning. Now she shares his lasting and inspiring gifts with the world. This is a book about love and second chances. It will touch your life and make you believe that every one of us, no matter who we are or what we have done, has the power to change.

"This is an important book as well as a riveting read. And I have grown to love Levy Mwanawasa. Juxtaposing story with inquiry and analysis, sustaining a light and engaging tone as he offers profundity on the subject of excellence in leadership, Martin allows us to think about and absorb the compelling truth that leaders must serve the people above all else. Martin has created what I call a 'Thinking Environment' in his writing, allowing us to think for ourselves afresh as we read, allowing us to learn. Anyone truly interested in influencing the ways influencers lead will find a treasure of insight and wisdom here. And the learning will be a joy." By Nancy Kline, Author and Founder of Time to Think: Listening to ignite the human mind. Having captured the essence of leadership in Leading Like Madiba: Leadership Lessons from Nelson Mandela, Martin now has distilled what he experienced as an Adviser to President Mwanawasa into a second study of leadership in Africa. At a time when Africa, indeed the world, is desperate for wise leadership we would all do well to listen to the wisdom Martin shares about leadership in turbulent times. By Dr Nick Isbister, Managing Director of SIMA(UK)Ltd, an executive coaching firm, and author of Who do you think you are? "In my meetings with Levy Mwanawasa what struck me was his natural personal warmth. His unpretentious manner was combined with an outstanding intellect and grasp of the detail of an issue and its wider context. His depth of understanding local and international issues, and his judgement were an inspiration to us all. All these qualities are clearly and beautifully portrayed in this book." By Dr Clive Kinder, Chairman, Commonwealth Business School.