Teaching Leadership Lessons from Nelson Mandela's Life

Let your child get inspired by learning about the life of a great leader. Teach the lessons of leadership to your child by reading to her the facts about Nelson Mandela’s life.Nelson Mandela, the first black president and anti-apartheid hero of South Africa left this world at the age of 95 after a long illness. Mandela was an inspirational political leader. The main contribution was leading and helping South Africa get rid of white-minority rule in 1990s after serving in prison for 27 years. Although, people knew that this news would come one day, the announcement of his death shook the whole world. He was a supporter who worked hard to abolish apartheid and the injustices that came along with it. He will be remembered as much for his fight for improving lives of the underprivileged as his fight against the white minority rule. In this articleInspiring Facts about Nelson MandelaNelson Mandela’s Personal LifeInspiring Facts about Nelson Mandela Let us have a look at the 10 important leadership facts about Nelson Mandela. Mandela was born on July 18, 1918 in a village in South Africa. Though his father died when he was only 7 years old, he was the first member of his family to attend school. Mandela set up South Africa’s first black-run law firm in 1952 along with Oliver Tambo. He was in favour of non-violent protest initially, but took up arms later. In 1940 when Mandela learned that a marriage was arranged for him, he fled and worked as a clerk in a law firm and got his first exposure to political action. Mandela was good at disguise and used this skill in evading arrest. When he was arrested he was found in a chauffer’s outfit. Nelson Mandela became internationally famous after he gave a speech in courtroom which was published as ‘I am prepared to die’. He was sentenced to life in prison. When South African President F. W. de Clark made arrangements to free Nelson Mandela, it was celebrated throughout the world and is considered as a huge step in the direction of impartiality and sovereignty. He worked hard to make peace when he was trying to bring down apartheid. His policies saved and improved innumerable lives. National reconciliation was the most important task for Nelson Mandela after he became president of South Africa and he used sports to unite the country. He won a lot of awards and perhaps more than anyone else in history. Nelson Mandela was an African nationalist and a strong supporter of democracy. He would agree to majority decisions even if he deeply disagreed with it. He was a man of principles and this was clear when once he got a chance to get out of prison but he refused as he would never go against his principles. Nelson Mandela’s Personal Life Mandela was a private person and refused to drink alcohol or smoke. He used to make his bed even after he became the President of South Africa. He was typically friendly and welcoming, but was known for his short temperedness at times also. Throughout his life, Mandela faced lot of criticism also along with being considered as a messiah. Nelson Mandela was one of the most respected and loved persons all over the world. He started a revolution that changed and unfair society into open and more accepting one. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 and had received more than 250 awards for his work for mankind.How did Nelson Mandela fight for improving the lives of underprivileged? How could Nelson Mandela become a good leader? At what age did Nelson Mandela die? Discuss here.