Nelson Mandela

  • LESSON: Use grace and tenacity to transform an adverse situation from within.

Background

Biography: Father of modern South Africa. As a leader of the ANC, he fought against Apartheid. In jail (for 27 years), he negotiated rights for blacks with the government. After release, he won the first inclusive election and embarked on reconciliation.
Goals: Equal rights for all South Africans; freedom for black South Africans.
Governing Principle: The struggle for freedom will succeed in the end.

Traits

Dignified, disciplined, graceful, unbending, shrewd, vibrant, charming, stoic, magnanimous, playful, inclusive, merciful, calm, imbued with a sense of duty, reflective, self-deprecating, self-sacrificing, humorous

Values

Make the best of every situation.Freedom is a right and a duty; you’re not free unless everyone is.Revenge and retribution serve no purpose.Unity is necessary for progress.People need community.Education is crucial to advancement.Our own thoughts can be the worst prison.Good will prevail in the end.

Questions

  • What actions can we take today to move towards our goal?
  • How do we keep this issue in the spotlight?
  • What can we learn from others?
  • How do we build a network of allies and supporters?
  • How do we apply constant pressure to change?
  • What steps do we need to take to reconcile and unite around our goals?

Behaviors

  • Maintain human dignity – Never give into base instincts or lose your sense of humanity. Know who you are.
  • Keep the faith – Despite setbacks and long odds, believe that eventually your movement will succeed.
  • Make the best of difficult situations – Don’t fret over what is out of your control. Look for a bright side.
  • Find ways to make changes – No change or step is too small. Keep taking actions, escalating when appropriate.
  • Think things through – Even small actions have consequences. Consider how it fits with the big picture.
  • Negotiate , negotiate – Begin talks even when no one is talking. Every moment is a chance for diplomacy.
  • Get their attention – Make sure your cause gets publicity. Devote resources to PR.
  • Demand accountability – Ensure everyone admits their actions and mistakes but don’t dwell on the past.
  • Reconcile with your enemies – Show forgiveness to those who are penitent.

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Instructions

Here are some suggestions for using the icons. Click on the i icon to open this box again.

One-on-Conversations

The icons are useful when conducting any kind of port mortem or difficult conversations, like project, progress, or performance reviews. 

Each person chooses a card that reflects the perspective he wants the other to hear. One person shows the card, and, together, both brainstorm the feedback that the persona would give. Repeat using the second person’s chosen card. Both compare and contrast the feedback and agree on lessons going forward. If deadlocked or otherwise desired, they can choose a third card and perform the feedback again

Expectations Setting

Use the icons at the start of project or with a team to understand each person’s default behaviors and identify potential conflicts.  

Each person chooses three cards: one that best represents her, one that she would most like to work with on the project, and one she would least like to work with. Each discusses her picks and agrees to actions for working together.

Team building

The goals are to create awareness of missing skills and traits on the team, use the personalities to fill those gaps, and to improve team creativity by role-playing other perspectives.

Review the cards to determine which personas the team needs but is lacking. Conducting the expectations setting exercise first may help. Create virtual seats for these leaders and assign team members the responsibilities for representing these perspectives.

 

Brainstorming

During brainstorming, choose cards at random and generate ideas as the leader personas. Alternately, team members can act as the leaders during the meetings.

Meeting feedback

At the end of the meeting, each participant, including the meeting leader, chooses a card, either randomly or deliberately, and takes turns providing feedback in the manner of the personality. Alternately, the meeting leader can choose cards at random and ask participants for feedback in that leader’s perspective.

Personal Development (method acting)

1. Look through the profiles and read the summary sections with the lessons, goals, principles, traits, and values. Find one that “speaks” to you or that has a lesson you could use at the moment. Liking the person or sharing that person’s values is irrelevant, though it may require slightly more effort on your part.

2.  Keep in mind that you control the experience and can adopt as much or as little as you feel comfortable doing. Most of the changes you will be making will be internal, in your thought processes and resultant behaviors, and you are not expected to impersonate someone outwardly like you would for Halloween or a play.

3. Explanation of sections:

  • To get into character– This section describes clothing, speech, and eating habits to adopt. The purpose of this is to break out of your routine and ingrained patterns of behavior. If you start the day eating or dressing differently, you will be more likely to act differently. Use your judgment to determine the extent of the changes needed to change your habits without being disruptive.
  • Activities Alone – Conduct these activities first as they are meant to help you get into character and better understand that person’s values and motivation. They are also indicative of activities the character performs on a regular basis. Again, use your judgment regarding which activities make sense for you, but please make sure you do at least some.
  • Activities with Others – Again, choose which activities pertain most to your situation. These are an excellent opportunity to practice being your persona and solicit advice from others on “What would this person do?”
  • Behaviors – While activities are one-off or have a concrete start and end, the behaviors and questions should be ongoing when you are enacting the profile.

4. It should take you somewhere between 1-3 weeks to master the character. We recommend that you plan on two weeks, and continue if you need more time to fully internalize the persona. Thinking like the persona or exhibiting their behaviors without thinking are signs that you have internalized the skills. We encourage you to tell the people you are with what you are doing so that they can help you master the character and provide feedback. It’s perfectly acceptable to ask others what they think that person would do.

5. If you have trouble getting started or feel stuck, just ask yourself “What would this person do?