8 Transformational Leadership Lessons learned from Nelson Mandela

Have you ever met someone whose courageous leadership inspired you so much that you felt compelled to write a book in his or her honour?

I met such a person in October 1990. His name was Nelson Mandela.

Meeting Nelson Mandela was in many ways life changing. I expected that Mandela's powerful presence would make an impression on me and it certainly did. However, what was even more remarkable was the great man's uncanny knack of making those in his presence feel important and compelled to make a meaningful difference. This inspired me to be a leader who made people feel important and empowered and, later, to become a leadership coach and consultant who encouraged leaders to do so too. It also inspired me to write the book, My Dinner with Madiba – 8 Transformational Leadership Lessons learned from Nelson Mandela​.

The book was written with three objectives in mind:

1. To be a useful resource to anyone looking for practical tips on how to become a successful transformational leader;
2. To illustrate how Nelson Mandela so masterfully demonstrated transformational leadership in his quest to transform the nation;
3. To reflect on the personal encounters I was so fortunate to have had with the great man, and what I learned from these encounters.

My talk today is about sharing with you some of the lessons I have learnt about great leadership and some of the magical moments I shared with one of the most admired and respected leaders in history.

Upcoming sessions in our Towards Mastery series:

• Session 10: 10 November 2022 | 2pm Singapore time | Cathryn Lloyd​ | Register here
• Session 11: 30th November 2022 | 1pm Singapore time | Dawn Jarvis​ | Register here
• Session 12: 14th December 2022 | 1pm Singapore time | Jill Arkell​ | Register here