Editor’s note: This is the first of a four-part series on what journalists can learn from the leadership of South Africa’s Nelson Mandela.
Cape Town was radiant on that early November afternoon, exactly the kind of day the Chamber of Commerce uses to make pictures for its tourism pamphlets. Three days into teaching my first narrative writing seminar with the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism in South Africa, I had sent my nine new friends off in search of good stories while I explored their city and tried, with minimal success, to make my own pictures for the folks back home.
Looking for scenery, however, I found something else: Leadership.
I found its first evidence outside the Parliament building where, suddenly, she caught my eye: Crowned and robed, posed for the ages, head turned soberly to the left, scepter in one hand, orb in the other.
Queen Victoria, the symbol of British imperialism herself.
Several photos later, and a little confused, I walked on.
Then I saw him. Seated in weathered bronze, as if resting after a long day on his feet, Field Marshal Jan Smuts. Ally of the British, champion of segregation, staunch opponent of African rights. I was more confused. But only for a second. Now I was impressed.
Here I was in South Africa, a country just a decade removed from dismantling one of modern history’s most oppressive governments, and these statues still adorned such important public places?
Why weren’t they floating in the ocean, as surely they would be in almost every other liberated nation I could bring to mind? What happened here that allows the despised past to live side by side with its radically different present?
What happened in South Africa was leadership. The truly unique leadership of Nelson Mandela.
It is a leadership I think we all can learn from — no matter what our cause.
At the conclusion of my stay in Africa, my leadership class in Johannesburg presented me with Nelson Mandela’s memoir: Long Walk to Freedom. As I read it in the weeks that followed, I thought a lot about those statues and Mandela’s commitment to reconciliation in the new South Africa. I also thought about the qualities of leadership that made Mandela so effective over such a long and difficult period.
And I was impressed that throughout the book, he wrote about qualities of leadership that he tried to practice.
Over the next few days, I’d like to share some of Mandela’s thoughts on leadership and use them to reflect on the challenges leaders face in today’s newsrooms. Granted, our challenges pale in comparison to the ordeal of this man who helped lead his people from behind bars for more than 27 years. But no matter what our challenge, Mandela’s perspective on the leader’s role is worth considering — and worth using to ask ourselves some questions about the way we’re leading in these difficult times.
One book I returned to many times (while in prison) was Tolstoy’s great work, War and Peace. … I was particularly taken with the portrait of General Kutuzov, whom everyone at the Russian court underestimated. Kutuzov defeated Napoleon precisely because he was not swayed by the ephemeral and superficial values of his court, and made his decisions on a visceral understanding of his men and his people. It reminded me once again that truly to lead one’s people one must also truly know them.
How well do I know my people?
How well do I know the women and men on whom I depend every day to produce our news report?
Do I know what motivates them? Each of them? Do I know what each of them aspires to be? Do I know what each of them thinks of our current strategy?
Does it matter to me what they think?
But how do I know what they think? Do I ask them? Do I assume? Do I rely upon information from my confidants?
Do I even put myself in a position to know them? How often do I talk with them about them?
How often do I work alongside them?
How often do I ask their opinions?
How often do I ask them how I’m doing, for them?
How often do I ask any of them: How are you doing?
How often do I take time to really listen to them?
Do I know my people? Am I sure?
An idea: Could I schedule 30 minutes into my day to meet individually with members of my staff? Not to talk about their work of the day — but to talk about them? Could I get to know them?
And then …
How well do I know my audience?
How well do I know the people I’m trying so hard, with my staff, to reach every day?
Do I know what in their lives matters most to them? Their biggest struggles? Their greatest sources of pride? What they aspire to — for themselves? For their children? For their community?
And how do I know them?
Do I read surveys and attend focus groups? Do I ask them marketing questions?
Do I observe how they live — and then ask them questions about what I observed?
Do I listen to their conversations, even when the subject has nothing to do with my news product?
Do I listen for what people care about when they talk with one another in restaurants? In airports? On soccer fields? At church?
Do I invite them into my newsroom and listen to their reactions to the news and how we’re covering it?
Do I encourage us to do stories that reflect those conversations — stories about the things in their lives that matter most to them?
How well do I know my audience?
“It reminded me once again that truly to lead one’s people one must also truly know them.”
Tomorrow: Showing emotion in the newsroom
