The Secret of Leadership by Prakash Iyer

Author:Prakash Iyer [Iyer, Prakash]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9788184759891
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2013-04-14T16:00:00+00:00

Failure holds valuable lessons—if only we are willing to learn. Very often, we do all the hard work but when we don’t see the desired results, we turn around and walk away—even though we may have been just one step away from success. The problem is, we seldom realize that we are so close to achieving our goals.

Nelson Mandela and the Fine Art of Forgiving

10 May 1994 was a very special day for South Africa. It was a day that witnessed an event which not too many people had thought would come to pass. It was the day when Nelson Mandela became the first democratically elected President of South Africa. It was a day of transition—from an era of apartheid and injustice to a new dawn of freedom and democracy.

But there was something else that happened the same day, which was quite remarkable. Nelson Mandela showed a trait that was to mark him out as a terrific leader. Here he was, emerging after spending twenty-seven long years in jail. Most people thought that he would come forth with a thirst for revenge, a burning desire to settle scores with the people who may have wronged him and kept him in jail. Mandela instead did something else. In a gesture that sent a message to the world at large, he invited his former jailers to attend his presidential inauguration—as VIP guests! Three men who had held the keys to his prison cell were special invitees on that momentous day!

Mandela knew that in his journey towards rebuilding the nation, what was needed was not revenge and retribution, but reconciliation. Revenge is linked to the past. Reconciliation is what paves the way for a better future.

People had feared that the transition in South Africa could mean the start of a bloodbath as the oppressed blacks might seek revenge against the whites. This would have put South Africa back on a one-way street to destruction. But with that one act, Mandela made it clear that his nation’s future—its development and success—would lie in forgiveness, not hatred.

Revenge and vendetta may make for great themes in movies, but in life, they don’t serve any purpose. Learning to forgive is a skill that we must all embrace. Carrying a grudge in life only makes you overweight—and in turn slows down your progress. Shed that excess baggage. Shun that desire to settle scores. Revenge is a lose-lose proposition that can distract you from the path to prosperity.

Learning to forgive and forget can also help ensure that you don’t burn your bridges. You’ve probably heard of people who parted ways with their bosses or friends in a rather messy fashion only to regret it when their paths crossed again. You never know whom you will meet and, more importantly, whom you will need on the road ahead. Making enemies can seem like a momentary stress reliever, but it usually serves no purpose and comes back to haunt you later in life. Friendships and partnerships get broken over petty issues that balloon into irreconcilable differences.

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