Inspiring Connected Leadership: A Case Study
This week, I was inspired. And I’m pretty sure many of my MBA students were also inspired.
In this week’s Leadership and Human Behaviour class that I teach, we watched and analyzed the film, Invictus, which was, in my opinion, masterfully directed by the one and only Clint Eastwood.
And while there were case questions for students to submit (and for me to mark), I couldn’t help but watch this movie again through the lens of a Connected Leader.
Here are 3 times we see Nelson Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman) demonstrate Connected Leadership in the film:
He clearly articulates his Vision and models bold leadership behaviour. His Vision is One South Africa: the Rainbow Nation. Not only does he articulate it, more importantly, he models it. He makes bold leadership moves right from the get-go, welcoming staff to stay on who had served under the Apartheid regime. He knows, and states, that if he expects change, he must model his vision at the very top: “If I cannot change when circumstances demand it, how can I expect others to change?”.
He knows that connection builds trust. And that trust is the foundation for transformational change. In the film, we see Nelson Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman) as a visible, connected leader by getting to know his people at a personal level, by name, and takes the time to ask about their families, by name. He knows that by getting to know people and building trust in a genuine way, he has a much better chance of reaching his vision.
He empowers and enables other leaders to build the culture that aligns with his Vision. By recruiting the Rugby team captain through genuine connection, he creates the support and momentum needed to enable the culture shift that will drive his Vision to reality. Culture change takes tweaking and aligning many levers, and the film brilliantly demonstrates how using the sport cherished by whites, and spreading it to all corners of the country through team-led coaching clinics, creates a shared experience that all 43 million South Africans can get behind. Shared experiences and shared goals are critical in culture change.
Connected Leadership happens at 3 levels:
Organizational: An organization must have a defined, clear vision and and a defined culture, then align all the inner workings to that culture. It becomes the catalyst and the glue that connects people to results.
Individual Leaders: Leaders who know their purpose, guiding principles, and goals, and are authentic and connected to their people. They explain and motivate their team to come together to achieve shared goals aligned to the Vision.
Teams: Teams who have come together to define their team priorities and action plan to support the Vision become catalysts throughout the network. This is where we see results.
People follow leaders who are authentic and connected.
To themselves, to their team, and to a crystal clear vision with measurable results.
It is Connection that drives those results.
Always.