Moral courage in a world of big challenges

In my podcast conversation with John Samuel, we talk about the late, great Mr Nelson Mandela – former President of South Africa, prisoner on Robben Island during apartheid, and a recent example of an ethical leader in politics. 

I’ll admit that Nelson Mandela was always a hero of mine.  When I was young, living in South Africa and seeing second hand from my privileged ‘white’ position the impacts of apartheid on people my family knew and loved, he was a mythical hero to me – locked away somewhere that sounded awful – Robben Island.  The day he was released from prison, we watched on tv from a house in Yorkshire, England and I cried with relief and happiness.  And as I watched him live his free life, I grew up marvelling at his international reach and his ability to speak simply about deep topics.

John Samuel is a leader of significant repute himself – he played a pivotal role in fighting the limitations of apartheid for the education system through the SACHED Trust, he led the policy team that designed and set up the new national education system for all, following the dismantling of apartheid and the election of Nelson Mandela as President in 1994.  So, what did he learn from working alongside and for someone like Mandela?  Quite a lot it turns out! 

Three qualities or traits that John identifies are:

• Listening: Mr Mandela put a great deal of effort (and discipline) into really listening to others – hearing what they were saying, understanding their positions and perspectives, and searching for the positive. This also meant not negating other people’s views in an attempt to be ‘right’ but searching for what common ground there might be to forge for collective good.
• Moral courage: Mandela role modelled standing up for what he thought was right, even in the face of significant, scary and longstanding adversity.  It didn’t matter who he was talking to – world leaders, a crowd of angry people, celebrities – he spoke up for what he thought was right, and faced the consequences.
• Humility: Knowing the importance of everyone around you and acknowledging and thanking them for their contribution – whatever the level or circumstance. Humility doesn’t mean underselling your own value – he knew who he was and the influence he had – but being clear that you are not superior to anyone else around you.

I’m sure many of us would say that we aspire to those same traits – within our own sphere of influence.  And it’s refreshing to hear them distilled into concepts that are simple and doable for anyone – regardless of how much ‘bullshit’ airport literature you’ve read or not about organisational and leadership theory (I'm echoing John’s succinct description)!

On the topic of moral courage within leadership...that concept is often undervalued. 

And now more than ever it is extremely pertinent and needed…courage of any kind in fact. 

To be a leader takes courage – whether you’re in a hierarchical position, you’re an advocate, you’re forging new ground and considering innovative ideas and solutions. 

• Moral courage involves the resilience and passion to speak up about things that are unfair, unjust, unethical. 
• It also takes confidence and self-esteem – to know deep down that what you say, your message, has value – to be able to listen and understand other perspectives but not be cowed by them. 
• And it takes some form of security – whether that is financial, positional, personal, spiritual. 

Often, we see that those lauded for moral courage have more than one of those forms of security – coupled with the platform to channel and publish their message.  That doesn’t make their message or their courage any less valuable – it does make more it commonly heard and respected.

Take the story of ex-footballer and football television personality Gary Lineker – standing behind his views that the current and proposed future politically-mandated treatment of asylum seekers and refugees in England was inhumane and non-human.   His message was widely heard, censured by the organisation he was contracted to as a TV presenter, and discussed and debated by politicians.  The fact that he has significant earning power, and has high profile and powerful supporters, makes it easier for him to put those messages out there and for him to stay his course during the stormy seas.  None of that negates the value of his message, or the criticality of the topic it was focused on. Read the thoughtful piece on this topic in The Guardian by Johnathan Freedland here.

For leaders and people who aspire to be leaders, the examples set by people such as John Samuel, Nelson Mandela, Gary Lineker are vitally important. 

To know that what it takes for ethical and sustainable leadership is the moral courage to stand for what is right, the ability to listen to really understand other people’s perspectives, and the humility to know that you are no better or worse than anyone else.

You can read more about the qualities of ethical and sustainable leadership here, read my blog on sustaining leadership – keeping yourself safe and sane – and listen to the podcast with John Samuel.

Nelson Mandela, moral courage and executive leadership, with John Samuel — podcast

The illustration below depicts the journey of the podcast episode with John, have a read. 

Hear my whole conversation with John Samuel

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