Being in Africa, and reading about so much corruption, I reflected 
again on meeting Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, who recently celebrated his 90th birthday.
Time magazine (in their July issue) did a cover story on 8 lessons from his leadership principles. Coming across an interesting book in the Amsterdam airport about the history of Africa deepened my realization of how unique of an individual and leader he was. Much of the history of the African continent is a sad stream of leaders who have used their positions to exploit their people. In the case of Nelson Mandela it seems that the potential for absolute power did not lead to absolute corruption.
I read his biogaraphy “Long Walk to Freedom,” visited Robben Island, 
where he was a prisoner for over 20 years, and was later lucky enough to meet him at his home in Qunu shortly after his term as president had ended. His warm, welcoming personality and his self-depreciating sense of humor make him easy to like. His lack of bitterness over the harshness and struggle 
he went through makes him easy to admire. Sure he’s not perfect, but how many other political leaders do you know of where people will spontaneously make up songs about how much they love him/her? I heard those songs on the streets of South Africa, and still hear people throughout Africa and the world praise his name – and I think for good reason. He is definitely one of my favorite world leaders.
Do you have any favorite leaders? If so, why?
the dalai lama is the first that comes to mind – because his devotion to non-violence, his laugh, his candor, his dislike of formality. i simply adore his holiness for those reasons and many many more.
others that come to mind – leaders of countries, religious movements, social movements. i admire the (sometimes) unthanked leaders of social movements the most – leslie feinberg, winona laduke, del martin & phyllis lyon, medea benjamin, granny d., sylvia rivera, gandhi, dr. king, niam ateek, the fellow who stood in front of the tanks at tiannamen square (if only i can show that kind of courage in the face of that kind of fire power), jesus christ… i could go on and on and on about those leaders and the impacts they have made in my life and the undocumented impacts their presence in the world has made on people all over the world (except for christ, of course, his impact is known world wide).
🙂
Brooke, I like that a list like this so easily comes to your mind. I don’t know who some of these people are (for example, “granny d.” sounds like a really cool person to have a name like that) – but if they have inspired you in some way than they probably are the kind of people I would like to know more about.
You’re inspiring.
Nikkifer, you make me blush. At the same time I quickly recognize that meeting someone who has done a lot of great things doesn’t really count for nearly as much as actually doing something great. I feel like I have done relatively little compared to people like this who I admire. I do hope one day I can have that same kind of integrity and courage though – and I am grateful for what opportunities do come to help develop that.
Do you have any favorite world leaders?