Reaction Paper on Invictus

This past week, I was able to watch both Invictus and The Express. Not to impress my teacher but because I actually enjoy watching sport movies. Since I'm also a fan of Morgan Freeman, I actually enjoyed watching both "assignments". Both movies were good but I personally think that Invictus was better. Because of this, I will use Invictus in making this paper.

The first scene that I would like to use for this paper is the scene where Morgan Freeman's character(Nelson Mandela) asked Matt Damon's character(Francois Pienaar) what his philosophy on leadership was. Matt Damon responded by saying he leads by example. I believe this can be related to our discussion on the difference between managers and leaders. As we discussed, managers lead by giving orders, while leaders lead by setting examples. Managers are controlling and solve problems, while leaders motivate and inspire others.

The second scene that I would like to use for this paper is the scene that came right after the first scene I mentioned. In this scene, Nelson Mandela shared to Francois his experiences in Robben Island, the place where Mandela was imprisoned for many years. Even though Mandela's stay in Robben Island was a low point in his life, he wasn't afraid to acknowledge or even share his experiences there. This can be related to our discussion on Lifelines. As discussed in class, lifelines influence one's choices and call to leadership. Lifelines identify significant experiences and learnings in their lives. Not only the positive ones but also the negative and/or unpleasant ones.

The third and final scene I would like to mention is not just one single scene, but all the scenes that shows the relationship between Nelson Mandela and his staff. The way he treats his staff, especially his secretary and his security team, is a great example of stewardship delegation. Stewardship delegation is an important skill in habit number 3 of the 7 habits of highly effective people. As we discussed in class, stewardship delegation is based on a paradigm of appreciation of the self-awareness, the imagination, the conscience, and the free will of other people. With stewardship delegation, you can get more things done.