Mandela's Way: Lessons for an Uncertain Age

It is hard to find one person who has not heard about Nelson Mandela. How many people in our recent history spent 27 years in jail and came out to become a president of a large nation? If I hear of such a person I surely would be very anxious to find out more about him. In trying to unravel the personal mystery of this great personality the author spends considerable time living,working and socialising with Mr. Mandela. Finally he comes out with a list of features which he believes explain the world wide respect and admiration for this outstanding person.But what a life he endured in reaching his goals! From an underground freedom fighter to a compromising diplomat. From a hateful and vindictive enemy of the state to a caller for peace and coexistence. From humiliation within the apartheid regime to the highest levels of world respect. Hardly was there a world personality that did not pay due respect to Mandela on one occasion or another. On his funeral, representatives from the greatest nations flocked to bid him farewell.Behind the love and respect, however, there were some deep personal traits which the author uncovers and identifies. One of these is: "See the good in others". In Mandela's social principles everyone is virtuous until proven otherwise. We must try to see the good in others. He would not even say a bad word about the man who sought to have him hanged; he would say : he was a decent chap and very polite. What an extraordinary attitude from a man who was so ill-treated in his life.In Mandela's biography there are indeed lessons for all of us.

Richard Stengel, Editor of Time, provides us with an excellent postscript on all that has been written on President Mandela. There are a number of "Man of the Century" candidates for the Twentieth. Many like Churchill and FDR extracted the West from hellish circumstances or brought us victory. But at another level are those who avoided disaster and blood baths and espoused a unique philosophy they were able to execute through negotiation to varying degrees of success. Gandhi and Martin Luther King come to mind for their belief in non-violence, equality, and freedom. The author puts Mandiba at that level and with those great men implicitly and without fanfare. Perhaps not so much for non-violence as for reconciliation and the subjugation of our baser instincts but still firmly focused on freedom and equality. His way, as presented by the author, is less philosophical and more practical. Stengel, the writer collaborator on Mandela's autobiography, knows him well. And he shares Mandiba with us.Richard Stengel's small book gives us fifteen wonderful lessons and a primer on a model man. It is excellently written and incorporates vignettes of Mandela's life to support what Stengel perceives as Mandela's lessons. It is straight forward and to the point. Practical, and yet what Stengel also gives us is a very human, very personal feel for Mandela. While Gandhi and King are today portrayed in almost mythic proportions, Stengel presents us with a very human teacher of the lessons touted by the cover; "on Life, Love, and Courage." For those of us who have struggled with how to become a better person this book is a "how to." For those of us who struggle with the past, or are preoccupied with the future, Mandela teaches us how to focus on the "now." Stengel brings this all home. Is Mandiba a "Man of the Century"? After reading this book, I have him down as a "Man for All Seasons."

Nelson Mandela was a complex man, one who embraced peace and reconciliation, while also having a history of both peaceful and violent resistance to apartheid oppression in South Africa. Written by his co-author of his autobiography, this book provides insights into the man - as opposed to the legend - of Nelson Mandela. The personal stories, the vignettes, the human insights set the book apart from a typical biography. A good read, and one that reminds us that every legend is still a person, and every person is complex.

I red this book after visiting South Africa for the first time. I had a chance to go to Robben Island as well as to the Apartheid museum in Johannesburg, that was holding a special Nelson Mandela exhibition and therefore learn much about this famous man. Many of the places and occurrences in this book were already familiar to me, but given the perspective of this book, I got a deeper understanding of Nelson Mandela as a leader and a person. I highly recommend this quick read.

This book is a beautifully written view of Mandela from the eyes of Stengel. The wisdom and principles contained herein will remain with you for a long time.

I picked this up thinking it would be a really helpful refresher after a particularly difficult period at work - and it was! If leaders and managers managed to implement, even inconsistently, the lesssons in this book our workplaces would be much happier places, despite the fact there is little really new here. Not that that matters one bit - its still a really good read and provides old material in a really refreshing way with its annecdotes and stories of Mandela's life. The reader comes away with real insight into this superb, imperfect leader. For the first time ever, I had an underlying sense of envy of Richard Stengel who had such unfettered access to Mandela over such a long period of time. What an honour. I still marvel at how Mandela could come out of 27 years of incarceration so relatively psychologically intact and adjust so well to late 20th and 21st century life, without chronic bitterness. Stengel has done an admirable job in capturing not just important leadership lessons and the leadership nature of the man, but the nature of the man for posterity. Highly recommended.

This is one of the most interesting books I've read about Mandela and gives a unique insight into his private life. I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who is keen to learn more about Madeba and also learn some very useful lessons for their own lives.

Recommended by Richard Branson on twitter, great and easy read, incredible that it was cheaper to buy from a library in the Unted States shipped than it was to buy from my local bookshop, the power of the internet - BRILLIANT !

A wonderful insight by the author ( who spent time with Mandela), into Mandela's ways and personality.You can listen to sections again and absorb the deeper messages of Mandela's ways.

Enlightening

As described, would use seller again.