Mandela and Leadership
April 16, 2012 by Beverley Simpson
I was listening to an HBR webcast yesterday – an interview with Christiane Amanpour, who has always interested me, on Leadership. One of the things she said really struck a cord. She said “leadership is not a zero sum game” – an expression that has long confused me and which I now understand more clearly. She said: “As a leader, you have to look for the win – win for yourself and for the other. She used Mandela’s desire and ability to build relationship with De Klerk as an example and she talked about understanding the other’s perspective so that you can find the win-win and enable others to act. This is something I have always believed in and tried to practice and teach/coach. With her gift of communication, she expressed it so well and so easily.
Sunshine and Excitement in the City
February 19, 2010 by Beverley Simpson
Gorgeous Vancouver day today! The sun is out, the sky is clear, the mountains seem closer to the city than ever and the views are spectacular. The weather has brought out lots of strollers into the streets of the Athletes’ Village. You realize how spectacular this city is when the weather is nice! 
We are half way through the Games and the time is flying by. The energy in the city is electric. There are people everywhere with Go Canada on clothing, on signs and flags, on cars and trucks, in store windows, and reflected in their conversation. 
People are talking to each other everywhere – on the streets, in the sky train, waiting at stoplights, even in the grocery store. Locals are helping visitors to get to where they want to go, offering suggestions of great things to do, asking volunteers what work they are doing, where they are from, why they chose to volunteer and what it is like.
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Leadership at the Movies: Invictus and 5 Leadership Practices
December 20, 2009 by Beverley Simpson
Morgan Freeman and Clint Eastwood have created another very special movie now playing across North America. Invictus is the story of Nelson Mandela’s early days as President of South Africa, and particularly how he viewed the country’s Rugby team, the Springboks, and an upcoming World Cup event to be held in South Africa, as an opportunity to bring the country together.
The year is 1995. Mandela (Freeman) is in his first term as President. He recognizes the tremendous challenges facing his government in a land torn apart by apartheid. Racial tensions are at an all time high, people are struggling with the effects of crippling unemployment, and a new black government has shifted the balance of political power. Read more
Courage and Tenacity: Qualities of Leaders
December 7, 2009 by Beverley Simpson
I was in Trafalgar Square in London England recently and made a point of finding Edith Clavell’s memorial in St Martin’s Place. Like all great leaders, no matter the arena, Edith Clavell had great courage and much tenacity. During the first World War, she was a nurse who remained in Brussels, Belgium, after the Germans occupied the city early in the war, tending to wounded soldiers from all countries at the Red Cross Hospital.
In addition to this work, Clavell helped captured British, French and Belgian soldiers escape to the neutral Netherlands, where most would eventually make it across the channel to England. Born on December 4, 1865 in Swardeston, England, she has been described as a “vivacious, tree-climbing girl who grew into the determined, severe woman we see in the statue.” She has been further described as “headstrong and independent” and thus prevented from attracting “a man of money” and it is said that ” she was too proud to accept a lesser one”. She never married, but devoted her life to nursing.
Here is an account of her work from the diary of a man she nursed back to health:
In 1915 Miss Clavell was directress of l’Ecole Belge d’ Infirmieres Diplomees, as well as a new hospital, St. Gilles, both training women for the profession of nursing. As the great war engulfed Belgium Miss Clavell became part of an underground resistance network working in Brussels to help men escape. She protected hospitalized men by keeping them longer than they needed. When there were no beds available, Edith sheltered men in the hospital’s attic and cellar. In this way, she helped approximately two hundred men escape the Germans. On August 4, 1915, after months of observation, the Germans arrested Edith and others sheltering Belgian soldiers. On October 7, 1915, Edith Clavell, along with others in the underground network were found guilty of resistance activities and sentenced to death by firing squad. Despite American, French and Spanish intercession, Edith’s sentence was not commuted. On October 12, 1915, Edith was executed by German firing squad.
Edith Clavell was 49 years old when she was shot to death. “Her life and death make me think of the line from The Dead Poets Society when Robin Williams’ character, Mr Keatings says to his students: “Make something of yourselves, boys. Make you life count!