Nelson Mandela

“In his final chapter, 115, of his autobiography, nelson mandela reflects upon freedom: that he was born ‘not with a hunger to be free, but born free’ (750). that freedom, though, was an illusion, he learned when he went to study in johannesburg during apartheid. as an attorney, he joined the african national congress, in pursuit of freedom not just for himself, but everyone under racial oppression. even as mandela helped usher in the end of apartheid, he admits that we’re only on the first stage of the journey to true freedom. freedom and equality are now lawful; freedom will only be attained though when people’s hearts have changed such that we all live in a way that enhances the freedom of others.”

“Predicting the binding mode of flexible polypeptides to proteins is an important task that falls outside the domain of applicability of most small molecule and protein−protein docking tools. here, we test the small molecule flexible ligand docking program glide on a set of 19 non-α-helical peptides and systematically improve pose prediction accuracy by enhancing glide sampling for flexible polypeptides. in addition, scoring of the poses was improved by post-processing with physics-based implicit solvent mm- gbsa calculations. using the best rmsd among the top 10 scoring poses as a metric, the success rate (rmsd ≤ 2.0 å for the interface backbone atoms) increased from 21% with default glide sp settings to 58% with the enhanced peptide sampling and scoring protocol in the case of redocking to the native protein structure. this approaches the accuracy of the recently developed rosetta flexpepdock method (63% success for these 19 peptides) while being over 100 times faster. cross-docking was performed for a subset of cases where an unbound receptor structure was available, and in that case, 40% of peptides were docked successfully. we analyze the results and find that the optimized polypeptide protocol is most accurate for extended peptides of limited size and number of formal charges, defining a domain of applicability for this approach.”

“In this paper we review prior theory and empirical evidence relevant to the personality characteristics that differentiate charismatic leaders from noncharismatic leaders. we conclude from this review that charismatic leaders in present day complex organizations fit the stereotypical image of supportive, sensitive, nurturing, and considerate leaders such as mahatma gandhi or nelson mandela, rather than the traditional stereotype of aggressive, demanding, dominant and critical leaders such as jim jones or field marshall george montgomery. we then present a review of research relevant to four traits that theoretically differentiate personalized (self-aggrandizing, non-egalitarian, and exploitive) charismatic leaders from socialized (collectively oriented, egalitarian, and nonexploitive) charismatic leaders. we conclude that the personality traits of the need for power, power inhibition, machiavellianism, authoritarianism, narcissism, self esteem and locus of control are traits that are likely to differentiate personalized from socialized charismatic leaders. © 1992.”

“Nelson mandela dedicated his life to fighting for the freedom of his south african kin of all colors against the institution of apartheid. he spent twenty-seven years fighting from within prison, only gaining his freedom when his fellow south africans could claim it as well. this article demonstrates how his faith, his spiritual development and his noble purpose can be conceptualized through the lens of ubuntu: the african ethic of community, unity, humanity and harmony.”

“To analyze nelson mandela’s personal attributes relevant to peacemaking and negotiation, the study considers personality traits derived from biographical data rather than quantitative content analysis. since mandela’s personality eludes ready characterization in terms of high or low levels of a given trait and also comprises traits apparently in tension, the analysis offered here highlights ostensibly opposing characteristics, and the evolution of mandela’s personal characteristics over time, with specific attention to his self-identity, interpersonal orientation, and political outlook. it identifies distinctive aspects of mandela’s peacemaking practice, as well as aspects that may be common among accomplished peacemakers and negotiators. it concludes that mandela’s seemingly contradictory personality traits and high degree of cognitive complexity enabled him to fulfill the different roles of partisan negotiator and of mediator/peacemaker, and equipped him, more so than other revolutionaries, for the transition to post-liberation leader. [publication abstract]”

“Nelson mandela has become one of the most revered and recognized leaders in history. he is widely recognized for his forgiveness, compassion and humility and their considerable effects on his leadership and the success of anti-apartheid. yet, surprisingly little deep analysis of mandela’s leadership exists today. analysis of nelson mandela’s language and behavior using ego development theory suggests mandela had reached a stage of unitive development. while mandela was and is an exceptionally rare unitive leader, it is most surprising what is revealed of followers and observers of mandela’s leadership. characteristics assigned to mandela are more aptly described as side effects and projections. those characteristics are projections made by those with other than unitive perspectives rather than characteristics of mandela. what separates the leadership of nelson mandela from most is not the presence of lauded characteristics such as humility and forgiveness. it is the absence of the distinctions that make such characteristics possible in the first place. one cannot be humble if there are no distinctions to make one person better or more valuable than another. one cannot be humble if there are not but illusory distinctions separating people. it is the absence of necessary distinctions and the concomitant relationship to understanding as illusion that allowed mandela to include all south africans in the creations of a new south africa. the key to understanding mandela’s leadership role in the south african transition from apartheid to representative democracy is through the irony of understanding from a unitive perspective. [abstract from author]”