Negotiation: Invictus

Invictus

“I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

I am the master of my fate

I am the captain of my soul.”

Synopsys:

Although the apartheid just fell apart, South Africa which was still divided between black and white people. There are a lot of racism between them, and it becomes worse among the black population since the political change; they have been trying to reach their own interests by excluding the ones that have excluded them for so long. Since Rugby was an afrikaner - white south africans, dutch descendants - sport, everything that the most beloved team, Springboks, were and represented became endanger, until the new president, Nelson Mandela, steps in and uses the sport to unite the country.

It’s almost an year until the Rugby World Cup, and the national team seems to be impaired, despite all the successive defeats, Springboks is seen as an apartheid symbol. Mandela saw in the situation an opportunity to conciliate the two averse main cultures on the country, launching a new political strategy: “ One team, one country” so he contacted Springboks captain, François Pienaar, and inspires him that the victory is not unreachable for them.

Mandela

Unite the nation would be a very difficult task after 42 years of social social repression., but Mandela as new president showed a lot of charisma and flexibility to deal with the cultural adversities in his gouvernement. Besides that, there is lot of other characteristics that this personage have that are important for our course:

Humility: He puts himself as equal to the others, surprising everyone around. He does not uses his political position nor power to get what he wants, he explains his perceptions and let the other part get their own conclusions.

Empathy: He is always looking for the best for everyone, always showing concern about the ones that are around him, creating a cozy atmosphere, suctibile to a peaceful negotiation with comfort and intimacy.

Objectivity: the way he explains with clarity the reason for his actions explaining the criteria and the objectives behind them.

Focus: always focusing on the objectives and acting in areas that will really impact in this issue.

Feelings control: “I was thinking about how you spend 30 years in a tiny cell, and come out ready to forgive the people who put you there.” François Pienaar. He recognizes his racial parity although he had been in terrible situations before thanks to the apartheid, he didn’t let the anger and resentment for what happened to him before interfere in his objective.

Perception: After a lot of years in jail he realized that he needed to get to know his enemy and walk by it’s side to get everything that he believed in.

Long term vision: he knew if he wanted to show the character of his government, his own personal team would have to reflect the country he wanted., building a team to the future and showing them to the nation, so he gave permission to the special forces - consisted by white agents who had deployed against him during the apartheid - to work side by side with his own personal - and black - agents.

Vision and ingenuity: he saw on rugby, a decadent sport loved by the ones that hated him and hated by the ones that loved him an opportunity to unite the nation.

Strategy: He calls Fraçoir to talk and inspire him to gain the Cup, he uses things that inspired himself when he was in jail. He shows Françoir how to inspire the team as well, using affairs that inspires himself and looking for the issues that can make the other side move towards one common objective.

Meeting with the staff

At his first day of work, Mandela sees the white workers packing their stuff and getting ready to leave their positions. He gather everyone that was still on the building for a meeting, before he enters on the meeting room, he tells his guards to stay outside of the room cause he wanted to speak with the employees as equal, and any kind of matter that could show power or induce fear could disturb his target. At the reunion, the President surprises everyone with courtesy and grace, showing his perception about the situation experienced by the country and his objectives, and said that everyone that could work side by side, ignoring the cultural and social differences, to rear the country, should stay. He shows a lot of resilience and humility to talk with the workers, always trying to make the other parties feel as comfortable as possible using charism and intimacy for that and, at the end, he could be able to convince the workers - at least the major part - to stay and work for the welfare of the country.

“Now, of course, if you want to leave, that is your right. And if you feel in your heart that you cannot work with your new government, then it is better that you do leave, right away. But if you are packing up because you fear that your language, or the color of your skin, or who you served previously, disqualifies you from working here now, I am here to tell you, have no such fear.

What is verby is verby. What’s past is past. We look to the future, now. We need your help. We want your help. If you would like to stay, you will be doing your country a great service. I ask only that you do your jobs to the best of your abilities, and with good hearts. I promise to do the same. If we can manage that, our country will be a shining light in the world.”

The same happens when the special