NELSON MANDELA’S EIGHT LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES

After each number in CAPITOL letters is my opinion of how I think Nelson Mandela's Eight Leadership Principles relate to basketball and competition.

1. Courage is not the absence of fear — it's inspiring others to move beyond it. Mandela was often afraid during his time underground. "Of course I was afraid!" he would tell me later. It would have been irrational, he suggested, not to be. "I can't pretend that I'm brave and that I can beat the whole world." But as a leader, you cannot let people know. "You must put up a front."

And that's precisely what he learned to do: pretend and, through the act of appearing fearless, inspire others. He knew that he was a model for others, and that gave him the strength to triumph over his own fear.

WHO KNOWS THE SITUATION YOU MIGHT BE IN. MAYBE YOUR PLAYING WITH A NEW TEAM. MAYBE YOUR AT A TRYOUT. WHATEVER IT IS YOU MIGHT BE A LITTLE NERVOUS OR INTIMADATED. ITS OKAY AND THAT’S NORMAL BUT DON’T LET YOUR TEAMMATES OR COMPETITION KNOW. TO THEM YOU HAVE TO BE A LEADER. YOU HAVE TO ACT LIKE YOU BELONG AND THAT YOUR NOT INTIMADATED

I LIKE USING THE DUCK ANALOGY. DUCKS WILL LOOK COOL AND CALM ON THE SURFACE BUT UNDER THE WATER THEY ARE KICKING LIKE CRAZY WHEN THEY ARE IN TROUBLE.

2. Lead from the front — but don't leave your base behind. Prison gave him the ability to take the long view. It had to; there was no other view possible. He was thinking in terms of not days and weeks but decades. "Things will be better in the long run," he sometimes said. He always played for the long run.

DON’T GET CAUGHT UP IN HOW YOU PLAY DAY TO DAY.

ALSO THINK OF THE LONG TERM WITH YOUR SKILL SET. FOUR YEARS FROM NOW YOU HAVE TO BE A BETTER DEFENSIVE PLAYER, BETTER BALL HANDLER, AND A BETTER FINISHER, ETC. MAKE SHORT TERM GOALS BUT ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND THE LONG TERM.

3. Lead from the back — and let others believe they are in front. When he finally did speak at meetings with his staff, he slowly and methodically summarized everyone's points of view and then unfurled his own thoughts, subtly steering the decision in the direction he wanted without imposing it. The trick of leadership is allowing yourself to be led too. "It is wise," he said, "to persuade people to do things and make them think it was their own idea."

ALWAYS GIVE OTHER PEOPLE CREDIT. MAKE THEM FEEL GOOD. WINNERS DON’T NEED CREDIT. ALL YOU NEED TO WORRY ABOUT IS GETTING THE “W.”

4. Know your enemy — As far back as the 1960s, Mandela began studying Afrikaans, the language of the white South Africans who created apartheid. This was strategic in two senses: by speaking his opponents' language, he might understand their strengths and weaknesses and formulate tactics accordingly.

WHOEVER IS AT YOUR POSITION ISNT YOUR ENEMY BUT HE IS YOUR COMPETITION. KNOW HIS STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES.

5. Keep your friends close — and your rivals even closer. Mandela would often invite into his home men he didn't fully trust. He had them to dinner; he called to consult with them; he flattered them and gave them gifts. Mandela is a man of invincible charm — and he has often used that charm to even greater effect on his rivals than on his allies.

Mandela would always include in his brain trust men he neither liked nor relied on. He would pick up the phone and call them on their birthdays. He would go to family funerals. He saw it as an opportunity."

Mandela believed that embracing his rivals was a way of controlling them: they were more dangerous on their own than within his circle of influence. He cherished loyalty, but he was never obsessed by it. After all, he used to say, "people act in their own interest." It was simply a fact of human nature, not a flaw or a defect. The flip side of being an optimist — and he is one — is trusting people too much. But Mandela recognized that the way to deal with those he didn't trust was to neutralize them with charm.

YOU AREN’T GOING TO BE BOYS WITH ALL OF YOUR TEAMMATES BUT TRY TO KEEP THEM ALL IN YOUR CIRCLE.

6. Appearances matter — and remember to smile. We sometimes forget the historical correlation between leadership and physicality. George Washington was the tallest and probably the strongest man in every room he entered. Size and strength have more to do with DNA than with leadership manuals, but Mandela understood how his appearance could advance his cause.

IF YOU WANT TO BE A LEADER YOU GOT TO LOOK LIKE A LEADER. DON’T LOOK SLOPPY. WHEN YOU WALK INTO A GYM DON’T LOOK LIKE YOU JUST ROLLED OUT OF BED. THE BASKETBALL COURT IS YOUR OFFICE. WHEN YOU STEP ONTO THE COURT YOU SHOULD BE READY TO WORK!

7. Nothing is black or white – Life is never either/or. Decisions are complex, and there are always competing factors. To look for simple explanations is the bias of the human brain, but it doesn't correspond to reality. Nothing is ever as straightforward as it appears.

I RELATE THIS TO A COACHES DECISION ON STARTERS AND PLAYING TIME. THINGS AREN’T ALWAYS BLACK AND WHITE. REMEMBER YOU CAN ONLY CONTROL WHAT YOU CAN CONTROL…EFFORT, HEART, HUSTLE, and PLAYING SMART.