I've been thinking a lot on different leadership styles this summer (well, for the past 5 years, to be honest), and in that time, I've come to know a plethora of different leaders, each with their own leadership style. I'm not one to say which is right and which is wrong, but I've learned that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and that Challenge by Choice isn't just a camp thing.

I was watching Invictus a little while ago, and this bit jumped out at me:

Mandela: "Tell me, what is your philosophy on leadership? How do you inspire your team to do their best?"

Pienaar: "By example. I was taught to lead by example, sir."

Mandela: "That is right. That is exactly right. But how to get them to be better than they think they can be; that is very difficult, I find. Inspiration, perhaps. How do we inspire ourselves to greatness when nothing less will do? How do we inspire everyone around us? I sometimes think it is by using the work of others. On Robin Island, when things got very bad, I found inspiration in a poem."

Pienaar: "A poem?"

Mandela: "A Victorian poem. Just words, but they helped me to stand when all I wanted to do was to lie down."

I'm still trying to muscle through what kind of leader I am and hope to be.

Mandela: "In order to build a strong South Africa, we need to exceed our own expectations."

God is good. All the time. God is good.