Leadership and Nelson Mandela

Here's what I know about leadership: It's always tested. No matter if you have been in your position of leadership for 4 months or 40 years, it will always be tested. It's the nature of leadership.

Leaders always jump into the pit of problems when they assume entitlement because of tenure. The thought that, "well I can do this because I've been here for ____ (fill in the blank) amount of time," will always get you into trouble.

There have been great leaders and there will continue to be great leaders in the world today. One of them was Nelson Mandela.

In honor of Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday, Richard Stengel, managing editor of Time magazine, put together Mandela's eight lessons of leadership.

Stengel writes: "[The lessons] are cobbled together from…conversations old and new and from observing [Mandela] up close and from afar. Many of them stem directly from his personal experience. All of them are calibrated to cause the best kind of trouble: the trouble that forces us to ask how we can make the world a better place."

Here are Mandela's eight lessons of leadership:

Courage is not the absence of fear—it's inspiring others to move beyond it.

Lead from the front—but don't leave your base behind.

Lead from the back—and let others believe they are in front.

Know your enemy—and learn about his favorite sport. (In order to work more effectively with Afrikaners, Mandela learned their language and all about their most cherished sport: rugby).

Keep your friends close—and your rivals even closer.

Appearances matter—and remember to smile.

Nothing is black or white.

Quitting is leading too.

Interesting stuff. May these principles encourage you as you lead today.