If you want to be a different, more successful leader then go see the movie, Invictus, which was just released to theaters. It is directed by Clint Eastwood, and stars Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon.

Don't miss it. Here's why: The film is about Nelson Mandela after the fall of apartheid in South Africa during his term as president. Consider his leadership challenges:

1. Many of the black leaders who helped him when he campaigned for president wanted revenge against the white minority who had abused them for decades.

2. As he arrived to take office all the white office staff was packing-up to leave, assuming they had lost their jobs.

3. One of the greatest symbols of white oppression is the South African Sprinbok rugby team, and its green and gold colors.

Rather than do what is popular, Mandela chooses to do what he perceives to be right. This is the mark of a great leader and one virtue missing from the vast majority of political and business leaders today. Here are a few examples:

1. The biggest choice he makes is to forgive and seek reconciliation between blacks and whites. He realizes that only by working together can they achieve their economic goals.

2. While in prison for 27 years he prepared himself for greatness without knowing the opportunities he may have. He studied the whites to learn their ways, passions and values. He then used this wisdom to perceive a unique vision of how to lead them.

3. He worked long, long hours and gave himself a pay cut to demonstrate servant leadership. No one could question his dedication. Even today he is revered almost as a saint by South Africans.

BIG IDEA: While everyone emotionally debated black versus white issues, Mandela focused on how to develop a mutually respectful black and white community, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had done before him.

Mandela had an inspirational vision that eluded everyone around him: Bring the country together by winning the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which South Africa hosted.

Make it mandatory for your team to watch the movie and then discuss it during your next team meeting. It may give you new inspiration to motivate yourselves to achieve beyond your expectations in 2010.

Be an intentional leader.

Meeting Ideas

Invictus is about a lot of things, but mostly it is an opportunity to consider the vision truly great leaders are given and how they respond to it.

At one point in the film Mandela says he is supporting the rugby team because it is the right thing to do, and if he ever stops doing what is right then he is unfit to continue as president.

Here are some ideas for discussion during your next staff meeting to consider how your people can demonstrate a different, more positive type of leadership:

1. What character do we demonstrate in our actions? Nelson Mandela was not a perfect person. None of us are. However, when are we not demonstrating our company values through our behaviors and communications on the job?

2. Where could reconciliation increase opportunities? Your customers or vendors could be considered opponents. What could you do to improve your relationship with either group?

3. Where are we stuck in our thinking? Too often we get stuck between yes and no, them and us, higher and lower... What could we do that is unexpected, yet takes advantage of our strengths in a different way?

4. What is the right thing to do, but we are doing what is popular or easy instead? Even the best companies make mistakes by taking "the easy road" rather than doing their best. Can we name 1-3 areas where we are doing something that is not right because our current method is easier, popular or profitable?

5. Reality check: All of our ideas may be good, but what is one thing we can do extremely well? Let's get real. Answering the questions above could give you a list of ten or twenty actions to take. Achieving which one would offer the most significance in the lives of our employees, clients and/or vendors?