Meeting Mandela
Nicholas Buenen
First Nations Leadership , Executive and Operational leadership, GRC, Cultural Heritage and Disaster Management Expertise.
As a very young man fresh from the Victoria Police academy, I met Nelson Mandela.
On a dark and dreary Melbourne Sunday in early spring 1990, I was told to drive to Trades Hall in Melbourne and support the South African Security Detail looking after someone I knew precious little about.
I remember I was hung over, after celebrating a win for the football team I played with, and the idea of a day of doing paperwork and getting fish and chips for lunch was evaporated by my new task.
Trades Hall wasn't exactly a warm welcome to a uniformed policeman but the South African Security, as large and menacing as they appeared, were great blokes and happy to have me. The ushered me to the side stage and I took a seat to see what the fuss was about.
Mandela was dressed in a colorful shirt and moved through the comrades with a lightness and ease. On that rainy and dark day, he may have well been the sun.
He smiled and greeted everyone with an earnest interest in each individual. He turned a forum of curious onlookers into a celebration of humanity. His message of forgiveness, self-reflection and the power in hope had everyone in awe. To this day, I've never seen anything that comes close to how he was able to evoke a sense of community, hope and purpose.
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The best was yet to come, however. When he left the stage, he insisted on meeting the organizers and others who had sponsored his visit to Melbourne. He stopped and engaged each person with a direct and unique connection with each individual.
Then it was my turn as he reached for my hand and thanked me for coming. Of course, he didn't know I'd been told by a weary section Sergeant at St kilda to " get my ass to Trade Hall", but he thanked me anyway. I was speechless, grateful and inspired.
He left and to the people there that day it was like watching a magnificent sun set as he left.
I drove back to StKilda contemplated what I had just experienced, getting fish and chips in Windsor along the way. Grateful and inspired. Uplifted by the power of hope, and the strength in convictions and the eminence of forgiveness.
As a young man the message likely seeded but didn't grow until there became moments in my life that I needed hope to survive and forgiveness to heal.
It was a day I will never forget. The day Nelson Mandela (RIP) shone like the sun at Trades Hall on the bleak Melbourne day.
What an incredibly moving experience that must have been! ?? Mandela once said, "It always seems impossible until it's done." May this meeting fuel your journey with love, hope, and the power to forgive. ??? #Inspiration #MandelaWisdom
Asia Regional Senior Partner Development Manager at Microsoft | Driving Strategic Partnerships & Digital Transformation with Insight across Asia
9 个月Thank you Nicholas Buenen for your vulnerable reflection, the depth of these moments always continue to shape us over time, and also thank you for serving our community in the police force ????
Head of Strategy @ Division 5
9 个月Wow - what a great reflection. Lifetime memories from “just another day” on the job.
Founder @ Dvuln. Hacker. T?h?i?n?k?i?n?g? Doing outside the box. Redteaming, Pentesting, DevSecOps.
9 个月Thanks for sharing Nicholas, many good jewels in here. Some I took away from this was. 1. Don't miss opportunities You could've dodged it and got fish & chips. But running the ball up presented you with a rare opportunity. 2. The power of genuine connection & gratitude Mandela's gesture of thanking everyone, including the organisers & attendants shows the power of gratitude. It's respectable and inspiring. You never know when you might meet those people again in life. 3. Power of stories Mandela's presence and message turned a gathering into a celebration of humanity. This shows the power of positive and inclusive leadership and the power of someone who can share stories (including this story itself)