The cover of TIME for July 21, 2008, pictures Nelson Mandela at age 90 beaming that sweet smile out to the world. The accompanying article is titled “The Secrets of Leadership: Eight lessons from one of history’s icons.”

“Secrets?” I thought. “Leadership has secrets? Hasn’t John Maxwell unearthed them all and written a book on each?”

Inside, I turned to the cover article, eager to learn what secrets Mr. Mandela had discovered. It was a good interview, the writer made some excellent points, so much so that we want to repeat his eight principles here with an occasional comment or two of our own. While no deep-dark secrets were embedded in the article, readers will find Mandela’s insights helpful.

You know who Nelson Mandela is, I’m confident. A political activist against South Africa’s apartheid in the days when to speak out was to land in prison, Mandela was sentenced to life in prison in 1964. In 1990, the President of South Africa F. W. de Klerk released him, three years later the two men received the Nobel Peace Prize, and in 1994, Mandela was elected president of the country. His autobiography is “Long Walk to Freedom.” (Definition: ‘apartheid’ was extreme racial segregation based on white superiority.)

Over the decades, Mandela became a mature voice for reconciliation, reason, and unity. Today, he is a symbol of so much for everyone on the planet, but particularly for Africans no matter where in the world they or their descendants live.

1) Courage is not the absence of fear–it’s inspiring others to move beyond it.

During the presidential campaign of 1994, when the plane Mandela was on lost an engine, passengers began to panic. Later, some said they were calmed by the presence of Mandela who kept right on reading his newspaper. Everyone prepared for an emergency landing, but the pilot put the plane down safely. As soon as Mandela was safely in the car sent to pick him up, he said to a friend, “Man, I was terrified up there!”

It’s all right to be afraid, Mandela preaches, but as a leader, you should not let it show. “You must put up a front.”

Convicts who knew him during his prison days speak of the way he carried himself across the yard, straight and erect, filled with pride in who he was. One said just watching him walk was enough to keep them going for days.

Mandela knew he was a role-model for others, and thus had to help them find the strength to win over their fears and lower instincts.

2) Lead from the front–but don’t leave your base behind.

As Mandela negotiated with the powers-that-be in South Africa, his old friends who had spent years alongside him in prison, thought he was losing touch with his supporters. So Mandela came back to them, patiently explained what he was doing, and won them over.

3) Lead from the rear–and let others believe they are in front.

Leading men is like herding cattle, Mandela believes. “You can only lead them from behind.”

In tribal conferences, he would point out, the chief’s task was to find a consensus among the elders. Therefore, he listened to each one speak before giving his own point of view. “Don’t enter the debate too early,” the chief told Nelson, a lesson he learned well.

In conferences with his political team, Mandela would allow each one to speak out and argue among the others. Then, when he entered the fray, he patiently summarized everyone’s point of view before presenting his own thoughts. In so doing, he gently steered the decision toward his own goal, but without seeming to impose it on anyone. “The trick of leadership,” Mandela says, “is to allow yourself to be led too.” Persuading people to do things, then making them think it was their own idea, that’s the plan.

4) Know your enemy–and learn about his favorite sport.

(Okay, this one may be new. I seriously doubt if any other leadership guru has urged students to pay attention to the favorite recreational activities of their opponents.)

In prison, Mandela studied Afrikaans, the language of the whites of that country who created apartheid. His friends and colleagues haggled him mercilessly about it, but he stayed with the program. Later, the whites were astonished to find he could speak their language. In doing so, he was able to pick up more of their strengths and weaknesses. Since the Afrikaners’ favorite sport was rugby, Mandela studied it and was able to relate to his political opponents on their own level, catching them completely by surprise.

5) Keep your friends close–and your enemies even closer.

(This may be the most controversial point Mandela makes. A lot of leaders have gotten shot down by friendly fire when they practiced what he preaches on this point.)

Many guests Mandela invited into his home were people he did not like or trust. He sat across the table from them, asked their opinions on various matters, and charmed them with gifts. Some he even put on his staff, not because he wanted what they had to offer, but so he could watch them better.

Co-author of Mandela’s autobiography and writer of this TIME article, Richard Stengel says, “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.”

(A recent article in Vanity Fair indicates that Hillary Clinton’s attempt to build a staff of “a team of rivals” worked against her and prevented her presidential campaign from becoming unified, consistent, and effective.)

6) Appearances matter–and remember to smile.

Mandela’s philosophy held that symbols matter as much as substance. (Someone please ask Barack Obama if he had it to do over again, would he have worn a flag pin and saluted that flag. I’ll betcha he would!) Throughout his career, Mandela always knew how to dress appropriately for the occasion and according to his position.

The single thing most people in the world who are familiar with the Mandela name identify with him is his radiant smile. People look at him and, knowing all the heartache and pain he has suffered, remark, “It’s amazing he’s not bitter.” Stengel writes, “There are a thousand things Nelson Mandela was bitter about, but he knew…he had to project the exact opposite emotion.”

(We remember the line: “Never let ’em see you sweat.” That’s the idea.)

7) Nothing is black or white.

“Life is never either/or,” he preaches. “Decisions are complex, and there are always competing factors.” Stengel writes, “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.”

8) Quitting is leading too.

One of Mandela’s causes in the early 1990s was to lower the voting age to 14. However, when both friends and opponents made him see this was not smart and would not succeed, he backed away from it. “He doesn’t sulk,” a friend said. “That was also a lesson in leadership.”

Stengel writes, “Knowing how to abandon a failed idea, task or relationship is often the most difficult kind of decision a leader has to make.” Perhaps, Stengel opines, the greatest legacy Mandela gave his country may be the way he chose to leave the president’s office. He is so popular, he could have held the position for life, and some felt he and his followers were entitled to just that after suffering so long and so hard.

(One wishes President Mugabe of Tanzania would learn that lesson and step down, thus saving his people from more suffering and the ravages of civil war.)

There they are, eight “secrets” of leadership. Depending on where one is in life and what his circumstances are, most of these have applications we can benefit from.