Martin Luther King as a Leader - Essay Example

Martin Luther King Jnr How can a great leader get defined in the best terms? What of leadership, does it entail ability to solve problems, as well as creativity? Is it about setting of individual goals and those of the group, or knowing how to govern a group? It is very important to critically think of answers to the questions, but one thing is for sure; there exists no true definition of a leader, unless one perfectly examines a particular leader of their interest and come to a conclusion as per their qualities. In order to find the response of a true leader with all these qualities and more, the focus should be on one leader who is Martin Luther King Jnr. Martin is the kind of man who was admired by many people for the help he offered to humanity. He made several travels around the world to meet various political and religious leaders for advice. In his travels also, he preached to the people against violent practices and educated them on their civil rights so that the freedom for humanity could be reborn. In this essay therefore we shall focus on everything that pertains to Martin Luther King Jnr in line with leadership, as he made use of all the possible means to ensure that humanity got saved from all kinds of mistreatment as well as poverty. Martin Luther Jnr was born in Georgia in 1929, in a religious family; being that the father was a pastor. Due to the racism that had taken root in Montgomery and the inspiration drawn from a theologian, who all his time was dedicated towards defending racial equality, Martin Luther Jnr decided to join him so he could fight against such ills of the society. He always was a person who could not simply relax in the face of ill practices, he always assumed an obligation of ensuring change got effected soon. Just after being elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, he realized it was time he swung into action against racism, by taking advantage of the position he had acquired. It was, therefore, in 1995 when in a Montgomery bus witnessed a situation where Rosa Parks was asked to surrender her seat for a white passenger, whom they regarded special as compared to Rosa. She refused to honor their orders, and this had her arrested. A bus boycott was then organized by Martin Luther Jnr together with other activists, which went on for a year and some days; threatening the downtown business owned by people as well as the straining of the economy of the public transit system. At this time, the qualities of great leadership in Martin Luther had begun to show. He is not afraid of what would happen to him for having failed to join in defending a white passenger, but instead opts for standing for his people and their rights; regardless of whether they are black or white. In his fight also, he made sure that violence against people ceased to exist and that the society becomes a better place for everybody and equality exercised. Being that this was the source of his happiness, he decided to carry on till the time death would stop him. To ensure that this got achieved, Martin Luther Jnr formed associations like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference that paved way for his agenda to keep on with ensuring peoples civil rights got protected. His dream to help and be of benefit to his people was now gradually coming to reality, through this acts of brevity, and it is his leadership skills that highly contributed to the achievement of all these. To achieve all he did and much more, Martin had to set goals for both himself and the people he was dedicated to serving. For him, we can say that his goal was to never rest till he brought desirable change to the land of Montgomery, in the sense that people would get rescued from the chains of racism and children and women to be free from experiencing segregation (John and Mark 67-75). For the people, everyone was to have their freedom recovered, and civil rights protected as they should. It is very true that one could not achieve something unless they set goals for that particular thing; this can get proven as true from what we get to learn about Martin Luther Jr. The people were looking up to him for their independence, and it was not any better disappointing them, which is one of the main reasons he remained determined. His speech where he put clear his dream for the people is one of the demonstrations of good leadership. He talks of non-violence and in his speech is determined to cease it, portraying him as a man of integrity and determination. His level of intelligence could also get noted on how he reacted to various situations that faced him in the demonstrations he held. Whenever tickled by his opposers during such times, he could control himself and never fight back, as if he did even once his people would get disappointed in him and lose some to death as a result of the fight. In his way of exposing the ills of the society, he opted for the non-violence means all the time, being that he was a peaceful man too and one full of integrity; He knew that if one used violence, the other group would equally employ the same. In his earlier on mentioned speech, he was able to touch many people, and even those who earlier on had practiced racism decided to change and have a different view of the black ethnic society. His powerful speech therefore and constant fight for independence helped reduce on segregation of people in states such as Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Carolina, among others. Martin Luther Jnr was quite a determined leader who despite facing all kinds of humiliation in prison and name calling, could not give up and kept fighting for the peoples rights. It does not mean that he was not going through some pain, he simply acted strong for the obvious sake of having his people liberated. Being that he also kept telling his people to never fear anybody or anything when it comes to fighting for what rightfully belongs to them, Martin had to show the same people that he had no fear for the whites who kept on oppressing them. At the back of his mind, there also was this force that kept pushing him to get more determined, as he had crucial goals ahead of him; that he had to achieve. He had never wished to let down his people, and it was only him that was to make their freedom come true, and their independence achieved. The determination he showed and courage to face any obstacle presented by the white community without fear is what had the people stop showing fear for the whites; which helped Martin Luther Jnr more in fighting against segregation. All He did to save his people is something no other human being we know would have done. He had vowed and promised to stand by them to the end, and that is what he still was determined to even after risking getting assassinated. It was his responsibility, and that is what he had to accomplish without having to complain. He instilled confidence among his people to keep fighting even while he was locked up in jail, and the people gained his trust as he never failed to fulfil his promises to the people. The same is what happened, as he got assassinated in the struggle to achieve the independence and desegregation he had always wished for his people. It was an indication that the peoples well-being meant much to him than his life, and that is what a true leader ought to be like. Martin showed the perfect example of great leadership of the people through his informative speech, demonstrations as well as death. He was able to bring transformation to America by ensuring desegregation prevailed and changed the white communitys perceptions of the blacks. All he did was right and was ever focused to carry out whatever he had set his mind on. Martin Luther King Jnr can, therefore, confidently be said to have made a great leader for his people. He always did right for his people, without caring about the pain and suffering he got to go through in achieving this. He believed in equality and that the society being a place for all to live in peace and harmony with one another without any form of segregation. The black and white community all consisted of humanity and ought to get better treatment whatsoever. Martin Luther King Jnr will forever get remembered for good leadership qualities that can need to get emulated by future leaders in their leadership so as to bring the people together as a family. He was a man who would not sit there and relax while the people were suffering, he always had to do something to save the situation and deal effectively with the ills of the society. He was a great decision maker and one who would seek for advice from religious and political leaders in his administration, so as to succeed. Martin also believed that being a leader was not all about making empty promises to the people. It instead was about ensuring they all get achieved, and this happened by his setting of goals on what he was to achieve, even when it meant risking his life. He, therefore, was a legend, and his spirit will live on among other generations to come. Work cited John, A and C Mark. Martin Luther King Jnr: American National Biography. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. 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