Leadership Styles: Maya Angelou - Research Paper Example

Leadership Styles: Maya Angelou Introduction Over the years, there have been various kinds of leaders that have emerged and displayed a spectacular array of qualities that have pushed people to follow them, admire them, and even idolize them in some cases. These leaders came in various forms of political figures, poets, athletes, and any other way that inspired millions to accept their greatness. One particular person who stands out as a leader who has cared for others and has given her whole life just to illustrate that hope is present everywhere and pessimism should never hinder progress. She has shown that when you rise again after the downfall, you will be stronger, better and more accomplished. Dr. Maya Angelou is renowned as the world’s Renaissance woman and has influenced many lives. She has given voice to many aspirations and ideas that were lost amidst the clutter of this world. She is a beautiful poet, an educator, an actress, historian, novelist and civil rights activist. She hails from an African-American family. Her origin in an African American family made her witness the atrocities and injustices that her community faced. She was not one of those who would sit back as she sought to bring about a change. She is truly an inspiring personality, with her words, be it in the form of verbal or written, her poetry, her book, and her sheer faith in the betterment of this world and its freedom. If one wants to escape into a world of hope, they should immerse themselves in her poetry and her words, and they will surely find peace there.[may12] Dr. Angelou has moved me especially since I read her poem “Caged Bird”. In the poem she beautifully describes the plight and struggles of those who are oppressed against those who are not. The poem beautifully depicts each person as having a song; some who are caged can only sing since they are helpless to do anything else and that is exactly the plight the African Americans were in during the time of racial discrimination. Discussion of Leadership behaviors Ms. Angelou comes across as a person with significant leadership abilities. Her personality and experiences depict qualities of a leader. Kurt Lewin specifically defines three types of leadership: authoritarian (autocratic), participative (democratic) and delegative (Laissez-faire). These three styles of leadership are on a continuum of complete involvement by the leader and least involvement. In the autocratic style of leadership the leader is the one who makes all the decisions even though the followers are expected to perform certain functions. The followers are treated as completely different entities from the leader, so there is no communication between them. The leader may take input from the followers but it is up to him/her to take it into consideration in the final decision. In this style, workers usually are not treated as if they have much knowledge or importance and it works best when you need to implement a decision as soon as possible, or if the leader of the group is the smartest of the lot, and so it is based purely on merit. However, autocrats tend to lean towards harshness and pompousness. Dr. Angelou doesn’t fit the criteria for this type of leadership. In hospitality management, where you invest a great deal of funds and time, you would want a workable management style, and more input to be extracted from the followers and not the leaders, even though the final decision should lie with the leader. Furthemore, Dr. Angelou has always wanted to serve the people, so she would not adhere to this principle of making all the decisions herself without developing a consensus with the people. To make a successful business, one needs to know other people apart from oneself, and you cannot do that if you only take your opinion into account. [Ken12] Dr. Angelo’s style of leadership follows the principles of the delegative style of leadership. In this style, the leader demonstrates qualities of being assertive and decisive, but at the same time gives followers the right and ability to give your opinions and thoughts. This engages the followers more and encourages them to give more of their input since they would feel that it is actually being taken into consideration. This usually builds a relationship between leader and follower, and it instills confidence in the workplace. In hospitable management, you need to obtain more and more creative ideas from you workers to make your business thrive and the more opinions you get, the more representative your sample will be of the general population and what they want. [bes12] The last one, free reign leadership is one in which the leader transfers entire decision making onto the followers. This gives the followers the decision making power to implement whatever they feel like without the leader’s consent. The room is always open for improvement, but in this style the leader cannot impose his knowledge and experience on his/her followers, along with the fact that he cannot retract the project or decision if it goes wrong i.e. he cannot blame his subordinates if a wrong decision is made. Dr. Angelou does not seem as this kind of leader along with the fact that this is too much of a gamble in this vast project of hospitable management. [Ken12] It would seem like a waste of Ms. Angelou’s experience if she doesn’t give her input in decision making, as she has a great deal to impart. She does seem like she would honor the decisions and inputs of other people, but affirmative enough to do what is right and sustainable in the long run. And this is what kind of leadership she exhibits. “The honorary duty of a human being is to love.” She has inspired people by being relatable, personal and attracting people by her own experience and insights and always believing in God, at all times, the Bible has been her life line, and she has clung on to it. Her faith is also what she wishes to impart. [Chr111] “People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But they will never forget how you made them feel.” Maya Angelou is considered to be not only an inspirational leader, but someone who makes you feel better about yourself and your situation. And such a person would be able to infuse positivity in the workplace so that people not only feel fulfilled, but they will want the same for others, not just for the purpose of earning money, but because they will want to give to others. And that Angelou defines, as “courage.” Other leadership traits include confidence, integrity, creativity, courage, communication and most importantly a vision. Ms. Angelou since she became a civil rights activist had a vision to make the world a better place by increasing hope, faith and belief in God. [Mar09] Leadership in the Hospitability Industry Truly a person with such talent and phenomenal abilities to move people would be a world class leader and a wonderful part of hospitality management. But what exactly is hospitality management? It is a relatively new phenomenon but quickly becoming popular. It is not just an art or something you read about, but something which you can make practical use of and work on to make your way to the top. Maya Angelou was among those who earned a close position with Martin Luther King Jr. and was a leader in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. And this happened when she wrote a fund raising book called ‘Cabaret for Freedom.’ In 1965 she proved her loyalties again to the great Martin Luther King by organizing a solidarity demonstration in Ghana. All these aspects show that she was not just a woman of strong opinions, but she implemented them successfully and with a zest like no others. She was also one of the few women at a time when discrimination against the blacks was at its peak, to speak against it, and to rewrite history with the African American people as part of it. [Mar98] When she speaks, she moves people, and that is exactly what I feel a leader should be. In fact when she attended a conference, she did not expect everybody in the crowd to stand up for her, so her grand entrance was always weaving her way through the crowd, individually meeting everyone, and not a standing ovation. It takes a great deal of humility, to not let fame and power go to your head, but actually love your people and believe that they are your equals in every regard. [Kar93] Ms. Angelou also did not feel the need to impress people. Her own approval was very important. She set certain goals, and never wavered in achieving them. She was the first female director in Hollywood. She took courses to understand cinematography but she wasn’t allowed to direct her own movie. A person who wouldn’t even shake a black person’s hand was directing it, and she was working on the screenplay. But she didn’t complain and in fact she was always ten times more prepared to prove that the white and black people were not different in their capabilities. She has also written Hallmark cards, because she felt that some people might not be able to buy her books, and everybody should know what she had to say, and to feel good about themselves. So even though she is one of the greatest poets and authors in the world, she didn’t feel that writing cards would lower her stature, in fact she felt people deserved it. [Ell11] People who want to work in hospitality management such as tourism need to have a different kind of mindset than just any manager. Apart from the fact that they need to be good at catering to the customer’s needs and wants, they need to know where to draw the line. In fairness, many managers forget that work still needs to be done and in their harshness they forget that their employees are only human at the end of the day. People like Dr. Angelou, who now celebrates her eightieth birthday, have the knack to see everything, not just the things that meet the eye, but the whole picture. The type of organization that she prefers to work in and tries to replicate through her efforts, shows that she can create an environment where people would actually feel cared for. “I’ve learned that every day you should reach out and touch someone. People love a warm hug, or just a friendly pat on the back.” [may12] And not only that, she has herself felt many a times, the need to go to a place where she would have that kind of inspiration and connection with herself, and that place was not home. She has a hotel room in her town, where she goes early in the morning to write. She gives herself time to feel, think, and be alone with her thoughts. Life isn’t easy, and so is the case with inspiration. She believes that any person can be everything, given the right life, and the right place, and the right ambience. Nobody is great; we may look at somebody such as Dr. Angelou and say that she always has life changing thoughts in her head, and words that would move and lead her to greatness but this is not the case. She needs that space and time, a place where the hospitality industry comes in. And she doesn’t go there for the food, since she has a home in that town, nor a bed, for the same reason, but just to channel into her inner self, and knows what exactly it is that she feels or wants. One needs to just know the right place for them, and these are the places where the hospitality industry comes in. Since most of the places you retreat to are either a good restaurant, or if you want to blow off some steam maybe an amusement park, or a club for golf club. However, it is not necessarily the case that you find that exact place that is perfect for you. For Angelou it was a hotel room, early in the morning, for somebody else, it might be a café where they sip coffee and think. The fact of the matter is that everybody needs to clear out the clutter of their own thoughts and one person who actually gives a live example of that can actually be a very good advisor. She has been going to her hotel room early morning, not letting anybody intrude, and she catches up with herself, not sleeping or eating or doing any other activity in that room. [Les11] Ms. Angelou is also a force who would prefer to serve her people than be served. After years of hardship, has she reached this glorious image. She understands the nature and character of people, and of life, and what they would want for comfort when they need that space and time. She has written the story for the world to see, out in the open, because she is a leader of society, and an adamant believer that it is every leader’s duty to make those you are responsible for, feel that it is life, and every morning there is new and fresh hope. If your leaders fail you, there is no place you can go to. She wants to instill in people that it is not just her, but everybody that has that ability, to get up and do something better. She relates to everybody’s lives by showing us that even in the face of adversity, no matter how we deal with it, and no matter how pessimistic we get, the day ends, and a new day will come. And we are up and about again. That in itself proves, that it is within all of us, to do anything we wish to do. Her comforting style would be a good asset in the hospitality management business. Also, she believes that one should be true and sincere. People can sense if you really care, and that is at the core of her leadership style; the fact that she actually cares. It is not just a scheme to make money or to get along with people and serve them because it is profitable, but the fact that she genuinely cares that everybody should have a good life. And that is what exactly hospitality management aims to do; give a comfortable lifestyle to its citizens. [Kar93] Once again, hospitality management is the next big thing. However there is a dire need for good management otherwise the entire system will come crashing down. [Hig10] She has been inspirational to the extent that people look up to her and idolize her as their “hero.” People idolize her because of the hope she offers. After surviving atrocities like racial discrimination, rape, violence, she has still come out like a shining emblem for the world to follow. She has sacrificed much in life just to show the world that hope reigns supreme. And what makes her so fascinating? She not only has she lived such a hard life, but she reveals it to the world, with great insights and the eternal lesson to remain optimistic. It is difficult enough to live such a horrific life, but to come out of it stronger, and moving people to believe in what you believed throughout your life, is truly the mark of a good leader. She has covered every medium possible to convey to the people what they should do in life to be as happy as she is today. [Lei11] Not only that, but people trust someone who is renowned for their good leadership along with humanitarian characteristics because following them is a journey of being nurtured, and it hurts nobody’s ego. In fact it only helps you grow and evolve as a person. In 2008, she received the Marian Anderson award along with TV producer Norman Lear. This reward is for people who have benefited mankind and it just shows what a long way she has gone in her journey of imparting knowledge about how people should treat others and be treated. She has written best sellers in the form of poetry, books, plays, children’s books and even a film. At age 80, she is happy with her life, when before her life was going through a rut, she is now a Godsend for mankind. [Cur08] Conclusion "Our work still remains and we have to do the best we can do,” At age 83, she still wishes that there is a day when African American’s contribution to the American history would not need to be recounted. It is still not completely a part of America’s history. But she has not lost hope, she is still very optimistic that such a day will come when a monthly special will not need to occur, but people will recognize their contribution as a part of their history. Till then she can only comment on the progress that has been made, and appreciate all the praise and honor that she has received from people. Lastly, another quality of a democrat is that they don’t give up. Things don’t necessarily always work out all the time. Sometimes they do, and sometimes they don’t. And sometimes they take an entire lifetime to achieve what they had set out to in the first place. One needs to believe strongly in what is right, and work hard towards it. Dr. Angelou believes that one doesn’t get everything handed on a plate, but instead needs to work to attain anything, and such a message needs to be conveyed to the youth of today as well. [May12] Works Cited may12: , (mayaangelou.com), Ken12: , (Cherry), bes12: , (bestleadershipstyles.com), Chr111: , (Ferguson), Mar09: , (Lorenz), Mar98: , (Lupton), Kar93: , (Hazynes), Ell11: , (Longo), may12: , (mayaangelou.com), Les11: , (Pitterson), Hig10: , (High Hopes in Hospitality), Lei11: , (Leilani), Cur08: , (Hayman), May12: , (Maya Angelou hosts Black History Month special), Read More