Leadership and the Movements Initiated by the Leaders - Essay Example

Leadership and the movements initiated by the leaders Jeffrey and Forsey (2006) discuss that defining the term leadership can often be very challenging if seen from the perspective of the qualities that the leaders seem to possess. There are many theories in support of the leadership and they define collectively what the leadership is and how the person is called to be as the leader having all the qualities needed to be the leader. However the leadership can be defined in the context of making something extraordinary happen out of the norms. 1The extraordinary thing that is made to happen makes the people realize the extraordinary and they support the person who made it happen when it was needed the most without the realization of the need. This particular essay will be conducted in a manner such that briefly some theories of the leadership and the behaviors of the leaders are discussed. The conclusions related to the theories will be supported by one of the leader who is selected for the discussion here. The leader is selected on the basis of the major revolutionary changes that have been made because of his and his movements’ contributions. Kirk (2005) argues that according to the 1trait theory which is designed in the context of the leadership, the leaders have the personalities as well as the behavioral tendencies that make the leaders the way they are. The theory says that there will be certain traits and characteristics in the person that will make him behave in the leading manner. In addition to this the contingency theory suggests that in addition to the behavioral tendencies that the person has, the leadership qualities of the person are shaped more by the surrounding situation that the person belongs to. Historical point of views on leadership Many of the historical authors have written the leadership qualities what seemed appropriate to them. In the case of Sanskrit, there are ten main qualities in the leader that have been defined. According to the aristocratic thinkers, the leadership quality of the person comes from the familial traits or the genes of the person. If the leadership runs in the family than the person would be possessing the leadership qualities. But this in my point of view still depends on the situation that the person is in. Leaders and their roles in the social movements Sunnemark (2004) discusses that in these historical times, we have seen many leaders who may be related to the political movements which have worked for the changes in the social society as well. 2Therefore the leaders are always important to the social movements that ever occurred in the history. The scholars have tried hard to learn as to what is the reason of the leaders making such changes and than what are the reasons that make the leaders make such movements. Inter connectedness and the movements It can be said that the leadership qualities are not the property of the individual. If the individual has been able to create massive movements because of the possession of the leadership qualities than the fact cannot be ignored that the movements success would not have been possible without the support of the other people who are with the person. In addition to this the people who advise3, encourage the person are also among the ones who have there roles in creating the movements on the social scale. The movements that are created by the leaders are always because of the interconnected relationships that are present between the people who are along the leaders carrying the movements which in the future cause great historical changes. Marsh (2006) discusses that the leaders in this regard always surround themselves with some special and specific people. These are the people who are the chosen ones by the leaders themselves during the journey to the great changing causes. These people are the ones which make the leaders what they truly are, these are the people who give and add up to the substance that the leaders have. These are the chosen ones which make the leaders do what they chose to do. The people help the leaders in making the views and the visions along the time passage which in turn help the leaders in shaping their views. Because of this strong, guiding, helping interconnectedness among the people and the leaders, the ideas, the visions are changed to reality. The reality in turn changes the face of the social society. Martin Luther king Jr. and the Civil Rights movement When we talk about the leaders and the great historical movements that were carried out by the leaders, the name of Martin Luther King Jr. comes into mind. Although he is no more among us but he is still alive. He is one of the greater leaders who when alive worked his heart out for carrying the civil rights movement successfully. He is the true leader who established the fact t hat the leaders are amongst us all and he consolidated the fact that the situation creates leaders rather than the familial or the behavioral traits. Green and Luehrmann (2007) argue that 4Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15 in the year of 1929. He was a social activist based in United States of America at that time. He was responsible for the civil rights movement that changed the facet of the human rights we know today. He is one of the iconic social activists of all times. Influences of Martin Luther king At his school age, King was very much impressed with one of his teachers at his school. His name was Howard Thurman. Howard Thurman was the missionary at that time. His missionary work made him travel all around the world and therefore he had the chance to meet Gandhi. Nayak (2003) argues that Gandhi was one of the other influences of King Jr. King Jr. was impressed by the fact that Gandhi had carried out the activism in a very successful and the non violent way. King Jr. paid his regards to Gandhi by paying him the visit in person in the year of 1959. When Martin Luther king visited, he was inspired the most by the way the civil rights movements’ idea that could be carried out in the United States in the peaceful way by brining about major changes. One of the interviews that he gave in India include the statement that he made, saying that being in India he has realized that there are better ways to help the oppressed people get out of there oppression of being dealt with unjustly and the civil rights movements will help them get the justice that the people truly want. Bayard Rustin had studied Gandhi’s books and it was true that Gandhi believed in carrying out movement in a peaceful and the non violent manner which impressed Martin Jr. Rustin also helped Martin Luther King in shaping up his civil rights movement which was to bring out many changes in the United States in the near future. Martin Luther King was the preacher and the strong believer in the social liberation and the follower of the human rights which made him the social activist. He believed that the African people should be given there proper rights while living in the United States with the separate race of the white people. The Great 1963 march Adair (2005) says that the long march that was carried out in Washington in the year of 1963 was carried out under the supervision of Martin Luther King who was helped by Bayard Rustin5 in this case. The purpose of the march was to get the liberation rights for the African or the blacks living in the United State and the provision of the jobs for them. In the beginning the president of the United States Joke, opposed to his march as he thought that this would impede the already going civil rights movement legislation. The demands that were made by the people in the long march included the end to the racial discrimination that was being faced by the children in the school, setting out the new and better civil rights laws, and protection of the black workers from the torture that they face from the police for unknown reasons. Although there were many problems that were faced by the long marchers however it was a great success and it is still remembered in the history as the greatest march. Secretan (2004) argues that if the number of people is estimated who attended the march, the pages in the history say that around a quarter of the million people attended the march. It is also to be mentioned that the people who attended the march were not just the black community but belonged to different races and raised their voices for the black community. The visions of Martin Luther King In the interview that was given to the magazine by the king of civil rights, he mentioned that the 6black people who are oppressed by the idea that they are inferior to the white people and they are not being granted the justice that they truly want should end. And for this he was working. He added that there is a great financial gap between the black people and the white people. If they both are given the equal rights, doing just this would not help seal and fill in the economic gap between the people. Abramson (2002) argues that at that time the black people were being treated as the slaves for the white people unfairly and unjustly. He added to the interview that the wages and the salaries of the black people to be adjusted by the white people is not the requirement but what he envisioned was that the government should start a compensatory plan through which the financial gap can be filled in the next coming ten years or so. The 1965 march The march was again planned to gain the support from the public but it was being opposed by the government in a strong manner and was tried to be stopped by the authorities and the police. In this case the police tortured the demonstrators and a lot of lives were lost because of that, therefore this march is known to the history as the bloody march. However in the end this march also gained a lot of support from the people. This march clearly demonstrated that Martin wanted no violence and in a peaceful manner he wanted the civil rights to be applied for the black community also. The year of 1968: Justice for the poor The poor people got there part in the year of 1968 when Martin Luther King arranged a new campaign to which he named as the poor peoples campaign. In this campaign the issues of the financial justice were narrated. King wanted justice to be done to the poorer people in the case of their financial matters. 7A march was arranged in this matter also in which the demand included to the financial aid to be provided to the poorest communities residing in the United States without any racial discrimination. In the end of this all, successfully the congress passed a bill in favor of the poor communities. The bus boycott Altekruse and Osborn (2003) discuss that it was seen at that times that the black people and the white people were not allowed to travel in the same buses. The black people were treated in a bad manner when they used to travel in the busses. Therefore a boycott was carried against the busses that used to carry the passengers in Montgomery. It was decided in the boycott that the passengers would not travel in the buses until they were treated properly. The result of this was to be seen by King in the form of his residence being bombed down. However the people of Montgomery took the stand and stopped using the busses for the next two years and they used to walk on foot to their work destinations. As a result of this the bus system in the Montgomery faced a huge loss in the revenue and therefore the government agreed to treat the passengers in the integrated manner. Against the Vietnam War Martin Luther King was truly against the Vietnam War being carried out by the US and he openly talked against it. 8Martin added that the war was just started to occupy the Vietnam as another American territory. In addition to this he said that the money and the resources that were being wasted in the Vietnam War could have been spent in a better way on the poor communities in the US. This statement given by Martin was the fact as the US citizens were seeing that the US government was spending too much money on the military and the war purposes and nothing was being done in regards to the poor communities. Legacy of the king The main objective of the civil rights movement carried out by Martin Luther King was to give freedom and liberation to the black people residing in the USA so that they get rid of the oppression that they feel. The financial oppression that the black people had should be ended. The tortures that the black people face because of the racial discrimination should end. Martin Luther King also carried out the civil rights movement in South Africa which made him go to the global scale to get the black people fight for their rights. Martin gets assassinated In the year of 1968, the black sanitary work employees carried out a strike. The strike was for the reason that the people wanted higher salaries and better facilities. This strike was to be attended by the greatest leaders of all times, Martin Luther King and therefore Martin made his way to Memphis. Martin made his way to Memphis on 4th April and he was shot dead in the 9hotel room in which he was staying on April 4th 1968. Conclusion Leadership can be defined in the context of making something extraordinary happen out of the norms. The extraordinary thing that is made to happen makes the people realize the extraordinary and they support the person who made it happen when it was needed the most without the realization of the need. the trait theory is designed in the context of the leadership, saying that the leaders have the personalities as well as the behavioral tendencies that make the leaders the way they are. The theory says that there will be certain traits and characteristics in the person that will make him behave in the leading manner. We have seen many leaders who may be related to the political movements which have worked for the changes in the social society as well. The leaders in this regard always surround themselves with some special and specific people. These are the people who are the chosen ones by the leaders themselves during the journey to the great changing causes. Because of this strong, guiding, helping interconnectedness among the people and the leaders, the ideas, the visions are changed to reality. The reality in turn changes the face of the social society. Martin Luther King Jr. comes into mind. Although he is no more among us but he is still alive. He is one of the greater leaders who when alive worked his heart out for carrying the civil rights movement successfully. The main objective of the civil rights movement carried out by Martin Luther King was to give freedom and liberation to the black people residing in the USA so that they get rid of the oppression that they feel. The financial oppression that the black people had should be ended. The tortures that the black people face because of the racial discrimination should end. References Abramson, M. (2002) Leaders. Rowman & Littlefield. Adair, J. (2005) How to grow leaders: the seven key principles of effective leadership development. Kogan Page Publishers. Altekruse, M., West, J., Bubenzer, D., and Osborn, C. (2003) Leaders and Legacies: Contributions to the Profession of Counseling. Psychology Press. Dine, P. (2007) State of the Unions: How Labor Can Strengthen the Middle Class, Improve Out Economy, and Regain Political Influence. McGraw-Hill Professional. Gerzon, M. (2006) Leading through conflict: how successful leaders transform differences into opportunities. Harvard Business Press. Green, D., and Luehrmann, L. (2007) Comparative Politics of the Third World: Linking Concepts and Cases. Lynne Rienner Publishers. Jeffrey, G., and Forsey, C. (2006) Martin Luther King Jr.: The Life of a Civil Rights Leader. Rosen Classroom. Kirk, J. (2005) Martin Luther King, Jr. Pearson Longman. Marsh, C. (2006) The Beloved Community: How Faith Shapes Social Justice from the Civil Rights Movement to Today. Basic Books. Nayak, P. (2003) History of Modern Political Movements. Akansha Pub. House. Price, A. (2004) Ready to lead?: a story for new leaders and their mentors. John Wiley and Sons. Rosen, C. (2004) Preaching Eugenics: Religious Leaders and the American Eugenics Movement. Oxford University Press. Sakany, L. (2006) Progressive Leaders: The Platforms and Policies of Americas Reform Politicians. Rosen Classroom. Secretan, L. (2004) Inspire! What Great Leaders Do. John Wiley and Sons. Sunnemark, F. (2004) Ring out freedom!: the voice of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the making of the civil rights movement. Indiana University Press. Read More