The Leadership of a Martin Luther King - Essay Example

Leadership & Martin Luther King Table of Contents Introduction 3 Definitions 4 Theories 5 Martin Luther King and his achievements 6 Type of Leadership 8 Southern Christian Leadership Conference and its Culture 9 Change Management 10 Conclusions 11 References 12 Introduction Leadership is undoubtedly one of the most important factors to be taken care of for the success of the organization. The company might have all the requisite resources to be successful like well defined mission and vision, capital for investment, skilled and trained people, well researched product and marketing and distribution strategies in place at the right time but without effective and efficient leadership, entire efforts might fall flat. The leadership in a business organization can be referred as the human factor which defines the way of achieving stated goals and objectives with the help of the given resources emphasizing on the human capital of the organization. Leadership is so important for the success of the organization because it also deals with the changes that an organization faces both with in the organization as well as in the external environment. In the present world of continuous change and constant innovation, the essence of proper leadership is felt like never before. The leader ideally, should not only plan and strategize to achieve the organizational objectives but also he should be the person, to whom his team would refer at any unforeseen happenings. The leader should be able to change the pre-determined path, if necessary, and still continue motivating his sub-ordinates and achieving the desired goal. As changes in the organizational environment as well as the external environment are taking place constantly, a leader should plan his strategies keeping the factor in to consideration. Definitions Defining leadership in the periphery of words has been a tough job even for the modern management thinkers as leadership is more about convincing others to do a certain thing in a certain way to achieve the desired output. Deborah Allen has defined leadership in the following words, “A leader is someone who can visualize a better world in the future and is able to convince others to join him/her on the journey” (Family and Community Medicine. n.d.) In the words of Majorie Bowman, “Leadership means making a difference, creating a positive change; providing the impetus that creates an atmosphere of change that improves the world, or at least the small part of the world around us and is characterized by sustained action over time.” Again, Stogdil has defined leadership as the, “process (act) of influencing the activities of an organized group in its efforts towards goal setting and goal achievement” (Bryman, A. 1986). From the definitions of the above it can be deciphered that leadership is all about motivating and convincing the group of subordinates (or followers, as the case may be) towards the achievement of the desired goals and objectives. Theories It has been discussed earlier that leadership has been one such topic that cannot be specified through few words. Complying with the idea, several relevant theories o leadership developed over the years. Among those, whether people are born leaders or they can be developed as leader has been the most significant debate over generations. The important theories of leadership are as follows: Great Man Theory – This is the most traditional theory in the field of leadership. According to this theory, leaders are born and not made. It is the need that transforms great men into successful leaders. Traits Theory – Traits theory on leadership says that people are born with certain traits or attributes. Some of these traits are necessary for leadership. The person who has right combination of such traits will make successful leader. Behavioral Theory – Behavioral theory states that leaders are made and not born. This theory was a major achievement in the field of leadership. The theory says with proper training, skills and experience people can inculcate the leadership qualities with in him. Situational Leadership – According to this theory, the leader depends upon whole range of variable factors in order to successfully execute leadership. It includes efforts, ability and role clarity of his subordinates, group cooperation and cohesiveness, organizational framework, availability of resources and external cooperation. Participative Leadership – Participative leadership maintains that the decisions taken jointly are always better than those taken on individual basis. This theory of leadership encourages all the decision makers to participate actively in the decision making process and to adapt decisions on a collective basis. Contingency Theory – As per the contingency theory of leadership, there is no particular hard and fast rule to lead. Rather, it depends upon the situation. A very successful leader might perform equally poor in a different set of conditions. Transactional Leadership – According to the transactional leadership, the performance of the people are guided by the twin factors of reward and punishment. The subordinate gets incentive for exceeding the performance expectation and a stick for not reaching it. Transactional leaders generally follow management by exception. Transformational Leadership – It is in sharp contrast to transactional leadership. As per this theory, subordinates follow their leaders and would even agree to initiate great targets for the leader. Transformational leaders are basically charismatic person who has the faith and trust of his subordinates. It is individualistic in approach (Department of Leadership, Service & Engagement. n.d.). Martin Luther King and his achievements One of the most proclaimed and civil rights activist of the world, Martin Luther King Junior was born on 15th January of 1929 at their family home of Atlanta, Georgia. Martin Luther graduated from Morehouse College with Sociology as elective in 1948 and joined Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester of Pennsylvania. Also he studied at University of Pennsylvania and did his doctoral studies in Systematic Theology from Boston University. Also he studied at Harvard University. Dr. King was awarded numerous honorary degrees from various colleges and universities of the United States as well as that of foreign nations. At the very early age, Martin Luther King Junior joined the Christian ministry and even became the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference later in his life (LSU Libraries. n.d.). Martin Luther King Junior came to the limelight with the Montgomery Bus Boycott in the year of 1955. In those days, buses at Montgomery followed racial segregation. Whites were allotted the front seats and black colored people could not sit on those seats. In December of 1955, Rosa Parks, a black was sitting in the front row of those seats reserved for them. But as a white man boarded the bus, the driver instructed Rosa to leave the sit and move back which Rosa refused. Consequently, Rosa was arrested and fined. Martin Luther took his case and led 381 days long bus boycott at Montgomery for the sake of civil rights. Apart from the bus boycott, Dr King was also actively involved with the Albany Movement (against segregation in the city), campaign towards Birmingham (to promote civil rights for Afro-Americans), Washington March (for jobs and freedom, compensation stance to the Black-Americans for historical wrong doings, opposition to the Vietnam War and many other causes of civil rights. Luther was assassinated by James Ray at the balcony of Lorraine Motel in Memphis on 4th April, 1968 as he went to Memphis to lead the sanitation workers against their deplorable working conditions and poor wages. James was later arrested from London and sentenced to imprisonment. Type of Leadership Martin Luther King was a champion activist in civil rights. The leadership type he followed was a mix of many of the theories discussed earlier. He was a mass leader and had huge fan following. Like all mass leaders, he is referred as a born leader. It means he complied with the Great Man theory. In addition to it, Martin Luther also believed in participative leadership. He took his fans and colleagues into confidence while taking major decisions. This made him extremely popular among his followers. Also, the leadership ways of martin Luther was transformational. He was a charismatic person with considerable educational and religious background. He was a profound orator. His speeches brought him many accolades. So, it can be said that he even followed transformational leadership. Also, the fact that his followers could do anything and every thing for him, firms the idea. In other words, Martin Luther King did not have any formal training of leadership and so he was by no means a behavioral leader. Also, like a typical mass movement, there was no reward or punishment for joining those civil right movements. So, transactional leadership did not hold good for Martin Luther. Precisely, the extra-ordinary talent that Martin Luther was, he followed a mixed leadership styles comprising transformative, participative and intuition. Southern Christian Leadership Conference and its Culture To boost his cause of civil rights, Dr King along with some of the other leading civil rights activist formed South Christian Leadership Council in the year of 1957. Dr King was the founder president of the organization till 1968 i.e. his death and was followed by his peer and colleague Ralph Albernaty. At the outset, the objective of setting up this organization was to expand the success of Montgomery Bus Boycott. In the initial days, the organization was supported by the then influential persons like Stanley Levison, Bayard Rustin and Ella Baker. The organization supported the cause of burgeoning sit-in movement throughout the United States. The Albany Movement was limited success for the organization. But with campaign to Birmingham, there was no looking back for SCLC, as it is popularly called. The organization also popularly initiated the march to Washington where Martin Luther delivered his famous speech, “I have a dream..”. Also, Luther took his brainchild organization to Selma of Alabama to protest against the brutality of local police. SLC successfully converted the local outrage to a nation-wide resentment along with support for voting rights. Later before arriving at Chicago, SCLC had a strategic alliance with CCCO (Coordinating Council of Community Organizations). In 1968, the organization adapted a pro-poor program. But with the untimely and unfortunate death of Luther, it experienced a major set-back. Though, the organization still exists today, its days of glory are over long back (CFM 40. n.d.). As we know with in an organizational culture, there exists lot of subcultures. Same was true for SCLC. And their lies the success of Martin Luther. He successfully integrated all the distinct cultural fraternities prevalent for the greater good of the society. He fought for civil rights, social justice and even for economic development of the downtrodden through nonviolent ways. He had the support of the youth as he raised his voice for freedom and justice. For SCLC, Dr King was much more than just the founder president. Today, it can be said that he was larger than life for SCLC and the organization banked upon him for social acceptance. Change Management Martin Luther King Junior was one of the most far-sighted leaders that the world has produced. Traditionally, it s believed that people of the higher strata of the society are generally skeptical to changes. But this did not held true for Dr Luther. Having achieved highest formal educational degree and also after having a fair family background, he was an incessant worshipper of change. For all most all of the causes for which he fought, did not get approval of the society and the government at once. He had to fight for the rights and justice and equality on a continuous basis. He led the movement for civil rights in American society and tried to change the social segregation on the basis one’s color of skin. He tried to effect the changes in the society and tried his best to restore equality. He went to Chicago with SCLC to fight for economic justice and to ensure change. Even he laid his life for the purpose. He was at Memphis to address and change the deplorable conditions of the sanitary workers. So, it can be said Martin Luther was a champion of change management for social good. Conclusions Today, United States of America is accepted by the whole world as the worshipper of justice, equality and freedom. It was Martin Luther who fought against all odds to implement those in the American society and the law. The black Americans today have protection and access to public accommodations, housing, transportation, school education and right to vote. These basic necessities were neither easily won nor readily accepted (B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library. n.d.). Rather they were the fruits of the struggle that started under efficient leadership of Dr. King with the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Today, the effective leadership style of Dr. Luther has itself become a leadership model to follow. The success of Martin Luther also established the fact that some like him with extra-ordinary attributes are born leader and need not be developed. His case also supports the situational leadership as he rose to the occasion on the situation of civil and social injustice. Today, along the leadership traits, contributions of Martin Luther continue to provide support towards the cause of downtrodden throughout the world. References Bryman, A. (1986). The Idea of Leadership and The Methodology of Leadership Research. Leadership and Organizations. Pg 1. B. Davis Schwartz Memorial Library. (No Date). A Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Long Island University. Retrieved May 29, 2009, from http://www.liu.edu/cwis/cwp/library/mlking.htm CFM 40. (No Date). South Christian Leadership Conference. Fulfilling The Dream, CFM 40. Retrieved May 29, 2009, from http://cfm40.middlebury.edu/?q=node/35 Department of Leadership, Service & Engagement. (No Date). Leadership Theories. Saint Norbert College. Retrieved May 29, 2009, from www.snc.edu/lsi/forms/Leadership_Theories.doc Family and Community Medicine. (No Date). What is your definition of leadership? Questions About Leadership. Retrieved May 29, 2009, from http://wichita.kumc.edu/fcm/documents/Ten%20questions%20about%20Leadership.pdf LSU Libraries. (No Date). Martin Luther King, Jr : A Biographical Sketch. Lousiana State University. Retrieved May 29, 2009, from http://www.lib.lsu.edu/hum/mlk/srs218.html Read More