Savara Khan                                                                                                                              

Professor Donald Charlton

Leaders Who Changed Their Worlds

December 8, 2020

Critical Analysis Essay

           Martin Luther King was an outstanding leader that made a huge impact on the civil rights movement. He used many important tactics and skills in his leadership in favor of the people of color. Martin’s hard work and dedication helped him in achieving a lot of his goals and made him one of the greatest leaders that changed the face of history. Martin Luther king’s leadership traits that he used to lead his people were both inherent and developed over time. He used his natural feeling that he wanted to serve and skills approach to demonstrate how anyone can make a difference if you step up and believe in your capability as a leader, he used his values to drive his commitment for his people and saw a challenge as a crucible for greatness. He used all these essential elements in his leadership, which enabled Martin Luther King to play a critical role in the civil rights movement. One of Martin’s first major victories was the Montgomery Bus Boycott which help stop racist law allowing segregation aboard the buses to change. Martin also used these elements when he helped organized and lead a huge march for equal rights in Washington D.C. which pressured the administration of John F. Kennedy to initiate a strong federal civil rights bill in congress. 

        One of Martin Luther King’s major victories that put him on the map was the March on Washington that happened at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. On August 28, 1963, Martin and other leaders of the civil rights movement organized a huge march for equal rights as well as minimum wage for all workers. According to The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Clayborne Carson “The overall purpose of this pilgrimage was to arouse the conscience of the nation in favor of racial justice. The more specific purposes were to demonstrate the unity of the Negro in the struggle for freedom, the violence, and terror which we suffer in the southland at this time, and to appeal to Congress to pass the Civil Rights Bill, which was being bottled up in committees by Southern congressmen.”. Over two hundred thousand people were part of this march to protest against racial discrimination, more Jobs, and Freedom for all. Alongside the protest, Martin had given a speech called “I have a dream”. This speech was so powerful it remains one of the most famous speeches in history. Martin’s speech touched so many hearts, changed so many minds, and united all of his followers from all around the world. According to a Stanford University research website called march on Washington for jobs and freedom “The march was successful in pressuring the administration of John F. Kennedy to initiate a strong federal civil rights bill in Congress.” This March had such a big impact and was so successful that it pushed President Franklin D. Roosevelt to issue executive order 8802, which mandated the formation of the Fair Employment Practices Commission to investigate racial discrimination charges against defense firms and other workplaces.  

       Throughout Martin Luther King’s leadership he always expressed his values to his followers, he believed his people need to understand where he was coming from and what he stood for. Being as honest and open with them was one of the main reasons why Martin was able to gain his follower’s trust. He understood that honesty was the best way for a leader to led, which also increased Martin’s credibility and made him a trustworthy leader. He inspired and motivated his followers by giving powerful speeches, led peaceful protests, and communicated with his followers. Which are all key leadership approaches a leader must demonstrate in his or her leadership according to Leadership theory and practice. In Martin’s leadership, he modeled many leadership approaches that gave him the credibility he deserved. Martin used servant leadership at the beginning of his leadership to develop and grow his leadership abilities. As stated in Leadership theory and practice “Servant leadership begins with one’s natural feeling that one wants to serve. After one creates the passion and deduction for achieving that certain goal then a choice is brought to one to aspire to lead.”  Martin’s leadership can be described as servant leadership because at a young age martin knew he didn’t want to follow in the same footsteps as his father and grandfather and become a minister. But his decision to not become a minster changed when his college professor convinced him otherwise. When Martin grew older and understood how colored people were getting treated in the United States, he knew he had to make a change and that is what he did. In the Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Clayborne Carson Martin stated, “I always had a resentment towards the system of segregation and felt that it was a grave injustice.” After Martin had completed college he moved to Montgomery in Alabama and became the minister at the Dexter Avenue Baptist church as well as a member of the executive committee of the national association for the advancement of colored people. This led Martin in achieving the success of the March on Washington that happened at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. Martin was someone who cared for everyone around him and was dedicated to helping everyone. Which is one of the key traits in being a servant leader, along with his kindness Martin was also ready to face any challenge that came his way for him and his people. Another Leadership theory and practice approach Martin used in his leadership were the skills approach. As it states in Leadership theory and practice, skills approach “is the ability to use one’s knowledge and competencies to accomplish a set of goals.” Martin had used this approach to master his leadership.  The three main skill approaches are technical skill, human skill, and conceptual skill. Martin used technical skills when he was protesting and used his power of speech skills. He used peaceful tactics to keep his stand and not cause chaos, his goal was to spread awareness and create a positive change. Martin used human skills when he communicates with his people through the use of his speech. He showed empathy and kindness towards everyone around him. Martin was very relatable because a lot of people could connect with him and understand his mission as well as the vision he saw for the future of the United States. Conceptual skills came into play in Martin’s leadership when he used his ability to shape and create a change. He created a vision and used strategic planning for his organization to help him win his battles as a leader. A good example of Martin using skills approach was when he led the March on Washington because he used peaceful protest tactics and connected with his people through his speech also showed his people his vision and the positive change he wanted to bring to America. According to I have a dream speech article its states “The March on Washington produced a bigger turnout than expected, as an estimated 250,000 people arrived to participate in what was then the largest gathering for an event in the history of the nation’s capital.” Which just shows how big of an impact this march had in the United States and how many people Matin connected to through the use of his speech.

           Martin Luther King didn’t only use leadership approaches, but he also used leadership truths to demonstrate his leadership.  The truth about leadership by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner mentions many truths about leadership and talks about the different truths a leader can demonstrate in his or her leadership. One of the many leadership truths that Martin modeled in his leadership was truth one. As stated in the truth about leadership, truth one stands for “believing in yourself and in your capacity to lead, you open yourself to hearing the call. You open yourself to making a difference in the world.” One can be called to step forward to lead a group of people at any time and to do so one must believe in them self’s and in their capacity to lead. This can be used to describe Martin’s leadership because he never thought he was going to have such a big impact on the world as he did. Martin used truth one when he became a leader, he was called upon to lead when he became the minister at the Dexter Avenue Baptist church. He made a positive difference one his first big victory which was the Montgomery Bus Boycott. According to writing peace called What Did Martin Luther King Do to Progress the Civil Rights Movement it stated “In Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, King led a boycott against city buses that refused to let blacks sit in the front seats. The protest gained followers rapidly, and it led to a citywide boycott of the bus system until the rules were changed. Even though King and his followers were sent to jail, the boycott did succeed and the unfair, racist law allowing segregation aboard the buses was changed. History reports this as the boycott that put King on the map. He emerged as a leader in the civil rights movement while cementing his dedication to change via nonviolent methods.” which was the start of his successful leadership. According to the truth about leadership, another truth to describe Martin’s leadership would be truth three because Martin used his values to drive his commitments. As stated in the truth about leadership truth three means “that to do your best as a leader you need to know who you are and what you care about. You need a set of values that guide your decisions and actions… they too must find a fit with who they are and what they value. Credible leaders listen, not just to their own aspirations, but also to the needs and desires of others. Leadership is a relationship, and relationships are built on mutual understanding.” Martin knew his values and morals and he understood what he stood for as a leader. He created such a strong bond between himself and his followers because they all had the same values and morals which also led to all their victories when Martin was their leader. Including the victory of the March to Washington where they pressured the administration of John F. Kennedy to initiate a strong federal civil rights bill in congress. This made Martin a credible leader that his followers could relate to and rely on as a leader. According to the truth about leadership, one of the main truths a leader can adopt could be truth seven. As it states in the truth about leadership truth seven means “All significant and meaningful accomplishments involve adversity, difficulty, change, and challenge. No one ever got anything extraordinary done by keeping things the same. Risk, uncertainty, and hardships test us… To deal with setbacks and to bounce back from mistakes, you need grit. You also need to find ways to learn from failure, knowing that it’s one of the best teachers you can have.” Truth seven can also be used to describe how Martin modeled his leadership because he saw a challenge as a crucible for greatness. Martin as a leader believed that no one ever got anything extraordinary done by keeping things the same. He knew during a time of hardship he must stay calm and take action with the right mind. According to The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Clayborne Carson one day when Martin was faced with a situation and he got angry and this was his response “remembering that on two or three occasions I had allowed myself to become angry and indignant. I had spoken hastily and resentfully. Yet I knew that this was no way to solve a problem. “You must not harbor anger,” I admonished myself “You must be willing to suffer the anger of the opponent, and yet not return anger. You must not become bitter. No matter how emotional your opponents are, you must be calm.”. This shows how Martin was able to see when he went wrong and how he had to fix his mistakes. He understood that anger could never fix a problem but instead, it can ruin you in return. No challenge ever stopped Martin from leading but instead, he stood strong and went against the highest powers to fight for what was right. Like when Martin went to Washington DC to protest for freedom and jobs alongside racial discrimination. Martin’s life was threatened repeatedly because of the protests and boycotts he was leading. All the challenges and difficulties made Martin stronger as a leader and more dedicated to lead for the betterment of his people. He inspired and motivated his followers by giving powerful speeches, led peaceful protests, communicated with his followers, and made sure his followers were on the same page as him. Which was the reason he was such a successful leader.

          Martin Luther King was one of the most powerful leaders at that time who had the strongest followers alongside him. Martin stepped up and had all the right traits in becoming a great leader. He used his natural feeling that he wanted to serve and skills approach to demonstrate how anyone can make a difference if you step up and believe in your capability as a leader, he used his values to drive his commitment for his people and saw a challenge as a crucible for greatness. All these essential elements in his leadership helped enabled Martin Luther King to play a critical role in the civil rights movement. Martin’s first major victory was the Montgomery Bus Boycott and after many hardships, he succeeded and the unfair, racist law allowing segregation aboard the buses was changed. History reports this as the boycott that put King on the map. One of the biggest protests that Martin led was when he helped organized and lead a huge march for equal rights in Washington D.C. This led to a positive change in the administration of John F. Kennedy and issue executive order 8802, which mandated the formation of the Fair Employment Practices Commission to investigate racial discrimination charges against defense firms and other workplaces. Using both the Leadership theory and practice as well as the truth about leadership, Martin showed how he used many different elements in his leadership which led to him being so successful as a leader.  Martin Luther King was a remarkable leader that stood up for what was right and didn’t get put down when he was faced with a problem. He used many skills and techniques to improve his leadership and he made sure he did everything possible to not promote violence and be focused on the main goal which was getting African American people their rights they deserved. Martin taught many people including me and many around the world on how to be a great leader, he made us understand what one needs to demonstrate in order to become a successful leader. One of the main lessons I learned from Martin Luther King’s leadership was to never let anger drive your decisions or even use anger to express your opinion because anger is no way to solve any problem. I can use this in my leadership even in today’s society because anger is one of the many causes for destruction and to be calm and peaceful is the best way to lead a positive leadership. He used leadership approaches as well as leadership truths in his leadership that made him one of the greatest leaders that ever led in history.                                                           

Works cited

Clayborne, Carson. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. Abacus, 2000.

Kouzes, James M., and Barry Z. Posner. The Truth about Leadership: the No-Fads, Heart-of-the-Matter Facts You Need to Know. Jossey-Bass, 2010. 

Northouse, Peter G. Leadership: Theory and Practice. 2018. 

https://biography.yourdictionary.com/articles/martin-luther-king-progress-civil-rights movement.html

https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/march-washington-jobs-and-freedom

https://www.history.com/topics/civil-rights-movement/i-have-a-dream-speech