Martin Luther King Jr. - the Biggest Influential Leader

Jordane Finley

Leadership 300

New York Times Assignment

Seth Kastle

April 5th, 2018

Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. has been one the biggest influential leaders and advocates of all time. Since the 1950’s people looked up to him for his courage, passion, and wisdom. Not everyone was a fan of him and his work so they wrote terrible things about him in the papers and put posters around bashing his name. Yet no one realized because he always his head had and focused on his goals. For people of a different race, different economical status, and many other minorities he was their voice, the way they kept their heads up and moving forward. MLK is an excellent representative of the Post-Industrial Paradigm. He cared about his relationship with all the people the followed him or his comrades, He encouraged them to speak up if they had a problem or issue! By doing so had a substantial influence on them having their own voice and letting it be heard, this caused his followers to have a sense of empowerment for themselves and for their cause. When the followers feel empowered in what their doing it leads to greater achievement and greater satisfaction. He was clear at what they were supposed to do so nobody got confused and started pointing figures and provided them with the materials and recourses they need to complete the task. He trusted his followers to complete tasks on their own even though it could be risky sometimes, he still decided it would have the best outcomes for his “team”. This helped them to accomplish more tasks, which created a more trusting and collaborative environment for the groups. Some people in the N.A.A.C.P. argued when he wanted to merge the civil right movement and the peace movement and they told him that he should just pick one to focus on but he was determined to follow through with both of his actions. While he was in Chicago a group of local black ministers came together and said the Dr. King was a failure who created hate and violence in the cities, and called him and outsider and he should stay in Alabama. He is also an excellent example of Symbolic leadership. He was always viewed as good and kind by all his followers and co-workers. He knew what was important to his followers and the groups he was fighting for, he honored their morals and values and tried his hardest to lead by them. He is viewed as a symbol for the civil rights and peace movement. He’s also viewed as a hero to many! I wish he was still alive because it would be such an honor to meet such an incredible person and be able to learn from him, especially from a leadership standpoint and also just as a person. Plus imagine the great things he could have continued to do if he was assassinated, he helped so many people and because of peoples’ biases and viewpoints he was stopped from helping anymore people.