Martin Luther King Jr.: A Leader's Core Of Decision Making

This paper will analyze and study the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King and how leadership skills helped him in accomplishing his goals. The characteristics that made Dr. King a great leader will also be addressed. By studying great leaders, insight can be gained into what qualities they possess.

Epic heroes are commemorated as being someone who commits improbable feats. They aren’t superior, but they oblige to deeds they feel are right. Non-oblivious to the horrid racism going on around him growing up, Martin Luther King Jr. alleviated and dedicated most of his life to what he could change as an adult: segregation. Martin Luther King Jr. embodies the characteristics of an epic hero because he was competent of great deeds, he signified humility, and possessed supernatural help.

Leaders draw people into a shared sense of purpose by creating a distinctive well crafted and compelling vision of the organisations future.

Not all children are born into the perfect situation, some children are born into a drug oriented and gang related family. “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.” This a powerful quote from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. how we can benefit a student’s life. The Giving Children a Mulligan in Life interest group would be a locally funded group in Atlanta which would teach life lessons through the game of golf in a fun and interactive way. “Giving Children a Mulligan in Life” would help with the record high levels of dropouts in this city. Certainly with Atlanta having one of the highest dropout rates in not just Georgia, but in United States at 59.1% with an 8% rise in the last two years reported by the Georgia’s Department of Education (2014) is more than enough of a reason for this group to exist.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I will discuss how his leadership has impacted both America as a whole and the United States Army, as well as how Dr. King has influenced my own life as a Soldier, Military Intelligence professional, and leader.

Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered as one of the greatest leaders of modern humanity. Perhaps the most astonishing aspect of his leadership was his ability to adapt to whatever leadership style was necessary for any specific scenario. He could be a transformational leader if people needed to be mobilized, a servant leader when followers needed to be led by example, or a charismatic leader when he gave any one of his plethora of monumental speeches. Not only could MLK perform in each of these leadership roles, but he excelled at them. Dr. King was one of the greatest, most versatile leaders ever. We will discuss why in the following paragraphs.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an astonishing activist that inspired a numerous amount of people with his speech. Dr. King was great because he displayed some traits. Some of the traits that he possessed were leadership, determination, and bravery. He was a man that preached about justice and wanted peace. Everyone can make a change and keep the dream alive by doing what Dr. King wanted. Which was to allow freedom to ring and to all come together as one.

The Civil Rights Movement had several pros however there are cons to every situation. The suffering of people were cured by the medicine of the great personality that still stand as the role model of the world, Martin Luther King Jr. He cured the people with the speeches they delivered and the letters they wrote. The letters and speeches delivered during this movement had been very inspirational in which it made more people want to become a part of this immense movement. Martin Luther King Jr. was very inspirational but had different ways to handle things than other civil rights movement leaders. MLK Jr. was a very big contributor to the Civil Rights Movement but he said everything through “The Letter from Birmingham”. The Civil rights Movement

Martin Luther King Jr. was a peaceful and courageous man who used a non-violent manner to stand up for all that he believed in. King Jr. sought for equal rights for African Americans during his life. He not only participated but led many of the acts to push equal rights such as the bus boycott, antisegregation campaigns, the March on Washington, and civil rights rallies throughout the United States. Due to his strenuous work for equal rights, King Jr. was one of the major reasons for the passing of the Civil Rights Bill in 1964 (Bennett). Martin Luther King Jr.’s hard-working, dedicated personality is one of the predominant reasons that there are civil rights in the United States; if it

Leaders believe people have an intrinsic value beyond tangible contributions as workers. As a result, genuine interest in the spiritual, professional and personal growth of all employees is demonstrated.

Martin Luther King Junior was an astonishing leader and motivational speaker. His legacy will live on as he has made a significant impact for the American Civil Rights Movement. King’s confessions demonstrate his sincere heartfelt emotions in “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” It illustrates how disappointed he was with the white moderates and white church. As the injustice that emanates Negro’s from their freedom is not limited by “White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner”, but by the white moderates. Their devotion to “order” clouded their judgement because it failed to solve the social injustice occurring in their society. The white moderates allowed the continuation of segregation simply by advising to be patience with this situation.

The importance of “appealing to shared aspirations” (2007, p. 26) instead of forcing the vision of the leader on the followers is paramount to enlisting them in this endeavor. Intrinsic motivation is achieved when leaders capture the collective imagination of their followers.

As described in the book, “communication is the process of conveying information and meaning” (Lussier & Achua, 2007). My leader Martin Luther King Jr. was the most conspicuous and eloquent leader of the African American civil rights movement. He inspired the African Americans to fight their way through white oppression using non-violent way to arms. He is well known for his ‘I have a dream’ speech that he made in august 1963, during the civil rights march on Washington. Martin Luther leadership was deeply anchored in speeches. He was a transformational leader based on the steps and decisions he took to see his visions through. He clearly communicated a concrete and powerful vision, he had a dream which he clearly articulated to his followers, giving them clear call to action and inspiring them to share his vision and to show support. This is what people like; they want to follow a leader who has clear direction of where he is going or where he is taking his followers. This made him popular. People need a leader who cares about their values, wants, hopes, and aspirations. His ‘I have a dream’ speech brought awareness and humanity to the American people about civil rights.

A Biography of Martin Luther King Jr. "I have a dream…" are the famous words stated by Martin Luther King

Simon’s book, Leaders Eat Last: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t, written with the mission of helping people to wake up every work day inspired to go to their work place, work and finally return home every evening fulfilled by their labor. Beginning with the question ‘ 'why ' ', he offers an indispensable starting point illustrating the power of ‘ 'why ' ' people do what they do after following quite a good number of companies, nonprofit organization and the highest authority of the US military. Sinek aims at helping to create healthier and happier organizations that inspire people to work.