Martin Luther King Critique Essay
I admire Martin Luther King Jr. ; his transformational leadership was and remains important throughout American History. He inspired thousands of people with his speeches. His famous speech “I Had a Dream” shows his leadership style, he was very effective in giving his message. Although many transformational leaders have been remembered in the past decades, Martin Luther King Jr. has created a legacy. If it wasn’t for his transformational leadership, our nation could be in a different mindset overall. He had a way to get people working together rather than fighting.
He was quiet and listened slowly while others would speak. His visions developed easily with others to excite and convert followers. His example of a servant leadership is the most important lesson I feel he has left behind. Being a servant leader that offers not only inclusive vision, but listens carefully to others, persuades through reasons and helps while building the community. Believing in others was key to his success. Transformational leaders create visions that inspire and motivate others to strive for a goal in leading others.
Martin Luther King was passionate about his visions and was committed to success no matter what he had to face. He was a preacher who believed when people were seeing what the color of your skin was; they were all equal in God’s eyes. One idea that Martin Luther King shared in his message was how freedom could be accomplished without violence. He preached racial equality and wanted a nonviolent world filled with peace. Martin Luther King had an effective way of speaking to people. Usually he spoke to large emotional crowds, encouraging peace.
His self-confidence translated to courage. Dr. King had the ability to create and communicate his visions during his speech. His persuasion and demeanor made him an effective leader. He was able to motivate thousands of people who were in desperate need and angry people who acted violently. He changed their perspective and led them to non violent acts. He was direct and honest. He was a man of influence because he knew the existing conditions and focused on changing the culture. It was a challenge to work against angry people who resisted him because he wanted a change.
Martin Luther King was successful though his followers, his example of being non-violent and living in peace led his followers to have the same vision and live it. He was able to shift an entre culture by using the transformational leadership style to effectively motivate change throughout the world. Martin Luther King demonstrated his role as a leader by showing how much he cared and putting needs of others first. His way of motivating others with his speech opened optimistic views for his followers. His leadership style reached many people’s lives and gave them an emotional connection, which led to more followers.
His message wasn’t only what caught the follower’s attention, but his level of education qualified him to be a respected leader. Many African Americans at the time were not graduating high school, yet he had a PhD from a respected school named Boston University. As we’ve learned transformational leaders also show Individual consideration in the same way – “Leaders also mentor followers by teaching and sharing knowledge and skills in addition to showing emotional concern and support”. (Weiss, 2012). Martin Luther King also showed Individualized consideration to his followers, and it was well trusted by his followers.
Martin Luther King Jr. included ethical standards to consistently attempt to “do the right thing’. Leaders using their vision to inspire and transform will show in their actions. He was known to practice the same leadership he preached. Martin Luther King always spoke about the hopes and aspirations of his followers. His actions appealed to peoples highest standards of ethics and morality which is where most of his decisions came from. Great leaders possess high ethical standards and set examples for their followers who do the right thing.
