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Contribution of Martin Luther King
The importance of servant leadership
Servant leadership benefits and drawbacks
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Martin Luther King Jr. once stated “I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation”. This quote comes from Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech “I Have a Dream”. The speech is one of the most memorable in U.S. history. On August 28, 1963, it was delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., where nearly a quarter of a million people gathered for a March for Jobs and Freedom to urge Congress and President John F. Kennedy to pass a national civil rights bill. So, Martin Luther King Jr. was fight and standing up for the people, which made him a servant leader. According to Robert Greenleaf, a servant leader is a “servant first… It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first”. A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. Martin Luther King Jr. demonstrates servant leadership in the following quote: Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time …show more content…
was serving African American by addressing everyone, such as the Congress, that segregation should be brought to an end. This quote also related to Dr. LLoyd Bitzer’s concept of the “rhetoritcial situation”. A rhetoritcial situation “is produced in response to exigence, that a situation requires a “fitting” response, and that the situation ultimately controls the response. Rhetoric occurs when a speaker responds to exigence by addressing an audience that is capable of acting upon that urgency” (Hitt, n.d.). Martin Luther King Jr. was speaking to African Americans during his speech peruasing them stand up for their rights they deserved. He was trying not only to end discrimination but also to persuade people to unite as one. So, Martin Luther King Jr. is a servant leader and cares about the
Servant leadership is a designation coined by Robert Greenleaf in 1970 in an essay entitled The Servant as Leader. In this essay, he describes the servant leader and a servant first contrary to one who is a leader first. The difference is the servant chooses to put others needs before his own while the leader first may later become a servant from the promptings of a sense of right and wrong or simply because they are coerced in that direction (Greenleaf, 1991).
On August 28, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave the historical I Have a Dream speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. With an audience of about 250,00 people from all racial backgrounds, Dr. King addressed discrimination, prejudice and police brutality against African Americans, and his hopes and dreams of freedom for all people in the United States. Dr. King needed to have a dream because of the mistreatment African
On August 28, 1963 more than 250,000 civil-rights supporters attended the March on Washington. Addressing the protesters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. Profoundly, he proclaimed for a free nation of equality where all race would join together in the effort to achieve common ground. King stated his yearning for all colors to unite and be judged by character, not by race. African Americans would not be satisfied until their desire for freedom from persecution, bitterness, and hatred prevailed. Not only were the points in his speech powerful, but also the delivery he gave was so persuading and real that it changed the hearts of many people across America. By using four artificial proofs, mythos, logos, ethos, and pathos, Martin Luther King was able to open the eyes of people who were blinded by the color of skin.
On August 28, 1963 Martin Luther King made his famous “I Have a dream” speech on the Lincoln Memorial after the March on Washington. He delivered this speech to millions of people blacks and whites. This is one of the greatest speeches because it has many elements like pathos, logos, ethos, repetition, assonance, and consonance.
Martin Luther King admired Muhammad Gundi and Gundi’s idea of peaceful protest. King adopted this idea and organized much historical peaceful protest and civil disobedience in the name of equality. King led the Montgomery bus boycott of 1963 to protest the arrest of Rosa Parks, King also led the “march on Washington” when over 200,000 people gathered to hear King’s most famous speech. Kings most famous speech, I Have a Dream, was given on the steps of the Lincoln memorial on august 28th 1963. In King’s speech king conveys his idea of a perfect society of all races living together peacefully. King had much larger impact on civil rights than Malcolm X mostly because of King’s theories and principals of peaceful protest and Civil disobedience as opposed to X’s view of “whatever it takes.” Unfortunately much like Malcolm X King was also
Martin Luther King did not know that his “I Have a Dream” speech would still be iconic 50 years later. In 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. delivered the “I Have a Dream” speech at the March on Washington. He was facing the problem of racial injustice for himself and everyone like him. He needed to create a speech that everyone could and would understand, could learn from, and could draw inspiration from. He had to address blacks and whites, he had to say things that everyone could relate to and he had speak in a way that he get the
The famous speech, “ I Have a Dream”, was held in 1963 by a powerful leader of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 60s. He was born January 15,1929 the son of an Atlanta Pastor. Martin Luther King Jr. always insisted on nonviolent resistance and always tried to persuade others with his nonviolent beliefs. In 1963, King spoke from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and almost 200,000 people attended his speech. All his listeners were Civil Rights supporters who rallied behind him and the people who watched his appearance on television. King traveled the country making speeches and inspiring people to become involved in the Civil Rights Movement. He organized non violent student sit-ins and fought for the rights of the black population.
Our world is filled with many successful leaders. The gift of being a leader can be learned; however some individuals have a natural born talent to be a leader. Each leader has his or her own unique leadership style. The gift of being a leader can be learned. Certain individuals are born with a charismatic style and can easily be a leader. A successful leader is one who can inspire and motivate people towards a goal. Martin Luther King Jr. was an individual with a born gift to lead people. The following paper will discuss how Martin Luther King Jr. was able to inspire and motivate people with his effective leadership style.
One of the world’s best known advocates of non-violent social change strategies, Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK), synthesized ideals drawn from many different cultural traditions. Recent studies of him emphasize the extent to which his ideals were rooted in African-American religious traditions which were then shaped by his education. The image of a social activist and leader was the result of extensive formal education, strong personal values and licit ethics. This excellence in leadership can be traced to his character which is shaped by his moral values and personality. We look at MLK and these traits to reveal the rationalization of his rise to transracial leadership in our society. Through studying the life and example of Martin Luther King, Jr., we learn that his moral values of integrity, love, truth, fairness, caring, non-violence, achievement and peace were what motivated him. King is not great because he is well known, he is great because he served as the cause of peace and justice for all humans. King is remembered for his humanity, leadership and his love of his fellow man regardless of skin color. This presence of strong moral values developed King’s character which enabled him to become one of the most influential leaders of our time. Integrity is a central value in a leader’s character and it is through integrity that King had vision of the truth. The truth that one day this nation would live up to the creed, "all men are created equal". No man contributed more to the great progress of blacks during the 1950’s and 1960’s than Martin Luther King, Jr. He was brought up believing "one man can make a difference", and this is just what he did. Integrity has a large effect on what we think, say and do, it is through King’s thoughts and actions that enabled so many people to have trust and faith in him. Through King’s integrity he believed that America, the most powerful and richest nation in the world will lead the way to a revolution of values. This revolution will change the way society views itself, shifting from a "thing-orientated" society to a "person-orientated" society. When this occurs, King believed that racism will be capable of being conquered and this nation will be "Free at last." King’s unconditional love for all humans was another value that strongly influenced his character and allowed him to have such excellent leadership ability.
Servant leadership was a term that was first used by Keifner Greenleaf(1970) in his first essay, The Servant as Leader (as cited by Crippen, C., 2005). Greenleaf based his essay on his belief that a servant leader is a servant first, and explained that it would begin with the natural urge to serve and then the leader would make a conscious choice to become a leader, in doing so he makes the choice to ensure that others needs are met first (2005 ). As a servant leader develops he should always keep aware of those who he serves and strive to ensure that they are becoming healthier, wiser, freer, have an increase in autonomous, and are become more like servants themselves (2005). Leaders and organizations can use the principles of servant leadership to frame decisions, and service that include focus on the community, care of others and quality services (Waterman, R., 2011). Watermen states that working to higher purpose increases standards, integrity and should lead the followers through supports, shared visions and bring followers together in toward a common purpose to provide service to others.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. not only spoke with purpose but also with a style unlike any others. He was an inspirational speaker and a motivational leader. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., due to his importance in the civil rights movement of the 1950's and 1960's, motivated masses with his tremendous speeches and actions. Dr. King utilized his charisma and inspirational tactics to change the views and beliefs of a nation and to lead his people throughout their course of the civil rights movement. His personality consisted of every good characteristic needed of a leader. He was sensible at all times and his ability to clearly state his ideas and thoughts surrounding peace and equality in the United States. There were other rights movements going on at the same time that Dr. King was leading his peaceful rights movements. The Black Panthers and other militant groups, some under Malcolm X's philosophy, often time would question King's leadership. King spoke in an eloquent manner and his ability to persuade and inspire is rivaled by none. Martin Luther King Jr. lived an exemplary life and although it culminated in his assassination, the strides that Dr. King made for the civil rights movement and his numerous speeches that inspired a nation such as his “I have a dream…” speech, should never be forgotten nor ignored. The “I have a dream…” speech is one of the most powerful speeches ever and is a main focus of the life of the great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was the most influential leader of the American Civil Rights Movement as he fought for the freedom of African Americans. King’s most influential speech is his “I Have a Dream” given on August 28, 1963.1 King himself was a man whom thousands of people admired. Martin Luther King Jr. uses an expressive tone in his speeches by using verbal powerful imagery toward his audience, reminding them of the challenges facing them and defeating racism. Martin Luther King Jr. inspired others to take action, lead by example, as shown in his speeches and promoted non-violence as a method for change.
Martin Luther King Jr. provided a great amount of leadership during the Civil Rights Movement. King started many nonviolent protests towards equality. Some of these nonviolent protests consisted of high attendance, such as the March On Washington, where more than two-hundred thousand people crowded into Washington D.C. to declare jobs and freedom. Dr. King played a big leadership role during the march by giving his “I Have a Dream Speech.” Using his leadership to inspire others to stand up for equal rights through nonviolent protests. His passive speech led to him leading other protests standing for equality. A leader needs the courage to take a stand and be
Martin Luther King gave his most famous speech August 28, 1963 around the Lincoln memorial in Washington, DC. This speech turned out to be a very powerful speech in history, and had the greatness number of people to attend. The "I Have a Dream Speech" has many literary and rhetorical devices within in it. This speech has repetition, tone, pathos and allusion, which makes this speech remarkable.
A servant leader is one who can grow and create a community of caring and prosperity. A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities but also recognize the