Martin Luther King Servant Leadership

What is leadership? Researchers cannot seem to agree on any one answer. Defining the indescribable is a task that no one definition has seemed to prove victorious. Each definition has its own bias or implications that does not capture the full concept of what leadership truly is. Rost, an academic in the study of leadership, reviewed 221 different definitions to make the point that there is no common definition, and would reach the conclusion that “Neither scholars nor the practitioners have been able to define leadership with precision, accuracy, and conciseness so that people are able to label it correctly when they see it happening or when they engage it.” Understanding that there is no perfect way of defining or pin pointing leadership

as a whole it may prove to be effective to select a specific style or method of leadership, and define this method. This should be done with caution because leadership cannot be broken down into smaller ideas or components, and then put back together to then reach a more comprehensive definition. This way of understanding leadership is not appropriate to the study of what leadership is and how leadership interacts within disciplines.
An analysis of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will prove to show a real life example of what servant leadership looks like in American history. Martin Luther King Jr. is an amazing example of servant leadership. King was born in January of 1929 in Atlanta Georgia. King would become a Baptist minister and social activist, who led the Civil Rights Movement in the United States from the mid-1950s until his death by assassination in 1968. Martin Luther’s major work of leadership started when he took over a small, struggling Ebenezer Baptist church. This church had approximately 13 members and he made this church into a much larger forceful congregation. King is most famously known for his involvement in the Civil Rights Movement that would eventually lead to his assassination. On April 3rd, the day before his death, King would give a speech and would say, “I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.” This prophetic quote by King serves as a poetic ends of his life. The very next day James Earl Ray will shoot King with a sniper rifle and kill him. Between the founding of King’s leadership in his ministry in a small church to his assassination King has exhibited one constant theme, and that theme is servant leadership. King’s great use of servant leadership encouraged growth in his church, and empowered the Civil Rights Movement to reach the great goal of equality for the African American population.
Servant leadership is much of what would be practiced by Martin Luther King Jr.

This practice of servant leadership can be examined for its strengths and weaknesses and see how his leadership style produced change and generated a followership. James Perry, an editor for Huffington Post defines servant leadership as, “one who offers an inclusive vision; listens carefully to others; persuades through reason; and heals divisions while building community.” Through the life of King, America can see what servant leadership can do to change a nation. One important aspect of being a good leader in any method is model the way. Kouzes and Posner will posit that one of the major aspects that a leader needs to possess is to, clarify values. Martin Luther King Jr. clarified his values and shared his values with many people. During his “I Have a Dream” speech Martin Luther King Jr. clarified his goals and values and established his desires on how to solve the issue that was at hand. This desire and value was not one that he was alone on, but as a good leader King collaborated with his followers and together they came up with shared values such as equality for all people. James Sipe and Don Frick in, Seven Pillars of Servant Leadership, present that there are seven different vita aspects that compose a servant leader. One of these “pillars” is compassionate collaborator. This pillar is said to have three sub-characteristics: expresses appreciation, builds teams and communities, and

negotiates conflict. All three of these characteristics are characteristics that King possesses. Perry in his article states,
Dr. King once said, “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.” That struggle for change bears fruit when we seek to serve others first, to find common ground, to use power ethically, and to insist on fairness and equality.
This struggle that King was describing and that Perry explains is coming from this pillar of compassionate collaboration. King cared about what was wrong around him that he was willing to negotiate through the struggles of conflict to find a resolution.
King also exhibited integrity. In Exploring Leadership Komives and others write about how integrity is a part of leadership and how this component of leadership can be taken and applied into leadership in general. One characteristic of leadership with integrity that this book suggests is important is, “Critical thinking skills to analyze and convey the ethical components of a problem or dilemma.” This is one of King’s strong suites. King would use his skills in speaking, his belief in non-violence, and his integrity in his leadership. King would say, “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community, which has constantly refused to negotiate, is forced to confront the issue.” King here is spelling out his theory of non-violence, but also he is showing how his integrity has allowed him to use this belief of his to move others to help him in solving the pressing issues of his time.
One major strengths of King that was listed above, non-violence, is also one of his largest weaknesses that would eventually lead to his death.

May group would rise up in disfavor of his non-violence. King instead of shifting his beliefs and molding his leadership to best fit the followers, he would continue on to do what he believed to be the best way of approaching the issue. King would continue this belief to his death bed. This characteristic flaw could be seen as both a strength and a weakness, but due to the fact that this characteristic flaw led to his death the conclusion may lead to a fatal weakness.
Martin Luther King Jr. a great leader of his time. With his powerful influence up to his death King had started the movement that now allows African American to be equal citizen of the United States. Through King’s strengths of compassionate collaboration, and his weakness of persistence to death. King used servant leadership to bring unity amongst his followers and eventually to the whole

nation.