“Leaders manage the dream. All leaders have the capacity to create a compelling vision, one that takes people to a new place, and then to translate that vision into reality.” (Bennis, 188) There have been many visionary civil rights leaders in the history of the United States such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Huey P. Newton, Angela Davis, Reverend Al Sharpton and Barack Obama. Recently the most promising civil rights leader is Van Jones. Van Jones sets himself apart from these other influential leaders by merging his enthusiasm for social equality and his passion for environmental activism. Van Jones believes that combining these two issues is central for alleviating some of the issues of injustice plaguing America. In our Communicating Leadership course we learned of key communication styles as identified by Warren Bennis, through his book Becoming A Leader. Van Jones demonstrates understanding of the main themes discussed in Becoming A Leader, such as understanding the basics of leadership, knowing the world, and forging the future attributable to the impact he has made in America through activism.
Van Jones is renowned worldwide, as a result of being a forerunner in human rights and clean energy economy. He was born in 1968 in rural town in Tennessee, where he was instilled with the values of education and faith. These values instilled upon him by his family, has followed him into adulthood, and has allowed him to attain many achievements. He embodies the leadership styles as expressed in Bennis (2009), by understanding the basics of leadership, and knowing the world, which gives him the ability to forge the future.
Van Jones encompasses all of the ingredients of basic leadership as characterized by Benni...
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...y: How one solution can fix our two biggest problems. New York, N.Y: HarperOne.
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There have been countless books, lectures, and and trainings, and retreats constructed around the idea of cultivating leadership in an individual. However, cultivating individuals’ ability to follow great leadership has received far less attention. Who are these people leading if each person within an organization is being trained to be a leader? The word follower has negative connotations, evoking the images of a weak, uncreative, milquetoast personality. However, Jimmy Collins, in his book, “Creative Followership: In the Shadow of Greatness”, suggests that the ability to be led brings as much creativity, consciousness, and indeed leadership to an organization or team as the leader himself.
Over the centuries, society’s had influential speakers who have incited change for the better. These speakers had the same ambition to sway the public masses to believe in their cause, but how they delivered their message and the action they took is where they differ. Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s Keynote Address to the Seneca Falls Convention on July 19, 1848 and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech on August 28, 1963 were impactful speeches on the public masses during their era; however, they both had similar goals of achieving rights for their respected groups, there were key differences in the way they went about seeking change. Stanton’s Address was in the nineteenth century, before woman had the right to vote, but the white women had
The world as we know it today, is one very different to the world even 50 years ago. Technology has advanced, frontiers have been reached and surpassed, and people are more free than ever. The catalyst for a large percentage of human freedom in particular was the African-American Civil Rights movement, from the mid 1950’s, to the late 1960’s. Headed by multiple prominent figures throughout its duration, the following essay will be comparing and contrasting Martin Luther King Jr., and Stokely Carmichael, and then determining which of the two was a more effective leader. If the definition used were to be “The act of leading, or the ability to be a leader”, (Webster 2003, p.264) then both Carmichael and King would finish in a similar position,
Everyone that has been through the American school system within the past 20 years knows exactly who Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is, and exactly what he did to help shape the United States to what it is today. In the beginning of the book, Martin Luther King Jr. Apostle of Militant Nonviolence, by James A. Colaiaco, he states that “this book is not a biography of King, [but] a study of King’s contribution to the black freedom struggle through an analysis and assessment of his nonviolent protest campaigns” (2). Colaiaco discusses the successful protests, rallies, and marches that King put together. . Many students generally only learn of Dr. King’s success, and rarely ever of his failures, but Colaiaco shows of the failures of Dr. King once he started moving farther North.
Speeches are a method of persuading people to do something. For Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, their speeches were to bring equality for the people of color. However, their approaches are different. Consequently, the effects may be different. An example of their contrasting differences is a speech from each, King’s “I Have a Dream” and X’s “The Black Revolution”. Their speeches used pathos, a central metaphor, and a warning, but was presented differently.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. discussed the hope that the movement needed when he said that “With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope” (King). Although the Civil Rights activists were despairing at the time over the many issues, they needed to find hope in order to triumph over the misfortune. Lewis used the power of the speech to develop the message of hope, saying that “in those moments, Dr. King made plain all of our hopes, our aspirations… everything we dared to imagine about a new America, a better America” (March Book Two 173). Dr. King’s speech conveyed what had already permeated the minds of each and every Civil Rights activist, that the future could be bright if they kept working at
Martin Luther King was a drum major for justice, for peace, for freedom of equality. Many believe that leaders are made, I disagree Dr. King was born a leader, and he used his leadership skills and abilities and power to accomplish great things, even though he was considered a controversial leader as well. How will you use whatever power you acquire? Will you make a difference or will you just conform. “Let us look calmly and honestly at ourselves, and we will discover that we too have those same basic desires for recognition, for importance… We all want to be important, to surpass others, to achieve distinction, to lead the parade… It’s a good instinct if you don’t distort it and pervert it. Don’t give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be first in love. I want you to be first in moral excellence. I want you to be first in generosity. (Dr.King “the Drum Major Instinct
Martin Luther King Jr. was a social activist who played a very important part in the American Civil rights movement. Martin Luther King’s work still continues to serve as a superb example of leadership. Some leadership qualities he demonstrated were being able to persuade others without force. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was able to convince millions of people to support his dreams through nonviolent protests and speeches. He gave people something to believe in. Another leadership quality that Dr. King Jr. was to embrace fear. He taught people it is better to admit your fears so you are able to be courageous in spite of it. Getting everyone involved was another leadership quality that he displayed. Martin King Jr was able to involve so many people because they all felt they were part of a bigger
Manning Marable’s text Black leadership impacted a social movement. Professor Marable talks about the many struggles for civil rights, political and economic equality in America. In this book he also talks about the different roles of black leaders. (Black Leadership) “I am convinced that the Black man will only reach his full potential when he learns to draw upon the strengths and
On August 28th, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. gave one of the most notable speeches in American history, at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. King started off his famous “I Have a Dream” speech by stating the impact it would have on America’s civil rights movement: “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” (King 1). With knowledge of rhetoric and persuasion, King had a substantial impact on the civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr.’s use of ethos, pathos, and logos appeals enable King to persuade the audience to achieve equality.
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.
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