Martin Luther King's Leadership Style
Martin Luther King, Jr.
A role model leader
Faculty: Business Administration
Course: Leadership
Presented by: Nana Akhobadze
“Leadership is an influence process that assists groups of individuals toward goal attainment” (Peter G. Northouse, 2010). According to the definition in order to accomplish this “process” group of individuals (followers) have to be influenced by an individual (leader) who should motivate, inspire, guide and direct group members towards mutual goal. This is exactly what Sir Martin Luther King, Jr. was doing and what had made him one of the world’s most inspirational leaders. A real role model of a successful leader had been attracting public interest for years and his characters, traits and skills are still inspirational for many of the modern day leaders and for ones interested in this filed. One of the main qualities of King’s as a leader was probably that, he always made it sure, that his followers were aware “why they do what they do”. Before discussing Dr. King’s leadership nature in more details, let’s have a brief look of his biography, which had shaped him as a successful person as well as a leader.
Biography
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement.
He was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia (US). He graduated from segregated high school in Georgia, at the age of fifteen. He received the B.A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College in Atlanta. After that he continued his study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, where he was elected as a president of a senior class dominated by white students and where he got his B.D. degree in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled at Boston University and received doctorate degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott and he got two sons and two daughters from her.
In 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in
A role model leader
Faculty: Business Administration
Course: Leadership
Presented by: Nana Akhobadze
“Leadership is an influence process that assists groups of individuals toward goal attainment” (Peter G. Northouse, 2010). According to the definition in order to accomplish this “process” group of individuals (followers) have to be influenced by an individual (leader) who should motivate, inspire, guide and direct group members towards mutual goal. This is exactly what Sir Martin Luther King, Jr. was doing and what had made him one of the world’s most inspirational leaders. A real role model of a successful leader had been attracting public interest for years and his characters, traits and skills are still inspirational for many of the modern day leaders and for ones interested in this filed. One of the main qualities of King’s as a leader was probably that, he always made it sure, that his followers were aware “why they do what they do”. Before discussing Dr. King’s leadership nature in more details, let’s have a brief look of his biography, which had shaped him as a successful person as well as a leader.
Biography
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement.
He was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia (US). He graduated from segregated high school in Georgia, at the age of fifteen. He received the B.A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College in Atlanta. After that he continued his study at Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, where he was elected as a president of a senior class dominated by white students and where he got his B.D. degree in 1951. With a fellowship won at Crozer, he enrolled at Boston University and received doctorate degree in 1955. In Boston he met and married Coretta Scott and he got two sons and two daughters from her.
In 1954, Martin Luther King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in
References: Peter G. Northouse; Leadership Theory and Practice; / Fifth edition (2010) Michael Hyatt; Eight Leadership Lessons from Martin Luther King, Jr. / International Leadership (2010) Peter J Ling; Martin Luther King 's Style of Leadership (2003) Priya Ramesh; Five Leadership Lessons from Martin Luther King Jr. (2012) Rosabeth Moss Kanter; Leadership and Martin Luther King 's Dream (2010)