After the conducted research on Martin Luther-King’s leadership style and qualities, it is about time to summarize the main lessons and impact provided by the said study. It would be possible to achieve this by comparing one’s core principles and beliefs to those of fundamental leadership theories and Luther-King’s style as a way to find out the alignments and misalignments. The main point lies in the following statement: role models and famous leaders can positively influence one’s style, though not to the extent of entirely copying it. Thus, one needs to state which principles are suitable for borrowing to enhance the ethics of leadership influence.
Core Beliefs and Their Meaning
First, I should mention the beliefs and values, meaningful to my leadership management, and pick out the most crucial ones. The following would allow noticing several essential aspects for further study conduct. Firstly, it would sum up the moral and ethical cornerstones of one’s personality and behavioral expression. Secondly, it would open the way to safely measure how they are reflected in the leading and everyday behavior.
In the beginning, I would like to note that I base my beliefs on four universal principles: honesty, responsibility, respect, and willingness. In other words, I see honesty as an integral part of human communication, responsibility, and respect as vital components of persons’ relationship and willingness as a way of demonstrating one’s voluntary action. Among the core values, I deem friendship and agreement as a core value in not only leading people but even in every day dealing with them.
As for the organization, powers, processes, and profit beliefs, firstly, I see any organization members as parts of a united organism that needs all the components to function correctly. However, people outside the organization are also valuable for two reasons – firstly, they still have a chance to join the community, and secondly, because even a single individual can matter. In power assessment, I consider human emotions the primary motivators of the persons’ activities, including both positive (love and trust) and negative (hate and rage) feelings. Those also move forward the progress of humanity, and the policies frequently base the main principles of using emotions. Regarding the profit, in my opinion, it can be achieved both through positive and underhanded tactics of leadership.
In my behavior, I try to follow the declared principles, although it does not always go the right way. Firstly, while usually honest, sometimes I use hiding and half-true in situations where truth can bring negative consequences. However, I do show respect to every individual, even if someone acts aggressively towards me. Secondly, I try to make the best use of my emotional state, as well as the state of others, to lead in the right direction. Nonetheless, I must admit that negative feelings also can be helpful in some cases, despite their destructive nature.
Leadership Theories and Their Impact
A part of the research included the study of modern leadership theories – the current models to improve one’s leadership style. For the sake of assessing and improving the leadership qualities, I should make substantial notes on the most relatable theories in terms of one’s leading activity. First, transformational leadership is considered a highly valuable and perspective model. The approach started its evolution in the 1970s, with Burns introducing the main points in 1978 and Bass developing and expanding the concept, as the researchers note (Hoch, Bommer, Dulebohn, & Wu, 2018).
The term itself means the literary “transformation” of leader and their subjects – the leader should encourage their subordinates to achieve new levels of proficiency through innovative practices. The concept of ethical leadership possesses a similar value, and, according to Hoch et al. (2018), it was developed in the works of Brown, Trevino, and Bandura. The concept’s base principle indicates the ethical dimension as one of the critical details of ineffective leadership. Both theories align in several aspects – transformational leadership focuses on an individual and particularly on the morals of their relationship, and ethical leadership is meant to “transform” the subjects via morality.
Regarding the alignment with my practices, I should state that I both seek to bring forth my subjects’ improvement through ethical aspects of honesty and respect. However, there are situations when I have to prioritize the well-being of the entire collective, which is why I may be able to sacrifice the progress of one individual for the sake of many. On the other hand, my appreciation of the individual qualities and worth of every single person makes me more capable of improving the subjects per the transformational leadership guidelines. Namely, I prefer to communicate with every person of the community and distinguish the individual ways of development which are beneficial for the said person and the collective as well.
Application of Martin Luther-King’s Leadership Style
During the comparison with Martin Luther-King as a leader model, it is crucial to review the main points of his leadership beliefs and practices. The results of the previous study have demonstrated the diversity of Luther-King’s leadership abilities and their relation to the two said models. Then, one could assess the example of Luther-King as an icon of leadership, compare with one’s leadership conducting, and distinguish similarities and differences.
As mentioned in earlier studies, Luther-King stood for four principles of leadership – responsibility, integrity, compassion, and forgiveness. He always stayed loyal to those principles, demonstrating it by trying to understand and forgive those who opposed him, or by taking responsibility for every significant action of his organization.
Moreover, as a faithful Christian, Luther-King believed that the essence of power comes from love, according to Garrow (2015), which makes it a critical tool in changing society with non-aggressive means. However, it did not mean that Luther-King was entirely deprived of the pragmatic vibes since he could combine his religious beliefs with practical policies in the struggle against discrimination and inequality.
While determining similarities, one should first note that responsibility is also one of my primary principles, as well as the devotion to keeping these principles active. Additionally, the belief in love as the source of power does align with my notion that feelings grant humanity its power and move forward. However, because of the heavy emphasis on Christian morality, I would not be able to agree with all the points. Among other things, despite my willingness to follow the ethical principles, I realize that in extreme cases, they must be cast aside to achieve a higher goal, per saying “end justifies the means.”
Conclusion
In the end, the research can determine three primary means to improve one’s ethics of leadership. Firstly, one should treat both oneself and the subjects in a more positive light, since negative feelings, despite their efficiency sometimes, are fundamentally destructive. Secondly, one has to continue to cherish the distinctive ways of pushing individual progress. Finally, one should emphasize responsibility and love as an empowering force, similar to Luther-King, as the qualities that can enhance the leader’s call.
References
Garrow, D. J. (2015). Bearing the cross: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. New York, NY: Open Road Media.
Hoch, J. E., Bommer, W. H., Dulebohn, J. H., & Wu, D. (2018). Do ethical, authentic, and servant leadership explain variance above and beyond transformational leadership? A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Management, 44(2), 501–529.