Introduction
Individuals are born with unique abilities that make them capable of managing and guiding people to take a given course that they deem significant for the wellbeing of the public. Over the past years, several renowned personalities have played fundamental roles that directly impact the way of life. Such individuals are found of using a universal message to motivate the crowd to act uniformly towards the desired change. They apply different leadership styles that enable them to earn the trust and loyalty of the masses in their actions. In American history, Martin Luther King became one of the best influential leaders who inspired the citizens to embrace equality across the country irrespective of race or ethnicity to enhance better living in the nation. King used the transformational headship technique to cause relevant changes in the people and societal system.
Martin Luther King’s Transformational Headship
King’s vision was to have a nation where people can live together and enjoy civil rights. However, achieving the status was quite difficult following the nature of the government and the mentality of the individuals in the country. Since the era consisted of a high level of discrimination, King applied a transformation leadership style to impact change amongst the people. King formulated the approach because the goal was to achieve positive influence in society to promote a system that values civil rights (Siangchokyoo et al., 2020). According to the quote King, “I have a dream” is a significant symbol that depicts the focus of the leader to motivate followers (Bajri & Mariesel, 2021). By using such words, it becomes easier to influence and inspire people to believe in the possibility of change towards a better and equal system.
The act of influencing people to change and believing in the possibility of change requires special abilities. King had the capabilities to instill transformation in the crowd as a leader. The individual was energetic and passed the message with emphasis to make people understand the content. Generally, the change process is complex and without proper energy to stir the group, they might fail to adhere to and follow the idea being proposed by the frontrunner. In addition, King embraced the aspect of individual consideration whereby he gave continuous encouragement to his followers. The approach made the masses feel part of the transformation and they were ready to implement the idea proposed by the leader (Dorrien, 2018). King ensured there is an open communication line to allow supporters to communicate and share their perceptions freely. This method fostered the supportive relationship necessary to impart a change in people.
Moreover, King was part of the change and provided a good example to the people making the crowd trust the idea of equality in the country. In most cases, individuals tend to follow leaders that show them what to do and how to perform them. King was a typical frontrunner that mobilized people to engage in various peaceful movements that inspired the citizens to emulate and support the transformation process. The aspect of idealized influence cultivated by the leader proved significant in making the people support and become part of the change.
The contribution of King in facilitating change in the country inspired most people to develop the quality of leadership such as determination. The approach enhanced the development of leadership capacity among the people. The practice that involved aligning the individual needs and the goals of transformation is a proper recipe that makes individuals become effective leaders. The headship style promotes commitment to achieving the intended purpose which is essential for the crowd (Alfoqahaa & Jones, 2020). Furthermore, King improved and cultivated confidence in the masses to believe in possibility in whatever endeavor they undertake. In addition, the approach made people have faith and vision to guide them.
Following several discrimination encounters that Martin Luther faced, he had a personal experience with racism that shaped his viewpoint and thus influenced his decisions and actions. In addition, the Gandhi’s approach of leadership played a significant role in impacting the leader’s journey to advocate for civil rights in the country by practicing the procedure of resistance by nonviolent. King’s idea to transform the nation came due to the challenges such as inequality especially in civil rights which he never wanted future generations to face as well.
Based on the influence of the leader, I have learned that to start and inspire others, there must some strong forces that drive an individual towards a given goal. Personal experience is essential in enabling a person to formulate and advocate for positive change that can benefit people (Alfoqahaa & Jones, 2020). Self-confidence and commitment are necessary to ensure the required transformation is achieved. It is important to be part of the revolution to inspire the followers and make them believe in the proposed ideas.
Conclusion
In summary, leadership styles are the core abilities that enable a leader to motivate and inspire people towards change. Martin Luther King adopted the use of the transformational headship technique to cultivate a system that drives followers to embrace transformation. Individual consideration and open communication lines made it easier for the activist to develop an effective supportive relationship with the people. His personal life experience and other encounters played a significant role in influencing the perception he had about the country. King influenced himself by emulating the leadership principle applied earlier by Mahatma Gandhi during his reign.
References
Alfoqahaa, S., & Jones, E. (2020). Leading at the edge of chaos: Historical perspectives on the qualities of leadership for cultural diversity and conflict resolution.International Journal of Public Leadership, 16(2), 217-248.
Bajri, I. A., & Mariesel, L. M. (2021). Martin Luther King’s speech ‘I have a dream’: Discourse analysis.Modern Perspectives in Language, Literature and Education Vol. 8, 1-8.
Dorrien, G. J. (2018). Breaking white supremacy: Martin Luther King Jr. and the black social gospel. Yale University Press.
Siangchokyoo, N., Klinger, R. L., & Campion, E. D. (2020). Follower transformation as the linchpin of transformational leadership theory: A systematic review and future research agenda.The Leadership Quarterly, 31(1), 101341.