Martin Luther King's Leadership Style

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Today, leadership is considered to be more art than science. Equally observable is that those who engage in leadership invoke a variety of leadership styles and traits that can vary greatly, and yet can be equally successful in a variety of situations. No one could deny the tremendous leadership skills of Martin Luther King, but at the same time, for example, do not highlight the skills and success of General Schwarzkopf in crushing the army of enemies. As is generally known, the personal motives affect the leadership preferences. For example, some people choose adventurous and strict leadership style, while the others prefer peaceful and continuous. Today, Martin Luther King is regarded as the greatest example of tolerant and successful fighting. …show more content…

His charisma combined with other leadership characteristics made him one of the most significant leaders of the modern world. He as a charismatic leader did not merely inspire but generated unusually passionate reactions in his followers. The result of his actions is that deedless followers became active, and they proceeded to motivate others while furthering the purpose and mission of the leader. One more thing had connected Dr. King with the crowd of people, with that society - empathy. “Empathy is an antidote. People who have it are attuned to subtleties in body language; they can hear the message beneath the words being spoken. Beyond that, they have a deep understanding of both the existence and the importance of cultural and ethnic differences.” (Goleman, 2010). Martin Luther King was able to use the empathic approach and look at the issues objectively to achieve the desired outcomes effectively. He felt the pain of discrimination, he fought against it. Dr. King always said: “The question is not “What will happen to you?” The question is “What will happen to …show more content…

In other words, leadership demands the ability to modify plans and adapt new strategies based on conditions and circumstances. To be successful, a leader must be capable of fitting in and adapting to a plethora of different groups and situations while never losing vision of the objectives and purpose of their appointment. Martin Luther King was flexible. Once he said that: “When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong you cannot be too conservative.”
All things considered, the future leaders should learn from his example because he created himself. Martin Luther King used all his gained experience, all the suffering, dreams and skills and turned it into the leadership. We have natural leader qualities and attributes that make us unique and that drive or motivate us. The only thing is that we need to use