Leadership Traits Of Martin Luther And Nelson Mandela

Leadership style of Martin Luther

Describe about the Leading and Managing People for Leaderships Trait.

Leadership can be considered as the skill to influence other people toward a certain path in order to achieve any objectives. While management can be defined as the way to maintain order and uniformity in any operation, the leadership concept is way beyond of these operational activities. Human history has experienced a lot of remarkable leaders who have enlightened as well as nourished the generic understanding of leadership in an remarkable fashion.  This article will be focusing on three most significant leaders in the history of humankind in order to identify their leadership traits. The article will assess their leadership styles in terms of leadership ethics, evolution of their leadership, multicultural leadership traits, and relation with traditional leadership theories as well as psychology of their leadership. It will also attempt to identify and assess their communication skills in order to understand its impact on leadership practices.

Leadership ethics: Leadership ethics states that a leader is directed by respect for ethical beliefs and values along with dignity and rights of others. This leadership style is immensely related to trust, consideration, fairness, honesty and charisma (Landis et al. 2014). Martin Luther always valued and respected the views and goals of his people and never forced them to follow something that is not related to their life. He always asked his followers to never follow wrongful paths in order to gain their rightful place. He clearly mentioned that people must not look to fulfil their thirst for freedom and justice by talking the path of hatred and bitterness (Robinson and Topping 2012). He also asked to conduct struggle in a way that can keep dignity and discipline intact. He also advised people not to generate physical violence and should protest in a create way. For his quotes it is clear that he always followed ethics and values of other people while leading way from the front.

Revolutionary leadership lessons can also be learned from Martin Luther who states some important “hold fast to your word” and wanted people to understand to think carefully before they give their word. He was extraordinarily disciplined and was continuously fasting, praying and meditating, subjecting himself to an insensitive ascetic lifestyle. He stated “embrace your inner Spartan” that helped him to develop a strong self-discipline that served him rest of his life (Reed et al. 2016). Besides, he also cared deeply about discriminating God’s will and never wavered from that eventual purpose. He was powerfully committed to the church; however, soon he understood that church is driven by power and money that changed his vision. As a result, he changed the whole world as he knew it. Martin Luther was determined in his detection and even refused the Pope. He took the decision to think freely and not to follow anyone’s authority (Bruyneel 2014). He decided to assert without defending it. He also understood that connecting with people is very important and that is why he used humour and metaphor in his writing. Besides, he also decided to use earthy languages so that people can understand what he wants to way which was another revolutionary step taken by him.

Leadership styles of Nelson Mandela

Martin Luther King’s leadership was mostly transformational leadership. Transformational leadership is known as mutual process of engagement between leaders and followers that helps them to elevate each other to high levels of morality and motivation. Transformational leaders challenge the status quo and motivate his followers to explore new ways of doing things. Martin Luther positively challenged the existing state of isolation and unfairness within the society. He showed a new pathway to democracy, racial justice and brotherhood for all. He backed his new concept by the fuel of “urgency of now.” According to Miller (2013), transformational leaders also offer supervision and support to his followers and direct acknowledgment of each follower’s exceptional offerings. Martin Luther took his time to empathize with the “great trials and problems, storms of maltreatment and police viciousness” of his followers in order to motivate them to continue to work with the belief that unearned distress is redemptive. He also helped his followers by comforting them with the hope of pending change that their collaboration could effect. As mentioned by Landis et al. (2014), transformation leaders eloquent a clear vision to his followers and help them to experience the same passion and motivation to fulfil their goals. Martin Luther did the same by spiritedly sharing his dream. By doing this he was able to inspire and motivate millions of people. As a result, people started to believe that they can emancipate themselves from whatever shackles are limiting them fort the life they are similarly entitled to. Reed et al. (2016) mentioned that, transformational leaders serve as a role model for their followers who can easily trust and respect the leader without any question. Fifty years passed after his memorable speech and 45 years after his assassination it is true that his physical existence is distant. However, the influence of his leadership still exists. Martin Luther was able to persuade others to believe in his dream in order to develop a better future. That is why, it can be said that he was a perfect transformational leader.

Dr. Martin Luther’s psychology was mostly standing on his leadership skills by which he was able to coherent his dreams into his followers. This characteristics and psychology of him made him made him popular among his followers. He showed extreme courage in the face of danger and threats (Alderman and Inwood 2013). He believed that everyone is vulnerable during civil rights struggle. People who are powerful will oppress the weak that will obviously lead to anger and retaliation. That is why; Martin Luther gathered courage to face the risks and pursued non-violent call to arms. Without showing reluctance he faced threats that were thrown in his way. Another impressive thing about his psychology was encouraging others by telling them cold hard facts and by not hiding reality (Colbert 2013). He revealed through his speech the realities of a situation no matter how painful it may seem. His psychology is his leadership was to have faith in the abilities of his followers. It has been identified that not only he always loved to acknowledge people who did something good and contributed to the cause. He has the ability to bring the best from his followers by providing them with proper assistance. His psychology also includes the idea of doing something completely different with the help of evolution and innovation. Because of his strong philosophy he was able to gain success by shaking up the popular culture of the time (Jackson 2013). This clearly states that Martin Luther had a strong psychology and intend by which he was able to transfer a message to the status quo in the society by saying that the people are not going to follow the traditional rules and regulations that are not set to humiliate them. His psychology was revolutionary and with the help of transformational leadership he was able to make a change in the society.

Nelson Mandela was one of the most inspiring leaders that mankind has ever met. He presents a symbol of reconciliation, humility, compassion, strengths as well as utmost courage. In other words, Nelson Mandela was not only role model for African people but also the true inspiration for the entire world. Being a royal blood, he was groomed to be a counsel for the regent just like his father. The extended family has been most crucial factor for the formation of his early belief regarding custom, tradition as well as culture of the African people (Pietersen 2015).

Nelson Mandela is immensely recognised for his impressive leadership ethical values, which proved to be most imperative for keeping the centre of attention as well as avoiding the violence. As a major characteristic of ethical leadership it is imperative for the leaders to live by the vision that is the core of their leadership. In this context, Nelson Mandela has proved his efficiency and excellence being embody of utmost peace (Clinebell 2014). It has been observed by the extensive study of his leadership models that Nelson Mandela formed his leadership practices on the basis of reconciliation, humility, forgiveness as well as sympathy. It has been observed that despite of having an experience of complete harassment as well as humiliation; Nelson Mandela forgave all of his political opponents. In support of the argument it can be presented that, he has cooperated as well as closely worked with Frederick de Klerk who treated him in the ANC prison (Perks and May 2015). In addition to that, he has been highly popular for his leadership practices such as protecting the vulnerable, assisting and empowering the poor, improving living and working conditions, supplying social services as well as showing symp4athy to the marginalised group4s.

It has been identified by numerous scholars that Nelson Mandela represents a wide range of leadership styles. It is always been assumed that his political leadership style has been immensely shaped by the training of the ANC. His political leadership has been always clearly defined along with visionary (Beresford 2014). He believed that in order to manage the population it is necessary for leaders to persuade, negotiate and coerce respectively. In addition to that, it is believed that Nelson Mandela transpired his leadership practices with the aim of transforming Africa into apartheid free nation where every man will be treated as free and equal. It has been observed by the scholars that Mandela has followed Utilitarianism leadership style while fighting against the apartheid. However, it is evident from the extensive analysis that Mandela represented a versatile leadership styles among his practices. These styles are commonly known as charismatic leadership, transformational leadership as well as inspirational leadership.

The history states that Nelson Mandela was the most influential figurehead in the politics of Africa during the 20^th century. Numerous scholars have observed that Nelson Mandela led the African men being most captivating as well as charismatic leader. At the same time, he encouraged his followers to educate themselves in order to higher their values and ideas (Raelin 2015). In other word, it can be effectively noticed that Nelson Mandela attempted to transform the existing superstitious state of his country by raising their awareness. This encouragement towards the transformational activities established his image as a transformational leader. In addition to that, Nelson Mandela also inspired his followers of ANC to perceive the significance of his vision. The values of his appeal effectively assisted the freedom movement in Africa. Moreover, he has been also noted to travel every part of the nation to inspire his fellow citizens to fight against the apartheid as well as racial discrimination. These significant activities effectively indicated that Nelson Mandela has also approached his political movement with inspirational leadership.

The widespread study on the Nelson Mandela’s leadership styles has been able to identify that he held a true talent in the communication skills. It has been often observed that Nelson Mandela had the ability to effectively anticipate the movement or argument of the opponents at the time of facing challenges and defences. Nelson Mandela even learned the Afrikaans language as well as Afrikaner history, so that he can more relate with his followers.  Generally, Nelson Mandela will communicate with his opponent directly based on the challenges so that he can have the advantage in the negotiation and resolve those issues (Daleus 2015). In addition to that, it has been also observed that he was highly popular for effectively coordinating his followers with an impressive communication power. Communication skill has been a true part of his arsenal in terms of explaining the plan of fighting for South Africa and convincing them to act on it.

Nelson Mandela exhibited a highly influential practice of multicultural leadership. Majority of the scholars put the name of Nelson Mandela as a reference of multicultural leader. He was the first African president that fought against the racial discrimination he inspired his followers to shun every superstition and welcome every fellow citizen as their brothers in arms irrespective of their backgrounds. In order to understand the fellow citizen better, Nelson Mandela travelled every part of South Africa and received them with utmost respect and importance (Northouse 2014). Being a leader, he always put importance on every followers irrespective of their standard and background.

The true essence of Nelson Mandela’s leadership was integrity as well as dignity, while the perception of the leadership is considered. Nelson Mandela exclusively integrated his leadership practices on the basis of three different leadership domains. One of the most important of his leadership domains was personal leadership. It displayed a greater ability to persuade followers as well as political opponents with his personal values, deep self-knowledge as well as authenticity (Bolman and Deal 2014). Another major domain that has been identified in his leadership practices is Interpersonal leadership. It mostly entails with understanding the others’ challenges and emphasizing with their needs. It also focuses on extracting the best effort from every follower. Lastly, strategic leadership is another key part of his leadership psychology. Nelson Mandela has been able to establish the winning strategy with most precise prioritizing and effective action plan.

Abraham Lincoln was the most popular president of United States of America as he led the nation through most difficult as well as conflicting time. He was highly popular for his ability to lead the nation to the pathway of success despite of the crumbling situation of the country. In this context, it has been identified that Abraham Lincoln resolved the long list of escalation from the numerous factions of people (Greenstein and Anderson 2015). He also established the most appropriate as well as impressive stand against the slavery.

Analyzing the leadership style of Abraham Lincoln it can be effectively identified that Abraham Lincoln fits into the trait theory of leadership (Greenstein 2013). He expressively reflected big five factors such as sociability, integrity, determination, intelligence as well as self-confidence. On the other hand, several scholars has been able to identify the skills approach of his leadership. Abraham Lincoln considered himself as a student throughout his life. He admitted that the study has been able to reshape his perception as well as ability to lead American citizens. The major three skills approaches that have been identified are technical dimension, conceptual dimension as well as human dimension. Abraham Lincoln was highly popular for being most modest people. He has the tendency continuously forgive the mistake of the people (Daft 2014). In addition to that, it has been also identified that Abraham Lincoln was quite competent to prioritize his concerns with an effective capability. In this context, it has been observed in many occasions that he had highly impressive conceptual strategic ability. In addition to that, Abraham Lincoln was also highly focused on the implementing different leadership practices in the different time. These particular traits effectively indicate that Abraham Lincoln also fit into the situational leadership concept.

Abraham Lincoln established the true form of multicultural practice in all over the Australia. In addition to that, he respected and welcomed all fellow American as a equal entity (Kennedy 2013). He encouraged all the American people to practice an anti-discriminatory practice across the country. His values and beliefs have founded the current multi-cultural environment of America. He truly believed that every American citizen must have equal rights irrespective of their differences and diverse backgrounds. It has been observed that Abraham Lincoln mostly emphasized on founding the equality in the racial quality of people (Zaccaro 2014).

The major two ethical implications that are considered in the American society are New American republic idealism as well as Biblical religion. Although, Abraham Lincoln greatly considered both of the ethical implications with utmost sincerity, he personally trusted on the law and legislation (Goethals and Allison 2014). These particular beliefs eventually shaped his leadership perceptions. He has the supreme trust on the people as well as law of the nation. Abraham Lincoln also emphasized on the public opinion so that the national policies can be meet the requirements of public. As a leader Abraham Lincoln greatly emphasized on the ethics of responsibility through his action.  He believed and acted as a continuous serving agent of the American constitution in order to effectively live by his promises.

Abraham Lincoln presented a most impressive talent in terms of communication skill in his leadership practices. It is evident that communication skills set the path of the success of leadership (Ellis 2013). Henceforth it is commonly acknowledged by the scholars that communication skills have taken a very crucial part in the success of leadership of Abraham Lincoln. The major strategy undertaken by Abraham Lincoln is developing simple message for communication with common people. He believed it would be effective as the simple message will be easy to receive, share as well as remember for the people. In addition to that, he reflected greater interpersonal skills through his action (Popper 2013). He communicated with the people with utmost patience so that he can properly listen to them and then response.

Conclusion:

Above article has been able to assess the leadership styles of three most inspiring leaders of humankind sincerely. These leaders are Martin Luther, Nelson Mandela and Abraham Lincoln. The article has been able to identify various aspects of their leadership with a greater efficiency. Moreover, the leadership styled has been analyzed in the light of leadership ethics, evolution of their leadership, multicultural leadership traits, relation with traditional leadership theories as well as psychology of their leadership. This article has been able to identify the major traits that are highly influential for leading as well as managing people towards the utmost success. The article has been able to indicate the importance of goals, communication skills, leadership ethics as well as multicultural practices. In other words, the article has been successful to contribute effectively in the leadership and management studies as one of the most influential work.

Reference List:

Alderman, D.H. and Inwood, J., 2013. Street naming and the politics of belonging: spatial injustices in the toponymic commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr. Social & Cultural Geography, 14(2), pp.211-233.

Beresford, A., 2014. Nelson Mandela and the politics of South Africa’s unfinished liberation. Review of African Political Economy, 41(140), pp.297-305.

Bolman, L. and Deal, T., 2014. Leadership and management. Christian Youth Work in Theory and Practice: A Handbook, p.245.

Bruyneel, K., 2014. The king’s body: The Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and the politics of collective memory. History & Memory, 26(1), pp.75-108.

Clinebell, S., 2014. Snapshots of Great Leadership. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 13(1), pp.139-141.

Colbert, S.D., 2013. Black Leadership at the Crossroads: Unfixing Martin Luther King Jr. in Katori Hall’s The Mountaintop. South Atlantic Quarterly,112(2), pp.261-283.

Daft, R.L., 2014. The leadership experience. Cengage Learning.

Daleus, P., 2015. Political Leadership: New Perspectives and Approaches.Political Psychology, 36(1), pp.133-137.

Ellis, L., 2013. Understanding your leadership balance. The Journal for Quality and Participation, 35(4), p.4.

Goethals, G.R. and Allison, S.T., 2014. Kings and charisma, Lincoln and leadership: An evolutionary perspective. In Conceptions of Leadership (pp. 111-124). Palgrave Macmillan US.

Greenstein, F.I. and Anderson, D., 2015. Presidents and the Dissolution of the Union. Princeton University Press.

Greenstein, F.I., 2013. Presidents and the Dissolution of the Union: Leadership Style from Polk to Lincoln. Princeton University Press.

Jackson, T.F., 2013. From civil rights to human rights: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the struggle for economic justice. University of Pennsylvania Press.

Kennedy, J., 2013. Abraham Lincoln: Lessons in Leadership. Central Library, Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.

Landis, E.A., Hill, D. and Harvey, M.R., 2014. A synthesis of leadership theories and styles. Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 15(2), p.97.

Miller, K.D., 2013. On Martin Luther King Jr. and the Landscape of Civil Rights Rhetoric. Rhetoric & Public Affairs, 16(1), pp.167-183.

Northouse, P.G., 2014. Introduction to leadership: Concepts and practice. Sage Publications.

Perks, S. and May, J., 2015, October. Change leadership styles and qualities necessary to drive environmental sustainability in South Africa. InProceedings of International Academic Conferences (No. 2805129). International Institute of Social and Economic Sciences.

Pietersen, W., 2015. What Nelson Mandela Taught the World About Leadership. Leader to Leader, 2015(76), pp.60-66.

Popper, M., 2013. Leaders perceived as distant and close. Some implications for psychological theory on leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(1), pp.1-8.

Raelin, J.A., 2015. Rethinking Leadership. MIT Sloan Management Review,56(4), p.95.

Reed, C.R., Bevel, S.J., Jenkins, H., Jackson, K., Barge, G., JacksonSr, J., Rubinowitz, L., Collier, J., Schechter, G., White, B. and Baron, H., 2016. The Chicago Freedom Movement: Martin Luther King Jr. and Civil Rights Activism in the North. University Press of Kentucky.

Robinson, J.L. and Topping, D., 2012. The Rhetoric of Power: A Comparison of Hitler and Martin Luther King Jr. Journal of Management Inquiry, p.1056492612451789.

Zaccaro, S.J., 2014. Leadership memes: From ancient history and literature to twenty-first century theory and research. The Oxford handbook of leadership and organizations, pp.13-39.