To what extent is an organization/movement’s success or failure determined by the actions of leaders
Introduction
Leaders are a key pillar in the success or failure of organizations or movements. This arises from the fact that the success or failure of movements or organization is influenced by the leadership approach adopted. David et al. (2004) accentuate that ‘leadership type affects centralization of decision making, division of labor and the extent to which the organization is subject to schism’ (p. 173). The right combination of leadership and organizational skills influences organization’s success in achieving the intended outcome. For example, the integration of leadership impacts the success with which social movements achieve social change.
This paper entails a critical analysis of the extent to which a social movement’s success or failure is determined by the actions of the leaders. The analysis evaluates the leadership actions of two main social movements in the US including the Black Feminist and Civil Rights Movement. With regard to the Black Feminist Movement, the paper evaluates the leadership approaches of Alice Walker while Martin Luther King Junior’s leadership is evaluated in relation to the Civil Rights Movement.
Analysis
A brief summary of the social movement leaders
As social movement leaders, Alice Walker and Martin Luther King Junior led to a significant transformation of the US political environment in. Through her work, Alice Walker emphasized the significance of recognizing and strengthening the rights of black women in the US. As a black feminist activist, Alice Walker advocated for the elimination of racism and discrimination against black women in the US (Fem Bio 2017). Through her work as a social activist, Alice Walker fostered the development of the theory of ‘womanism’ (Trigg & Bernstein 2016). One of her core achievements is evidenced by the fact that she empowered black women hence enabling them to achieve dignity in a society where they were considered as irrelevant with reference to leadership and participation in politics (Hooks 2009). Thus, through her activism, Alice Walker significantly contributed to the development of equality within society.
Martin Luther King is one of the notable civil rights activist leaders who contributed to a significant transformation of the US political environment. One of the major achievements of Martin Luther King entails the fact that he contributed to the achievement of an integrated society. As Civil Rights Movement leader, Martin Luther King challenged the concept of Black Nationalism.
According to Smith (2011), Black Nationalism entails a ‘belief that African Americans should have social, economic and political institutions that are separate from those of whites’ (p. 156). In his leadership, Martin Luther King advocated for the development of an ‘integrationist’ society characterized by racial equality between blacks and whites (Ford 2005). Through his social movement, Martin Luther King Junior contributed to the significant development of an integrated society.
Formation of social movements
One of the fundamental issues that contributed to the success of the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Feminist relates to the integration of effective social movement practices. One of the key issues in the formation of social movements entails the integration of the relevant stages in formation of social movement groups. Delaney and Madigan (2014) identify four main stages in the formation of a social movement that includes emergence, coalescence, formalization, and decline. The two social movement leaders ensured that the relevant stages in establishment of social movements were optimally entrenched as evaluated herein.
Formation; According to Delany and Madigan (2014), ‘the emergence of social movement occurs when people, initially just a few, come together to share their concern about the status quo or some specific social problem’ (p. 20). For example, in establishing their respective social movement, Martin Luther King and Alice Walker ensured that a clear goal was formed. This is evidenced by the fact that the two social movements were organized around a long-standing sense of discontentment. By identifying a common agenda, the two social movements were able to agitate and seek following based on the development of consciousness of the social inequity that prevailed within the society. By identifying a common purpose, the social movement leaders were able to create a sense of discontent amongst the leaders.
Coalescence; this constitutes the next stage of the formation of social movement. In this stage, the social movement is already well established. However, to actualize its goal, the leaders of the social group organize demonstrations and rallies in an effort to create extensive awareness among the public of the prevailing social inequalities. Additionally, this stage is characterized by extensive political lobbying. One of the key features of the Civil Rights Movement and Black Feminism entailed extensive political lobbying. Martin Luther King Junior and Alice Walker organized extensive public rallies and non-violent demonstrations in an effort to draw the attention of the political class to the need to ensure equal treatment between blacks and whites and to foster recognition of women’s rights (Arcaro et al. 2016). Martin Luther King organized lunch sit-ins and the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott in which black students participated in an effort to create awareness of the black community’s displeasure with the segregation that was perpetrated against them. On the basis approach, Martin Luther King Junior succeeded in ensuring that the Civil Rights Movement attained extensive support, especially amongst the black community. Thus, Alice Walker and Martin Luther King Junior ensured that the demonstrations were strategic which enhanced their success. For example, in lobbying for equal rights amongst injustices towards black women such as voting rights and preference of a male-dominated society, Alice Walker advocated for followers to entrench non-violent approaches (Kramarae & Spender 2004). On the basis of this approach, the two leaders were able to adopt a collective approach to pursuing their intended goal.
Formalization; Delaney and Madigan (2014) assert that social movements are established by a common group of individuals that is displeased with a particular issue. The basis of formalization of the Civil Rights Movement entailed the need to achieve social integration between the diverse communities in the US. Conversely, the need to eliminate discrimination amongst black women, for example with regard to access to voting rights, constitutes one of the core foundations on which the Black Feminist movement was established. In spite of the common goal, the social movements ensured that their activities were duly formalized. For example, Martin Luther King Junior led to the establishment of the Chicago Freedom Movement through which it undertook extensive lobbying catering to advocating for the provision of equal rights amongst the bland and white communities such as equality with regard to housing (Smith 2016). Through formalization of their operations, the two social movement organizations were able to pressure the government to address the issues raised from a central position and in a well-organized manner. This aspect significantly contributed to the success of the two social movements in achieving their intended goals.
Leadership approaches and leadership style
According to Delany and Madigan (2014), the type of leadership approach adopted by an organization influences the success with which the organization achieves the intended goal. This arises from the fact that the type of leadership impacts the level of motivation created amongst the followers. In leading their respective social movements, Martin Luther King Junior and Alice Walker entrenched the continuum leadership approach, which is based on the establishment of a balance in making decisions relating to the functioning of the social group. Under the continuum leadership approach, both the leader and the followers have the freedom to make decisions regarding the operations of the movement or organization (Dzimbiri 2009).
In addition to these aspects, the success of the social movements in their activities was fostered by the integration of the charismatic leadership style.
Charismatic leadership approach
The success of Martin Luther King Junior and Alice Walker in enhancing their social movements’ achievements of the intended goal was fostered by the leadership approach adopted. Martin Luther King and Alice Walker ensured that the development of social movement was based on a well-identified purpose. In establishing social movements, Martin Luther King and Alice Walker ensured that their social movement was based on the existence of a social condition that is characterized by extensive dissatisfaction with the prevailing conditions. Martin Luther King and Alice Walker organized their movement on the creation of awareness of the prevailing dissatisfaction (Christiansen 2009). As social movement leaders, Martin Luther King and Alice Walker created adequate awareness of the negative impact of Black Nationalism within the US society and perpetration of discriminative practices against women especially with regard to the political environment. The success of the two social movement leaders in achieving the intended objective arose from the integration of effective leadership practices.
The leadership of the two social movements was based on the charismatic leadership approach, which emphasizes the importance of inspiring followers to be committed to achieving a particular goal (Schermerhorn 2012; Conger & Kanungo 2003). One of the issues that the two leaders emphasized on entails sharing a vision of a better society by promoting equity across different stakeholders. Schermerhorn (2012) asserts that ‘studies on charismatic leadership have provided an extensive body of evidence indicating that charismatic leaders, by force of their personal abilities, are capable of having a profound and extraordinary effect on followers’ (p. 309).
Through their charismatic leadership, Martin Luther King Junior and Alice Walker were able to develop extensive following across the US. In applying charismatic leadership, Martin Luther King Junior and Alice Walker took into consideration three main elements. One of the issues that the leaders took into consideration entailed challenging deficiencies in the status quo. Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research (2002) defines deficiencies in the status quo to include ‘poorly exploited opportunities in the environment that lead to the formulation of goals for the organization or society’ (p. 36). This was achieved by creating a vision for change by challenging the status quo, the social movement leaders ensured that the target followers of their social movement were capable of achieving the intended goals (Hickman 2010).
The social movement leaders ensured that the followers were adequately informed of their movement’s goals and visions. Through this approach, the social movement leaders were able to create a vision of idealized vision amongst their followers. In actualizing their charismatic leadership approach, the two leaders adopted a hands-on approach by practically being engaged in their social movements’ activities. For example, Martin Luther King Junior depicted his charismatic leadership approach by organizing a non-violent civil rights approach (Schermerhorn 2012).
Conclusion
The above analysis indicates that leadership as one of the actions undertaken by leaders plays a central role in determining the success or failure of the organization or social movement. This assertion is supported by findings revealed by analysis of the Civil Rights Movement and the Black Feminist Movements in the United States. The two social movements were very successful in achieving the intended goal. For example, under the leadership of Martin Luther King Junior, the Civil Rights Movement was very successful in advocating for equality amongst the black and white communities in the US. Conversely, Alice Walker was successful in promoting equality amongst black women, for example, access to voting rights and elimination of male chauvinism.
One of the factors that contributed to the success of the two social movement groups relates to the integration of effective social movement and leadership practices by their leaders. The two leaders took into consideration the fundamental stages in the establishment of social movements including emergence, formation, and coalesce. The two leaders ensured that the fundamental issues associated with the respective stages were taken into consideration. Through this approach, the leaders were successful in nurturing a strong culture of social movement amongst their followers.
In addition to this aspect, both Martin Luther King Junior and Alice Walker entrenched a continuum leadership approach. This ensured that a collaborative decision-making approach was adopted. Additionally, the two leaders adopted a charismatic leadership style. Subsequently, they were able to motivate their followers to pursue a common vision and goal. On the basis of their performance in leading their movement organizations, one can affirm that the action of leaders has a significant influence on the success or failure of social movements.
References
Arcaro, T et al. 2016, Understanding the global experience; becomes a responsible world citizen, Political Science, New York.
Christiansen, J 2009, Four stages of social movements. [Online].
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Delany, T & Madigan, T 2014, Beyond sustainability; a thriving environment, McFarland & Company Incorporation, Jefferson, North Carolina.
Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research 2002, Leadership and management in the information age, The Emirates Centre for Strategic Studies and Research, Abu Dhabi.
Ford, R 2005, Racial culture, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
Hooks, B 2009, Feminism is for everybody; passionate politics, Routledge, New York.
Schermerhorn, J 2012, Organizational behavior, John Wiley, Hoboken, NJ.
Smith, J 2011, Encyclopedia of African American popular culture, Greenwood Publishers, Santa Barbara.
Smith, P, Ralph, J, LaFayette, B & Finley, M 2016, The Chicago Freedom Movement,; Martin Luther King Junior and civil rights activism in the North, Univeristy Press of Kentucky, Lexington.
Trigg, M & Bernstein, A 2016, Junctures in women’s leadership; social movements, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick.
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