Assignment task: I need help responding to this discussion board by:
Jalani Boines
DB 11
COLLAPSE
Dr. King would be best described as a transformational leader. According to the textbook, a transformational leader, "inspires followers to transcend their own needs in the interest of a common cause" (Kassin et al., 2021). Dr. King was a leader at one of the most important time periods in American history. The qualities he possessed from his leadership during the civil rights movement, remained with him after the movement was over making it safe to say that he was likely a natural born leader. It was clear that during the civil rights movement, he had high situational control based on how his supporters and peers acted. Take Rosa Parks for example. Her support for the civil rights movement was made clear when she got arrested for not giving up her seat on the bus. Although this choice may have been influenced by other things, I believe the existence of a good relationship between her and Dr. King contributed to it as well. In return, Dr. King was able to convince his supporters to boycott the buses for 381 days until changes were made. Could you imagine how much trust and respect people would have to have for you in order to follow behind you for that long? His characteristic charisma made it so that people saw him as trustworthy enough to follow behind. He gave people hope when they felt like they had none. The primary motive of his movement matched exactly what his target group wanted which is important for winning over the support and trust of people.
Dr. King continued to be a transformational leader as the Vietnam War occurred. He spoke and said what most people would be afraid to say. He stated that the war was unjust, unnecessary and it was against the beliefs of how a democracy should be run. He received a lot of criticism for this statement; however I believe that as a transformation leader you are bound to receive criticism because you will never be able to please everyone. Regardless of what others said, he stood firm in his beliefs.