Divine Encounter of a Black Servant Leader

Divine Encounter of a Black Servant Leader

The single most distinguishing feature between the servant leader and every other type of leaders is the primary focus of the leader. For instance, transactional leaders focus on dispensing the right types of rewards to motivate followers, while authentic leaders focus on establishing genuine relationships to motivate their followers to accomplish organizational goals.

Servant leaders are uniquely different because they are the only category of leader that focuses primarily on serving their followers, which means they are willing to set aside their own interests for the well-being, growth and development of those who follow them. The purpose in focusing on the needs of followers is to help them develop the discipline and knowledge to accept responsibility for solving their own problems (Northouse, 2016).

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. evolved into a servant leader after being drafted by the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), a group of black activists in Montgomery, Alabama, who had organized to follow the lead of Rosa Parks, a black woman who had initiated a personal protest of the city’s segregation policies on its public buses. It was this seemingly typical spokesperson-type position that eventually morphed into what we now know as the Civil Rights Movement of the ’60s (Garrow, 1987).

As the momentum of the protests continued to escalate and began to develop into the movement, Dr. King became increasingly aware that he had become associated with something much larger than himself. His once comfortable life was now jeopardized and complicated with the anxiety and stress from constant death threats, FBI surveillances, incarcerations, as well as other threats of violence against himself and his family. One could say, he had reached his own Gethsemane which forced him to seriously consider the cost, and perhaps possible ways to extricate himself from the situation (Garrow, 1987).

It was precisely at this point-in-time that Dr. King, the Servant Leader, was born from the midst of fear, anxiety, and tremendous feelings of aloneness, much like that of Jesus Christ in his own garden. It was during this season that Dr. King, the Baptist preacher, recognized his need for a different and more intimate relationship with the God he had only casually known up to that point. It was also during this season himself mentions that he had a Divine encounter that revealed to him the true depth of his intended role in the movement. He would later refer to this encounter as a call by God, with the reassurance that He, God, would never leave him alone (Garrow, 1987).

It is here that we find the very core of servant leadership, that sense of a Divine call to be used by God to do what only He, God, can do. It was from that point forward that Dr. King understood the movement was not at all about him, but that he had been called to something much greater. It was this Divine encounter that became the bedrock upon which the servant was able to confidently bear his cross and conceptualize the Biblical concept of love and nonviolence and the power within, to motivate and empower others to take a stand for righteousness and to challenge the egregious injustices brought about by racial discrimination and oppression. He personally modeled how to walk the picket lines and go to jail. He served his followers from the forefront by becoming an example of seeming fearlessness in the face of overwhelming obstacles; and others obediently followed his lead (Garrow, 1987).

Like all other leaders, Dr. King was required to be equally courageous in his humanity, as well as in his leadership. As such, he was smart to never present himself as the flawless hero leader. And though his human failures were fairly-well publicized by his media detractors, he never allowed those failures to interfere or deter him from his mission or call of developing his followers to carry the movement forward. It was this same compassion for developing and growing others, while teaching them to defend themselves from powerful bureaucratic bullies, that eventually brought him to Memphis and his untimely assassination, as he came to the aid of a group of sanitation workers who had been oppressed for decades (Conover, 2018).

If those who followed him would develop and grow, he knew that he too would have to continue his own personal growth. History saw those changes in his personal growth take a significant leap when he was awarded the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, which he considered to be a mandate to raise awareness of what he considered to be other injustices, e.g., the country’s involvement in the Vietnam War, the inequitable aspects of capitalism, and other third-world interventions.

Despite Dr. King’s support and example of love and nonviolence to achieve social change, following his death riots erupted in more than 150 cities across the country, including Washington DC. Forty-six people were killed, 2600 people were injured, and more than 22,000 people were arrested. These riots were in part responsible for forcing major political and social changes including the expansion and enforcement of the 1964 Civil Rights Act to end segregation in schools, equal access to public places, and the right to vote. The year of 1968 is considered a major turning point in American history.

One must wonder if Dr. King’s philosophy of love and nonviolence was valid, or was it the violent riots that created the change. It’s a good question. I believe both caused the change. The goal of a servant leader is to empower others by helping them to understand their needs and increasing their awareness of values and morality. The riots also played a role that had to happen because of the power that was

References

Conover, T. (2018). I Am A Man: In his final days, Martin Luther King Jr. stood by striking Memphis

sanitation workers. We returned to the city to see what has changed-and what hasn’t. Smithsonian, 48(9), 74-85.

Garrow, D. J. (1987). Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Spirit of Leadership. Journal Of American

History, 74(2), 438-447.

Northouse, P. G. (2016) Leadership theory and practice seventh edition. SAGE Publishing, Inc.: Los

Angeles, CA.