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Dr. King’s Lessons for Business Leaders
A Case Study in Change Leadership
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Objectives of the Case Study
Why this View on King’s Leadership?
Examine King’s leadership from a tactical perspective, not ideals and vision
Highlight the challenges faced in the midst of a change crisis, not looking back on success with “rose-colored” glasses
Extract specific lessons business leaders can apply
Dr. King’s Lessons for Business Leaders
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The Case Study: The Leadership Lessons Available through the Birmingham Change Campaign
Strategic Risks and Rationale – The Decision to “Go in”
The Change Plan – What was Planned and What Went Wrong
Leadership Interventions – The Road to Revitalization
Lessons for Today’s Change Leaders
Dr. King’s Lessons for Business Leaders
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Strategic Rationale of the Change Campaign
In the spring of 1963, King and his leadership team targeted racial integration in the city of Birmingham.
Strategic Rationale A new precedent of success for the movement. A cascade effect – “If Birmingham goes toward
integration, so will the entire south.” Reemergence of King as the preeminent civil
rights leader Lack of competition by other civil rights
organizations Entrenched opposition
Key Risks Alienation from key constituencies Uncontrolled violence that harms the reputation
of the movement and compromises outcomes Back to back failures meant declining power and
relevance for King
“The decision to go into Birmingham was really the first time that Dr. King said I am not going to be responding to a crisis, I am going to create a campaign to test really try to test what we can do….”-Taylor Branch, Historian
“Nobody wanted to go to Birmingham…(it) was a terrible place…there had been 60 unsolved bombings…and nothing was done about any of this.”- Andrew Young
“The violence that Birmingham represented, people knew, could easily be turned and focused on King as a representative of the movement.”- Vincent Harding
Source – Citizen King, PBS, 2004. Parting the Waters, America During the King Years. Taylor Branch, 1988.
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The “Blueprint” – Project “C”
The strategy they employed to achieve this goal was straightforward; force local, intransient community leaders to negotiate racial integration through economic boycott, peaceful protest, and filling local jails beyond their capacity.
Key Components in Executing the Plan -
Trained volunteers to protest and fill local jails beyond capacity
National media coverage to highlight demonstrations and help build a national call for action
Federal Intervention to apply pressure to negotiate
Funding from outside sources
Businesses with an economic stake in Birmingham to apply further pressure
Source – Parting the Waters, America During the King Years. Taylor Branch, 1988.
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Stakeholder Legend
The Heart Of The Blueprint was Management Of Stakeholders
A-A Business
Community
Local Clergy
White Moderate Reform
Movement
Kennedy Administration
National Media
Volunteers
Birmingham City Government
Funders
Chamber of Commerce
Local Coalition
National Stakeholders
Target Stakeholder
Source – Parting the Waters, America During the King Years. Taylor Branch, 1988.
Dr. King’s Lessons for Business Leaders
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Not A Strong Show of Force at the Kickoff Meeting
Source – Citizen King, PBS, 2004
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Project “C” – Week One Status
Plan Status
Army of trained, committed volunteers ready to demonstrate
Vocal, visible support from the local African-American business community
Federal Government Intervention
National media coverage
Support from outside Birmingham
King and his leadership team faced the reality of a change campaign that was stalled from the start.
There was a growing consensus to halt the campaign, with no clear plan on how to overcome terminal weaknesses.
42 volunteers showed up for the kick-off
African-American business leaders petitioned King to call an end to the campaign
No incentives to intervene. Local injunction on further demonstrations.
Limited media coverage that was negative
Limited funds and no outside corporate pressure
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The First Intervention – Breaking the Injunction“Everybody made the case for calling it off” – Andrew Young
“There were a lot of ‘I told you so’s.’ – Taylor Branch
"Look, I don't know what to do. I just know that something has got to change in Birmingham. I don't know whether I can raise money to get people out of jail. I do know that I can go into jail with them." – Dr. King
King believed that a demonstration of personal sacrifice would mobilize
more volunteers
He was arrested for breaking the injunction on April 12, 1963, choosing not to follow the advice of his father and members of the local community
Spent 8 days in solitary confinement, writing The Letter from Birmingham Jail on the margins of newspapers
Despite the demonstration of personal sacrifice, King’s personal sacrifice failed to catalyze the campaign.
Media attention and the numbers of volunteers showed little increase.
Source – Citizen King, PBS, 2004. Parting the Waters, America During the King Years. Taylor Branch, 1988.
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The Second Intervention and the tipping point of the campaign was the decision to enlist school age children as volunteers
Campaign Events
Results
D-Day The Balance of Power Shifts
959 children in Jail within four hours
Jails filled far beyond capacity
Kennedy administrations petition King to end demonstrations
King signals that demonstrations will continue
1,000 children volunteer to demonstrate
Police and firemen unleash attack dogs and fire cannons on demonstrators
Demonstrations push into downtown shopping areas
Firemen refuse orders to use water guns
National media descend on Birmingham in force
Local dissent towards King starts to evaporate, focus moves towards his demands
Kennedy administrations intervenes to facilitate agreement
Chamber of Commerce convenes to negotiate
Agreement is Reached
Formal agreement and timeline for racial integration announced to the press
Kennedy administration publicly endorses agreement
2 bombs explode in the house of King’s brother
Bombing at the hotel where King’s staff resides
King and his leaders effectively quell atmosphere of violent retribution
Agreement holds
May 2 May 3-5 May 10-11
Source – Parting the Waters, America During the King Years. Taylor Branch, 1988.
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Dramatizing the Current State…an Intransient Stakeholder “Goes Public”
“The people in the rest of the country with the vivid pictures of fire hoses and police dogs attacking children … exposed … how fiercely the South was defending it.”- Jack Greenberg, NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Source – Citizen King, PBS, 2004
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The results in Birmingham catalyzed national action towards King’s change objectives
Dr. King’s Lessons for Business Leaders
Led to national voting rights
reform
Provided a national platform
for King’s Washington D.C. Address – “I have
a dream”
Nobel Peace Prize created international
awareness and legitimacy
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Lessons Learned for Today’s Change Leaders
Conflict can be Constructive
Dramatizing the Current to vision Gap is Essential
Don’t Compromise Core Objectives to Stakeholder
Concerns
Use planned conflict (creative tension) to bring reluctant parties into negotiation, overcome entrenched resistance, and activate sideline stakeholders
Focus on dramatizing present conditions in a way that built credibility and support for his cause.
Decision-making based solely on constituency concerns becomes a “stakeholder trap” that compromises progress.
Strategy and Plan are Interlocked
Strategy – linked with planning - changes daily to respond to the changing ground
The Power of the Status Quo
Find constituency groups that are not invested in the status quo and find ways to increase their influence
Dr. King’s Lessons for Business Leaders
A Case Study in Change Leadership
The Global Rail Theglobalrail.com