dr. king's lessons for business leaders

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


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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


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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



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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



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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


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


A Case Study in Change Leadership

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