Malcolm X and Contemporary Leadership

Running head: MALCOLM X AND CONTEMPORARY LEADERSHIP
Malcolm X and Contemporary Leadership
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1MALCOLM X AND CONTEMPORARY LEADERSHIP
Introduction
As opined by Corrigan (2017), the term ‘leadership’ is defined as the process through
which the individuals or more precisely the leaders motivate as well as influence the
behaviour of their followers so as to achieve the goals or the objectives that they have
outlined for themselves. Arnold et al. (2015) are of the viewpoint that the concept of
leadership is not a nascent concept and its ancestry can be traced back to the pre-historic
times however in the present times the term had more political and business connotations.
More importantly, the success or the failure that a particular leader and his or her followers
are likely to attain is also dictated largely by the leadership approach, style, skills, traits and
other attributes of the leaders himself or herself (Saleem, 2015). In this regard, it needs to be
said that the leaders are not only required to effectively use their character traits in an
adequate manner to achieve the goals but at the same time choose the right kind of leadership
approach or style that is likely to offer the maximum amount of benefits. This essay will
analyse the concept of leadership and leadership skills in the particular context of the leader
Malcolm X and the work which he did for the Black as well as the Muslim community.
Background and Theories of Leadership
Anderson and Sun (2017) are of the viewpoint that the leadership theories or models
offers an explanation of the leadership styles or approaches adopted by a particular leader for
the achievement of their goals or objectives. The prominence held by the concept of
leadership theories can be explained on the basis of the fact that since the traditional times a
plethora of leadership theories have been used by different leaders. In this regard, some of the
most important leadership theories or approaches used by the different leaders since the
traditional times are the Great Man Theory, Trait Theory, Behavioural Theory, Role Theory,
Participative Leadership, Situational Leadership, Authentic Leadership, Autocratic

2MALCOLM X AND CONTEMPORARY LEADERSHIP
Leadership, Transformational leadership, Transactional leadership and others (Yahaya &
Ebrahim, 2016). As opined by Saleem (2015), the focus of the traditional leadership theories
like the Great Man theory, Behavioural theory and others was on the personal attributes or the
character traits of the leaders and completely relegated the followers or the subordinates to
the background. More importantly, it is seen that the modern theories of leadership like
transformational, transactional, situational, authentic leadership and others try to overcome
this drawback of the traditional styles of leadership (Corrigan, 2017). The net result of this is
that the modern or the contemporary theories of leadership ascribe equal amount of
prominence to both the leaders and also the followers for the effective attainment of the
objectives or the goals that had been outlined by them.
Arnold et al. (2015) have articulated the viewpoint that the transformation which had
taken place within the cannon of leadership not only becomes apparent in the contexts in
which the concept of leadership is being used. For example, since the traditional times it had
been seen that the concept of leadership had been used in the context of military, political and
business perspective however it is only now or more precisely from the 20th century that the
same is being used in the social context as well (Lubin, 2015). In this regard, mention needs
to be made of leaders like Dr Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Malcolm X and others
who effectively used to concept of leadership to bring about a social change in the status quo
of the contemporary society (Byrd, 2016). A common aspect among all of these leaders is the
fact that the leadership approach adopted by them was either the charismatic style or the
authentic style of leadership.
As opined by Thompson (2018), the charismatic leaders are the ones who use the
tools of eloquent communication, personal traits or behaviours, persuasion and others to
encourage some particular behaviours among the followers and thereby achieve the goals or
the objectives. More importantly, this theory of leadership propounded by German

3MALCOLM X AND CONTEMPORARY LEADERSHIP
sociologist Max Weber believes in the fact that the authority which a particular wields on his
or her followers should derive from their charisma or personality (Marxists.org, 2019). On
the other hand, the theory of social leadership propounded by Esade Professor Jaume Filella
states that the leaders in order to foster social change should bring people together, facilitate
communicate and also encourage these followers to drive efforts for the change
(Marxists.org, 2019). The net result of this is that the majority of the leaders looking to bring
about a change in the status quo of the society are increasingly taking the help of these two
leadership theories for the achievement of the same.
Short Biography of Malcolm X
The eulogy on Malcolm X’s grave reads “our shining black prince ... who didn't
hesitate to die, because he loved us so” and true to this he was the shinning prince for the
African-Americans and the Muslims in the nation of America till his dying date
(Malcolmx.com, 2019). Malcolm X (1925–1965) is commonly known as a black and Muslim
human rights activist and also as an American Muslim minister who worked endlessly for the
cause of the black-skinned people and the Muslims of America (Zilber, 2019). His life when
analysed in retrospect is nothing short of a roller-coaster ride with frequent changes in career
paths but during all these changes his goal to work for the upliftment of the common people
never wavered. In this regard, it needs to be mentioned that his father died when he was only
six and his mother was admitted to a mental sanatorium when he was thirteen (Stoddard,
2019). Thus, all through his teenage life he was transferred from one foster home to another
which heightened his feeling of injustice which was meted out to the black-skinned people in
a significant manner.
At the age of 20 years he was sent to prison and it was here that he joined the Nation
of Islam (NOI) and became an ardent supporter of the doctrines preached by it (Nytimes.com,
2019). However, he soon became disillusioned with the leadership style of Elijah Muhammad