Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information on Marketing Management

CiteULike is a free service for managing and discovering scholarly references - click here to get started.

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Business & Society
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Roberts, D. D.
Right arrow Articles by Blake-Beard, S. D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

The Invisible Work of Managing Visibility for Social Change

Insights From the Leadership of Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr

Darryl D. Roberts

Emory University, ddrober{at}emory.edu

Laura Morgan Roberts

Harvard University

Regina M. O'Neill

Suffolk University, Boston, Massachusetts

Stacy D. Blake-Beard

Simmons College, Boston, Massachusetts

In this article, we introduce the concept of tempered visibility as a lens through which to view Martin Luther King Jr.'s civil rights leadership. First, we review the academic literature on visibility and its implications for leadership. Second, we outline key moral and sociopolitical factors that enabled King to become visible. Third, we provide examples of how King intentionally increased and decreased his exposure while leading key events in the Civil Rights Movement. From King's example, the process by which leaders gain visibility and the positive and negative outcomes of visibility for leaders and their change efforts is learned. This analysis extends the understanding of the strategic management of visibility as a tool that is motivated by personal goals, social pressures, and moral concerns and that is critical for managing impressions and leading social change.

Key Words: Martin Luther King Jr • civil rights movement • leadership • social change • impression management • visibility

Business & Society, Vol. 47, No. 4, 425-456 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0007650308323817
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?