Leadership Change

July 23, 2013

Final Paper

In the article, “Leading change: Leadership, Organization, and Social Movements,” written by Marshall Ganz, the main points cover various aspects of social movements and the role of leadership working with them. Detailed information was given on social movement leadership including the different types of leaders, their practices, strategies, actions, development and stories told.

A social movement is an action taken on by groups of individuals or organizations, with the ambition to influence others to move in the same direction in achieving a goal. Usually politically driven, social movements can also be about economic, cultural or social issues. These actions come from individuals and organizations, which form alliances based on common goals and values, wanting to change or prevent the change of process or systems. An excellent definition of a social movement was found in the Britannica Encyclopedia Online. It states, “A social movement is a loosely organized but sustained campaign in support of a social goal, typically either the implementation or the prevention of a change in society’s structure or values,” (Killian, 2013)

Social movements have been characterized as being somewhat small to extremely large, yet they are known to be relatively long lasting; membership activity is sustained over a period of time, sometimes months or even years. (Killian, 2013) Social movements are unique and widely differ from other types of businesses and organizations. They are collective, strategic and organized with members making claims based on their morals, personal identities and public actions. Members of the movement focus on changing or redefining a particular issue or item, rather than focusing on how much money they can make or if they are going to win. (Ganz, 2010)

Relationships among social movement group members start off with only one thing in common; shared morals and values on a specific topic. Members are...