Bob Marley - Leadership

Through words, how one man can inspire
And empower a nation of people
(Bob Marley)

Introduction
The person I have chosen to write about for my leadership individual research paper is Bob Marley. He was born on “February 6, 1945 in St Ann, Jamaica by the name Robert Nesta Marley” , where he grew up with a fatherless upbringing and great poverty. He later grew up to be world renowned for being a reggae artist and arguably one of the best of all time. Marley is known for such greatest hits as “No woman, No cry”, “Jamming”, “One love”, and lots more. From a revolutionary standpoint, Marley followed the ways of Rastafarian which through his popularity enabled the religion’s awareness to grow substantially. On “May 11, 1981” at the prime age of thirty six, Bob Marley later passed away from melanoma.
Topic Area
Historically, a leader can be defined in a variety of different ways, such as an individual with great influence over others. There are many different aspects and types of leaders like dictators who demand or forcefully make their people follow through intimidation like Hitler. Inspirational leaders like Mahatma Gandhi who had great intelligence and wisdom, gained the respect of their followers through preaching verbally. Bob Marley was an inspirational leader who didn’t demand respect but gained in through his musical talents. Through his lyrics he was able to empower and inspire people the same way as leaders before his time. His songs spoke of love, peace, and identity which came during a time of great hostility amongst Jamaica.

Question
Through words, how one man can inspire and empower a nation of people...

Research Analysis
In the 1940’s when Bob Marley was born, Jamaica was still a British colony that didn’t have an identity or independence as a nation. Jamaica as a whole had been experiencing great hardship for numerous decades due to corruption, poverty, and political instability. Based on the given time frame of when Bob Marley was born till his death, I will structure my analysis in the form of a timeline. Drawing the parallels from the country’s hardship and prosperity with Marley’s timeline of life on earth and how he inspired and empowered the people of Jamaica.
Bob Marley is one individual that can relate to an upbringing of constant hardship and disparity. At an early age he was exposed to the street life and witnessing things that no child should ever see. Many would say that his earlier life of hardship and poverty is what inspired many of his lyrics throughout his career. This is evident throughout his song ‘Wisdom’ which portrays the upbringing of children in Jamaica during his childhood and the time when this song was released.
Bob Marley – Wisdom
Destruction of the poor is poverty
Destruction of the soul is vanity
Well hear me children
The righteous wealth is in his Holy Place...

During this verse, Marley indentifies that poverty is still evident and he provides words of wisdom to the children that there’s hope of a better place/living. As mentioned, a lot of Marley’s lyrics are based from his own past experiences which he can relate to the youth during this time frame of hardship. During this time frame the people of Jamaica didn’t have much to aspire towards because of the disparity but one man through his musical talents is able to inspire and provide hope. He reassures the people of Jamaica that they have not been forgotten and even with destruction a place of righteous wealth is apparent. In 1962, Jamaica has declared their independence as a sovereign state and began establishing themselves by integrating a government. The start of any newly formed country always experiences hardship when trying to establish their identity. The forming of various political parties had instantly created opposition and campaigning which Bob Marley wanted no involvement. Marley’s main focus in life was his music and as his popularity grew amongst the people of Jamaica as did his influence. Political parties began taking aim at Marley, criticizing his lack of involvement which he responded with lyrics of retaliation. In 1964 he released:
Bob Marley – Get up, Stand up
Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights!
Get up, stand up: don’t give up the fight!

The government and political parties were so caught up in campaigning that hardship amongst the people of Jamaica only continued to progress. People of Jamaica were experiencing inequity and the country continued to suffer even more since they declared independency. In order to create awareness, Marley released the song “Get up, Stand up” which spoke of having the common person’s voice heard. During this time, Bob Marley acted as a revolutionary leader which preached the words of empowerment. His music career and the lyrics he spoke of were the epitome of the Jamaican people and their lack of identity during this time frame. His lyrics contained empowering words which discussed the average person’s rights and fighting for those rights in order to have your voice heard. The people of Jamaica soon took notice and began embracing the mentality that Bob Marley had been preaching. Political parties began feeling the pressure and soon realized the influential power that Marley possessed.
As Bob Marley’s influential power grew, the amount of negativity soon followed in the form of a plot to eliminate his voice. In 1976, Bob Marley was asked to perform a not-for-profit concert which was intended to ease the political hostility. An unidentified group fired off several shots at Bob Marley wounding him in the chest with two bullets. It was believed that the attack or attempted hit was politically driven because of the influential power that he possessed. Even though he was shot, Bob Marley continued along with the concert because he was understood the importance of it. He was later interviewed and asked why he continued along with the concert and he responded
“the people who were trying to make this world worse are not taking the day off. Why should I?” – Bob Marley
The man was more than just a reggae singer, he stood for a lot more and he was the ideal icon of personifying the greater good in humanity. His quote above exemplifies what he stood for which was to prevail over evil and continuing along with preaching his message. Even though he was shot, people who demonstrate leadership traits like Bob Marley know how to persevere through adversity. Perseverance through situations like this takes notice from society which ultimately turned a negative situation into a positive one that worked in Marley’s favor. At this point in his life, Marley had been gaining world renowned acknowledgement which wasn’t just witnessed from a Jamaican standpoint but all around the world. People of various ethnicities were taking notice of an incident like this because he was able to persevere through to inspire and empower people.
Throughout his entire musical career, Marley had mentioned and spoke of the religious ways of the Rastafarian. During a time when the people of Jamaica were experiencing great hardship, he took it upon himself to instill a set of beliefs amongst his people. Instilling some sort of religious aspect would hopefully contribute in a manner of inspiring and empowering people. Through his popularity as a reggae artist and renowned global status, he was the main contributor towards the ever increasing awareness of the Rastafarian belief.
He embraced the whole mentality and look of the Rastafarian ways by exemplifying it through growing dreadlocks. He also titled one his albums “Rastaman Vibration” which contained lyrics prompting the Rastafarian movement. People soon took notice and begun practicing the ways of the Rastafarian which ultimately contributed to its global movement. He inspired and empowered many to follow the ways of the Rastafarian which was evident through its substantial growth over the decades during this time frame.
Conclusion
Bob Marley can be summed up as an inspirational leader whose intent was to instill world peace and love. His mentality and way of life can be compared to that of a Gandhi who preached their wisdom verbally with the intent of expressing peace. His constant positive outlook on life is what defines him as a great leader whose intent was to rise up against the negativities in life to inspire and empower a nation of people. Through his influential ways, he was able to instill empowerment and inspire the people of Jamaica to look beyond their hardships. His words of wisdom were his greatest asset and tool which he used to exemplify the type of human being he portrayed. To conclude my research paper I’d like to leave with a quote that exemplifies a “Man’s Greatness” through the eyes of Bob Marley.
“The greatness of a man is not how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.” – Bob Marley