The social justice issue of immigrants being discriminated against involves such systems as government, social organizations, and individuals. Immigrants are often treated poorly because of prejudices and biased thinking, thus suggesting the need for leaders who would protect the rights of the minority migrant populations. Sessa states that everyone participates in leadership to a certain extent, and one can argue that a country’s government has the most capability to defend immigrants on its territory (4). People who have the authority to make policies on the national level must be leaders who set the standards for providing fair and adequate opportunities for every person. Nonetheless, due to the complexity of the matter, one entity should not be considered to be solely in charge, and systems must reinforce each other (Sessa 4). Accordingly, social organizations must lead by familiarizing the public with the struggles encountered by immigrants. Finally, every person in the US has the power to supervise and can participate in aligning people and processes to reach a certain direction (Sessa 3). Therefore, the government should implement policies, social organizations should spread awareness, and individuals should support each other towards justice.
Leadership is an intricate concept that presents varying functions, yet in facing the issue of discrimination against immigrants, it may be better for the involved systems to concentrate on charismatic and architectural roles. Northouse proposes that a rare leader can fulfill both positions, although they are necessary for effective leadership (317). Consequently, considering the matter under discussion, the government should perform the architectural role, while social organizations and individuals should account for the charismatic one. The former position concerns organizational design processes and systems of control and reward, whereas the latter concentrates on empowering and energizing followers to work towards a certain vision (Northouse 317). Accordingly, the government should develop regulations that would facilitate fairer treatment of immigrants, and individuals and social organizations should promote those regulations and demonstrate the importance of minding them.
Furthermore, the three mentioned systems should take particular leadership approaches. Considering that approaches to leadership vary, it may be useful to focus on those more appropriate to the XXI century (Northouse 29). In particular, the government should turn to adaptive leadership that concerns people’s response to changing environments (Northouse 257). Assuming that native citizens may discriminate against immigrants due to feeling danger from foreigners, adaptive leaders from the government should transform the public’s values to learn new ways of living (Northouse 258). Moreover, while transformational leadership corresponds better with the charismatic role, one can argue that social organizations and individuals should concentrate on the servant approach (Northouse 161). Within the charismatic position, the two systems are meant to direct their followers toward a specific vision, and servant leaders benefit for the greater good of society (Northouse 226). Servant leadership is attentive, ethical, and empowers the followers (Northouse 225). Leaders should assess the two approaches to encourage society to peacefully coexist with immigrants and understand the value of every person.
Information that the leaders representing the discussed systems would need to examine is based on learning more about the issue of immigrants being discriminated against and theories relevant to the problem’s content. For instance, the leaders may find the path-goal theory helpful, as it examines followers’ motivation to accomplish designated objectives (Northouse 115). In particular, with the goal of reducing discrimination against immigrants, the leaders would have to identify obstacles, such as native citizens’ prejudices or fear of possibly losing resources, and rewards, including societal peace (Northouse 115). Moreover, the leaders would have to put effort and perform such activities as an assessment to identify areas for improvement within their mindsets and behaviors and then direct their followers (Sessa 61). Each party would need to realize that everyone is participating in leadership together towards a common pursuit (Sessa 3). Overall, the three systems’ leaders would be presented with information about the main matter and suggestions on how to approach it.
Works Cited
Northouse, Peter. Leadership: Theory and Practice. 7th ed., SAGE Publications, 2016.
Sessa, Valerie. College Student Leadership Development. Routledge, 2017.