Marcus Garvey’s Leadership Principles for Modern Enterprises

Garvey was known for his bold racial politics and oratory skills that generated outrage among black leaders like W.E.B Du Bois. However, Garvey understood it was essential to rally followers and create excitement among supporters.

The “Prophet of Africanism” promoted a “back-to-Africa” movement which would positively influence millions of blacks, and also adopted popular success ideologies and Victorian literary classics such as Shakespeare, Cervantes and Henley.

1. Educate the People

Garvey believed that black people needed to achieve financial independence for themselves, so he created several businesses, such as Negro Factories Corporation and Negro World newspaper, before founding Black Star Line shipping company in 1919. He envisioned the fleet as the link between North America and Africa that would give African-Americans international trade power and political influence. Through mail selling, he became so successful that he was able to purchase ships. Unfortunately, in 1923 he was found guilty of mail fraud and sent to Atlanta’s Federal Penitentiary. Unfortunately, this scandalous conviction ended his mission of upliftment among all individuals of African descent.

Garvey believed that education and empowerment were the keys to his own success, often citing Booker T. Washington’s Up from Slavery and Andrew Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth as sources for success. Additionally, Garvey stressed the need to teach people hard work as well as take pride in their achievements.

Garvey presented his vision for an African homeland at the inaugural UNIA convention held in Harlem in 1920. His goal was to promote unity within African diaspora communities worldwide and end European colonial dominance of Africa. Garvey supported black self-determination; creating his vision of an African state which would enforce laws safeguarding racial purity akin to Irish Home Rule or Jewish Zionism that sought to foster national identities for each population group.

2. Create a Culture

Culture can seem abstract, yet its creation and influence is real. Culture is made up of seemingly innocuous interactions and habits that shape day-to-day operations in any company; to build it effectively you need clearly defined values to support it and then implement any needed small adjustments that support those values.

Garvey’s writings and speeches reveal an interest in conduct-of-life literature as well as Victorian historical sensibility. He held up Alexander, Charlemagne, Hannibal, Genghis Khan, Napoleon as models for black people seeking personal and racial success. Additionally, Garvey employed literary allusions from authors like Cervantes, Shakespeare, and the Bible in order to convey his ideas of self-improvement and success.

Garvey first established the UNIA in Harlem and published the Negro World newspaper. Soon thereafter, he went on speaking tours, spreading his vision of African redemption with audiences nationwide. His plan included Jamaican trade schools similar to Booker T. Washington’s Tuskegee Institute as well as founding Black Star Line shipping company to facilitate travel abroad to Africa.

Building and supporting an effective culture may seem like a challenging endeavor, but the rewards can be enormous for both employees and the business. There are several methods for evaluating your workplace culture – employee interviews or survey tools can both provide feedback. A low turnover rate, high retention rates and ease of hiring quality talent are indicators that the culture is working effectively for your organization.

3. Build a Movement

Garvey believed that black people could only attain self-determination through a movement combining politics, religion and trade unionism. Additionally, he planned on founding businesses that would give black people financial independence as well as global market power. He founded both the Negro Factories Corporation, a publishing house which produced his Negro World newspaper, and an expansive chain of cooperative grocery stores. He also established the Black Star Line shipping and passenger company to form a bridge between North America and Africa and facilitate black migration to Liberia. Garvey had achieved considerable success during this time; yet in 1923 he was charged with mail fraud for selling five-dollar shares of his stock and spent nearly two years behind bars for it. Garvey attributed his conviction to Jewish judges and jurors who sought revenge due to his agreement to meet with Grand Wizard of Ku Klux Klan.

As soon as he returned to America, Garvey discovered that many of his Jamaican ideas did not resonate with black communities in New York’s Harlem or elsewhere. To stay relevant in his fight for black independence from white control of government, economics, and business, he altered his strategy further and became more radicalized, advocating black independence through revolutionary means.

Garvey also encouraged the formation of a black religion that celebrated African culture and history, likening its impact on black consciousness to that of Christianity being accepted with equal eagerness by people. According to him, UNIA ideas were received with enthusiasm by black Americans “just as eagerly”

Garvey was renowned for his ability to inspire and motivate his followers, employing literary allusion and persuasion techniques such as literary allusion and persuasion to convince his listeners of the importance of self-determination. He frequently quoted Booker T. Washington’s Up from Slavery and Andrew Carnegie’s Gospel of Wealth as evidence that black Americans could attain success if they followed their dreams with dedication and hard work.

4. Organize the People

Garvey emphasized the need for blacks to build intellectual (as well as physical and economic) independence. To do so, he borrowed heavily from mainstream intellectual tradition while tailoring it specifically for blacks’ needs, merging Darwinian ideas of survival of the fittest with Aristotelian concepts of self-reliance into one coherent framework. Furthermore, Garvey devised an unconventional doctrine of success, advocating that climbing up prosperity ladder was in both individual blacks’ best interest as well as for the collective good of blacks as a whole race.

Garvey founded his movement on a philosophy of “One God, One Aim, and One Destiny”. Through UNIA – Universal Negro Improvement Association – opportunities were made available for blacks worldwide. Garvey also advocated for returning a portion of black diaspora back to Africa to reclaim heritage; his educational institutions were modelled after Tuskegee Institute founded by Booker T Washington who even wrote letters of support in his name.

After his initial success, the UNIA quickly declined. Meeting with Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan in 1921 caused irreparable damage to its image; meeting white racists and his promotion of racial separatism alienated many within the black community; financial failures in America (such as Black Star Line shipping and passenger company) added further distress; finally his meeting with members of Ku Klux Klan compounded their problems further.

Garvey was described by many as both a group psychologist and idealist planner, but also as an iconoclast, zealot and charlatan. He was described as being both charismatic, dynamic and defiant – often being called out for being irrepressibly ambitious with seemingly limitless ambitions akin to Black Moses himself! Known for his bold rhetoric and relentless tactics as well as being one of the leading promoters during his time.

5. Make Decisions

Garvey made numerous bold decisions during his quest for black independence, such as founding the Universal Negro Improvement Association and chartering a shipping line to promote black cross-continental trade. Furthermore, he supported worship of an African deity as well as studying black history.

Garvey was an outspoken figure within both the Black community and internationally during his life, acting as an advocate of separatism and back-to-Africa movements that never caught on among most African Americans. W.E.B Du Bois thought Garvey to be among the greatest threats facing his community at home and abroad.

Garvey spent two years studying abroad in London, which provided him with education that wasn’t available in Americas. When he returned home, he began communicating with Black American leader and author Booker T. Washington; they would later cofound The National Negro newspaper together in 1917.

Garvey began the Black Star Shipping Line to promote black cross-continental trade. Through mail orders of five-dollar shares of stock he raised enough capital for ships for his fleet he believed could give blacks power over their destiny.

Garvey used his business success during the 1920s to finance his political ambitions, though he was charged by the U.S. government with mail fraud; however, he was eventually cleared and blamed Jewish jurors and judges who sought revenge against him due to meeting with Grand Wizard of Ku Klux Klan months prior to trial.