Martin Luther King, Jr. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Today, as we celebrate Martin Luther King Day, I thought it appropriate to look at some of the lessons from Dr. King.
There is no question he was a gifted speaker and a powerful leader. Some of today’s leaders can learn a thing or two about speaking up.
From Dr. King, we learn that strong leaders:
1. Speak the truth, without varnish. An awful lot of people did not want to hear what Dr King had to say. He said them anyway. Leaders face reality, don’t sugar-coat it and don’t make excuses. One of my favorite quotes from MLK is this: “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
2. Look forward to what CAN be and share that vision. Leaders acknowledge where we are, but also see where we can go – and how to get there.
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!
3. Capture peoples minds AND hearts. In order to share a vision, a good leader not only lays out a path, but inspires people to follow him or her. Leaders with vision but no ability to communicate that vision or inspire people to follow them are in fact not leaders at all.
The very essence of leadership is that you have to have vision. It’s got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can’t blow an uncertain trumpet. — Father Theodore Hesburgh
4. Know that “overlook(ing) the urgency of the moment” can be fatal. Dr. King said
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug
of gradualism…. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment.
Elie Wiesel, a leader who also felt hatred and opposition as a concentration camp survivor, said:
The opposite of love is not hate, it’s indifference. The opposite of art is not ugliness, it’s indifference. The opposite of faith is not heresy, it’s indifference. And the opposite of life is not death, it’s indifference.
Leaders are able to light “brushfires of inspiration” and bring people along with them into a brighter tomorrow.
5. Conduct their struggle “on the high plane of dignity and discipline.” Leaders don’t have to resort to dirty tactics, whether technically “legal” or not. Good leaders don’t skirt the edges of the unethical and immoral, nor do they resort to hateful, violent tactics. Dr King admonished his followers:
There is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must ever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
6. Persist in their vision. Leaders know there are ups and downs in the journey to a better tomorrow but they persevere. Vince Lombardi once said “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.” Leaders keep going.
7. Have empathy and love for their followers. Perhaps the most important leadership lesson from Dr King is never making the mistake of thinking it’s all about you. (No one really wants to follow a narcissist, by the way.)
Dr. King acknowledged the many sacrifices his followers were making in his “I have a dream” speech.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecutions and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Martin Luther King, Jr was far from perfect, but he was a persistent, committed man with a vision who has inspired many. I appreciate the lessons I have learned from his example.
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