“Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.” — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Every January, the United States of America takes a day to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He is an incredible example of a person that exhibited transformational leadership. King used transformational leadership to fight for equality and civil rights for all Americans as illustrated through his vision, messages, and his incredible speeches.
Leaders like Dr. King, who leave on a legacy through their influence, have lessons for each and every one of us. While leaders come in all genders, races, sexualities, and religions, they often share similar tactics and strengths. Whether you’re a landscaper, technician, restaurant owner, production manager, sales manager, pastor, a non-profit volunteer, or just someone who wants to improve everyone around you in some way, these leadership lessons from the great Dr. Martin Luther will guide you toward greater impact!
1. He looked for opportunities to improve things in every single situation: “Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation.” — There are opportunities to implement change for the better all around us! It starts with you and me. What are some things where you know you could step up and step in and lead the charge in growing lives around you? All problems you are facing in your organization are opportunities for improvement in disguise.
2. He knew he needed people around him to live out his mission: A frequent pitfall for leaders is the failure to collaborate with peers and bring others around you to help you reach your goals. Leading an organization can stir up issues of pride and competition. Some leaders fall into the trap of thinking that being in charge means they must do it all alone. But overcoming the urge to isolate and dominate is part of what elevates the greatest leaders above the rest. All leaders must always keep in mind that sometimes the smartest decision you can make is to bring on someone more knowledgeable than yourself. That may come in the form of investing in highly qualified staff, learning to work with someone with whom you butt heads with a bit, or giving someone on your team the authority to make decisions they are most qualified to handle. (A little top notch leadership lesson revealed… this is my secret sauce to success. Hire and empower people that are better than you to live our your mission!)
3. He empowered people that most thought shouldn’t have authority: “Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.” — One of Dr. King’s most important tasks in leading the civil rights movement was to convince people that they have the power to make change. When you want to bring people together and channel their energy toward positive change, you must impress upon them their own power, not just yours as a leader! So many leaders are too proud to give up authority. This isn’t how you cultivate greatness. Do you want to lead great change in your organization? Let go of the iron fist and empower your people to take ownership!
4. He learned from others: From the days of the Montgomery bus boycott Martin Luther King, Jr., referred to India’s Mahatma Gandhi as “the guiding light of our technique of nonviolent social change”. MLK realized the odds were stacked completely against him. He decided to learn from another leader who faced a similar situation and won. An ingenious idea, and it worked. In the end, both of them were victorious. If you want to learn from others, you must be teachable. People with a teachable spirit approach each day as an opportunity for another learning experience. Their hearts are open. Their minds are alert to learn something new. Their attitudes are expectant. They know that success has less to do with possessing natural talent and more to do with choosing to learn something new that day from somebody else! What is ONE thing you can learn today to make tomorrow better?
5. He took the narrow, harder road, even though he knew the odds were against him: Martin Luther King, Jr. paid the ultimate price for the civil rights cause. He was assassinated on April 4th, 1968. What a tragic loss for America, and the world. He took the harder path and paid the price. MLK took the world to a new mountaintop, and made it a better place. The majority of people in this world look for the easiest road to take. And this road leads right to the average pile! Taking the path less traveled will develop skills that transform your leadership ability. When you’re more excited by the potential for growth than the immediate discomfort of struggle, you become someone who can withstand failure. You know that the excitement of learning will follow. Sure, you’ll get frustrated along the journey. But delaying your gratification will lead to a huge payoff — Every win compounds your confidence, which is what you need to change the world around you! Choose the harder road to unlock your full potential. I promise you’ll never look back – You’ll start craving it!
There is still SO MUCH work to do to make this world a better place to live. And that starts with us as leaders. One might argue with me, but I think we may have taken a few steps backward these past few years. That needs to change. And it can, will, and IS…. Let’s move forward to the next mountaintop. To continue to go backward would completely crumble the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. A man whose legacy continues to grow with each passing year!
I’ll leave you with one of Dr. Martin Luther’s greatest quotes that inspires me to want to always be better, and continue to do God’s will over my life every single day until I’m called home..
“I don’t know what will happen now; we’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter to with me now, because I’ve been to the mountain top. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life – longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And he’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over, and I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And so I’m happy tonight; I’m not worried about anything; I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”