To millions of African American’s, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was the face of the crusade for racial equality. To the world, he was a veritable hero, who forged the cry for human dignity into weapons of non-violence against racial warfare. In his dedication to utilizing nonviolent methods to attain real equality, freedom, and self-respect, he inevitably became the revivalist of great leadership.
Leadership that is more profound on the basis of goodness and great potential of a man.
The enormous influence of Dr. King’s voice in the pursuit of the “impossible dream” required more than unadulterated courage. For fellow, modern-day business leaders, we bring ‘timeless leadership lessons from Martin Luther King, Jr.’
WELL-ARTICULATED VISION TO FULFIL THROUGH GREAT PERSISTENCE
Great leaders are visionaries, who know where they’re going and, steer the boat in the right direction. They verbalize and affirm the vision.
Martin Luther King famously dreamed of the world where we saw the character, not color. He dreamed creating a better future where young, enthusiastic African American’s lived in a great summer of invigorating freedom, justice, and equality.
As a leader, you must continually persevere movement towards the vision and fruition of the strategy. This often takes time and self-reflection for living out a clear, influential vision. A well-articulated vision helps focus on what matters the most and helps your team understand ideas and goals, and navigate with ease through daily decisions and tasks.
COMMITMENT IS A DECISION
Great leaders stay invested in compelling visions even hard times arrive. Just showing up every day, being the face of the crusade isn’t enough. Certain times things are cloudy and uncertain, keeping the team together is all-consuming, resources are tighter, changes in the core strategy are essential, and painful decisions need to be made. Beyond all this, you must accept that expectations are higher from you than for everyone else in the organization.
Leaders who are poised to build bedrock relationships with their people can make a difference. Commitment is one of the greatest leadership lessons a leader can hope to emulate from MLK.
And, one of the most effective traits of leadership is ‘commitment’ to – the self, the people, to leadership, and the truth.
MODERN DAY LEADERSHIPS MEANS CREATING A SENSE OF URGENCY
What makes great leaders so effective? Leadership usually comes down to a few fundamentals. The defining characteristic of skillful leadership is – sharing a sense of urgency – to achieve the impossible. A company’s transformation or success ultimately comes down to creating a real sense of urgency. It is a leadership trait that is rare, but when embraced it can inspire others to feel a gut-level determination to move and win.
An effective leader creates a compelling narrative that creates a sense of urgency for a much-needed change and alerts that organization that it must begin preparation for change before it dooms for mediocrity.
