MLK and His Lesson of Leadership

I believe any good leader looks to other successful leaders for lessons and inspiration. As a business leader, I can get new insight from a variety of experts, whether it’s a successful football coach like Nick Saban, an innovator like Bill Gates or a trailblazer like Warren Buffet. But as we prepare to celebrate the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., I am simply in awe of what he was able to accomplish in his short time on Earth. And when I think of leadership, I can’t think of anyone who has made a bigger impact in my lifetime.

To me, Dr. King’s ability to lead was established on three main pedestals:

1.    His commitment

2.    His vision

3.    His ability to communicate.

King was fiercely committed to his principles of non-violent protest. As a strong leader, he was able to pass that commitment along to his followers because they could see that this was more than a tagline or a slogan, it was how he actually lived his life. Ten years before he was killed in Memphis, King was stabbed and nearly killed at a book-signing in New York. The damage to him was so severe that doctors later told him if he had even so much as sneezed after the attack, his aorta would have ruptured and killed him. While still in his hospital bed, King affirmed his nonviolent principles and said he held no ill will toward his assailant. That is commitment.

We know Dr. King had a vision of racial harmony, but he also had a vision where all of us live in a society where we help each other instead of putting each other down. As we prepared our staff for the New Year, I challenged them to develop a “servant leadership” mentality. That idea springs directly from King, who had it down to a science and challenged his followers every day to help others. In my business, that’s what we do—I mean, the word “help” is actually in our name! But while that refers primarily to the Caregivers who offer exceptional care to their clients and their families, it’s also a challenge to our staff to support our owners in their efforts to grow their business and help even more families.

Finally, has there been a better communicator in the last 50 years than Martin Luther King, Jr.? While still admirable, his commitment and vision would not have played such a vital role in changing our society if he wasn’t able to communicate both effectively. At its core, good communication has to be based on truth. If you don’t believe what you’re saying, you might be able to get some people to go along but, eventually, you’ll lose your audience because one thing we all have is the power to make up our own minds. So if, as a leader, you aren’t speaking truth to power, then you are just wasting your breath.