What Leaders can learn from MLK

My grandmother listened religiously to A.M. radio on Sunday morning. She swore by Clara Luper, a black civil rights activist who railed against injustice. Luper’s show began immediately after the sermons and Gospel songs. She began, not with a prayer, but an MLK quote. Luper led the first public accommodations protest in Civil Rights History. It was not college kids in Arkansas. But little kids in Oklahoma City who stubbornly sat a soda fountain at Katz Drug Store. Later in life, I interviewed her. She told me King was the spark. “He let me know we weren’t alone.”

While saying Modern Leaders could learn from MLK is like saying Christians could learn from Jesus. On this day with so many global challenges, disruptions, uncertainty and emerging management principles I thought it might be worthwhile to delve into salient principles that embodied his effectiveness.

·??????? Vision and Communication: ?

·??????? Servant leadership:

·??????? Strategy:

·??????? Adaptive and resilient:

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The Montgomery Bus Boycott began with Rosa Parks. That’s what we thought. But it was decades in the making. In the the late 1800s there was Ida B. Wells. She was born into slavery in 1863. At 21, she was forcibly removed from a segregated Memphis streetcar for refusing to give up her seat to a white man, sparking a decade-long protest. She was a journalist in Memphis and penned her struggles in a black newspaper. Across the world, in 1929, Mahatma Gandhi penned his biography, highlighting discrimination in India and South Africa during Colonial rule, formulating the fundamentals of nonviolent resistance. In 1946,?Irene Morgan, a black, single mother, 29 ,?was arrested for refusing to give her seat on a bus from Virginia to Maryland to a white couple.

King studied Gandhi, viewed him as a mentor and adapted his nonviolent resistance for the Civil Rights movement. He grew up in Memphis knowing the plight of Ida B. Wells. The Montgomery Improvement Association, a group of activist and preachers including King, were well aware of Morgan's court case. They chose Rosa Parks, an NAACP Secretary with a strong reputation and background. They trained her to withstand the onslaught of racial resentment. The campaign against bus segregation was ongoing for months before Parks protest. There were awareness campaigns where they documented instances of mistreatment and filed legal complaints,?building a case against the bus company's policies. This is not to downplay any individual contribution but to say there was a strategy in place and that strategy led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Servant Leadership

During Bloody Sunday, 1965, King was convinced by his father not to attend. He saw his people, who included Hosea Williams and John Lewis, brutally beaten by state troopers at the Edmund Pettus Bridge. He flew down to join them two days later. The march was stopped by a blockade. He, then, led people to Selma and delivered the "How Long,?Not Long" speech at the state capitol in Montgomery. He did not blame his father for his absence on that initial day but he vowed to fellow leaders it would not happen again. He prioritized the needs of his community,?placing their aspirations and struggles at the forefront of his leadership. ?King recognized the collective power of the movement and actively sought to empower others to share their voices and participate in decision-making.?His leadership was authentic because he stood alongside them, shared risks and faced challenges together.

Adaptive and Resilient

During the same time, Malcom X, The Black Panthers and the labor movement were taking shape. “By all means necessary” was seemingly antithetical to Kings’ movement. The white labor movement had no place for black folks.

MLK sought to join all of the above. Though he disagreed with Malcolm X's advocacy for violence in self-defense,?he recognized the validity of Black anger and frustration that Malcolm X articulated. In 1963,?King and Malcolm X met privately to discuss their views and potential areas of common ground. After Malcolm X's assassination in 1965,?King acknowledged his contributions to the movement,?stating,?"Malcolm was our manhood,?our living,?black manhood."

King initially centered his activism on desegregation and voting rights,?but he recognized the interconnectedness of racial and economic injustice.

In 1966,?he launched the Chicago Freedom Movement,?which targeted housing discrimination and economic inequality. He then organized the Poor People's Campaign in 1968,?uniting a multi-racial coalition to demand economic justice for all poor Americans.

Communication and Vison

MLK was one of the best orators in American History. Between him and Abraham Lincoln you would be hard-pressed to find an equal. He was able to communicate an inspiring and actionable vision.

Articulating the Dream:?Dr.?King painted a vivid picture of a racially just and equal America,?using powerful imagery and metaphors.?The "dream" wasn't just a personal aspiration. It became a shared national vision for millions. It went beyond ending segregation. He envisioned a society where economic and social justice extended to all citizen,?regardless of race.?This broadened the scope of the Civil Rights movement and laid the groundwork for future struggles for economic equality.

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

Martin Luther King Jr.