![]() Follow Victor on LinkedIN to access his 100+ articles on leadership, strategy, learning & development, and more.Dr. = Like this article? Click on the subscribe button up in the top right of this article to get my weekly articles about leadership lessons from history.Ībout the Author: Victor Prince is a corporate trainer, executive coach, and an Amazon Top 20 best-selling leadership author who helps organizations build leadership, strategy, communications, and critical thinking skills. We need to learn every lesson we can from them while we can. He wanted to make sure his people knew they could continue without him. He also used the speech to make a critical point that every leader should push - he knew his movement was bigger than him. King delivered this speech on the night before he was killed. But I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land." -“I've Been to the Mountaintop” speech, April 3, 1968ĭr. I've looked over and I've seen the promised land. But it really doesn't matter with me now because I've been to the mountaintop. Effective leaders have to get people to prioritize their goals in a new way.ħ - "We've got some difficult days ahead. People are busy and have many priorities. King knew that he had to do more than create shared goals - he had to create urgency with his audience to take the action he wanted. Leaders in any organization need to show a greater purpose than just financial profit to their teams about their work.Ħ - “The time is always right to do what is right.” - Oberlin College commencement speech, 1965ĭr. He inspired them to focus on an aspiration of building love instead of stoking hate. King knew that the frustration many of his followers felt could easily turn into hatred. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." -Strength to Love, 1963ĭr. For example, CEOs of publicly traded companies view shareholder relations as a key part of their job.ĥ - "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Great leaders know they play a unique role as the external spokesperson for their organization and they sharpen their skills at that. He did a great job of making external audiences know that they had a stake in his movement, and that their inaction was actually action. King also knew that a big part of his role was as the lead representative to people outside his movement. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963ĭr. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Poise and grace under pressure are skills that effective leaders learn because they know they will need them at some point.Ĥ - "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. This is true for leaders in any field today too. He knew that those toughest times would be when he would get the most scrutiny. King knew that he was going to face many challenges in his quest toward his vision. This quote captures how he sought to distribute his vision and show everyone how their work, no matter how small, was part of a bigger vision.ģ - "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."- Strength to Love, 1963ĭr. King also wanted to let individuals know how they could contribute their small piece to his overall vision. It is a great vision for what a vision statement should look like.Ģ - "If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way." - Dr. King did it so beautifully and succinctly with this one sentence that his whole speech is often referred to as the "I Have a Dream" speech. King that can still inspire leaders in any field today.ġ - "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." - Lincoln Memorial, March on Washington, 1963Įvery leader needs to give their followers a clear vision of what success looks like. He also won the Nobel Peace Prize at age 35, making him the youngest recipient up to that time. King accomplished so much for his country and the world during his too-short life that his birthday is now a national holiday and he has a memorial dedicated to him in Washington DC. If he were still alive, he would have turned 92 last month. was just 39 years of age when he was assassinated in 1968.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |