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VISION IN ACTION
LESSONS IN GREATNESS FROM THE LIFE OF DR.
KING
By Tom Terez
What do we really know about The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.? We know he
had a dream. We know he inspired people to take positive action. We know he organized
marches, led boycotts, wrote books, delivered speeches, spent time in jail, met with
presidents, and brought about momentous change. We also know that he paid with his
life at the young age of 39.
But there's so much more to the story. Dr. King's life is full of important lessons
that all of us can put into practice. These are things we can do right now -- in
the workplace, in our communities, with our families, and elsewhere.
LESSON #1 -- BE GUIDED BY A DEEPLY POSITIVE PURPOSE
At age 14, Martin Luther King Jr. won an oratory contest with his speech on "The
Negro and the Constitution." On the 90- minute trip back home, he and his teacher
were forced to stand on the bus so all of the white passengers could get seats. It
was a searing memory for King, but instead of becoming bitter, he resolved to take
positive action. At age 16, he wrote a letter to the editor of the Atlanta Journal
Constitution calling for racial justice. Until his death in 1968, King made it his
mission to create a world where everyone could reach their full potential -- where
people are judged not "by the color of their skin, but by the content of their
character."
LESSON #2 -- SEE THE CONNECTIONS
From the beginning, King was thinking big. He knew that racism, segregation, and
violence were dragging down not just African Americans but all of humanity. As he
put it: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught
in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever
affects one directly, affects all indirectly."
LESSON #3 -- TURN WEAKNESSES INTO STRENGTHS
King had wisdom beyond his years and a high IQ to match. He skipped kindergarten
and entered first grade at age 5. He skipped his senior year and headed to Morehouse
College at age 15. He moved forward so quickly that his reading skills fell behind.
By some accounts, he had an eighth-grade reading level when entering college. Many
people would have steered clear of their weakness by avoiding books, but King did
just the opposite. He became a voracious reader and writer -- and a lifelong seeker
of knowledge, information, and insight.
LESSON #4 -- DO WHAT IT TAKES TO GET THE JOB DONE
King became pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1954.
He was still pursuing his doctoral degree at the time, so the demands on his schedule
were almost overwhelming. He displayed the tremendous discipline that would characterize
his entire life, waking up before sunrise every morning to spend several hours working
on his doctoral thesis. His pastor duties would fill most of the day, then he would
spend the last three hours back at work on his thesis. He received his Ph.D. in 1955.
LESSON #5 -- PURSUE A STRATEGY THAT FITS YOUR VALUES
Like any good leader, King sought an overarching strategy for carrying out his
mission. He looked to history for guidance and was struck by the fact that so many
major social changes had been forced through at gunpoint. Then he heard a speech
about Mohandas Gandhi, who was bringing about change in India through nonviolent
civil disobedience. The strategy aligned perfectly with King's values, and it held
the promise of unifying all people rather than benefiting a single group. King rushed
out and bought six books about Gandhi and his methods.
LESSON #6 -- FULLY USE YOUR GREATEST STRENGTHS
As the years unfolded, King made the most of his powers of communication. In
1955, when Rosa Parks was arrested for keeping her seat on the bus, King spoke out
for positive change. As president of the Montgomery Improvement Association, he inspired
people to stop using the buses altogether. Montgomery desegregated its bus system
within a year. Just about everyone can hear his clear voice declaring "I have
a dream," but before and after that immortal speech from the Lincoln Memorial,
King spoke out time and again from pulpits, parking lots, courtrooms, classrooms,
legislative halls, and the Oval Office. Even in jail, King kept up his mission of
creating a better future, turning to the written word with his "Letter from
a Birmingham Jail."
LESSON #7 -- DEVELOP A PLAN FOR BEING YOUR BEST
Six months before his assassination in 1968, King spoke to a group of students.
He talked to them about the importance of having a "life blueprint" - a
deeply held design of what each of them intended to accomplish in life. He encouraged
them to strive for excellence at all times. And long before anyone coined the term
"servant leadership," King preached the importance of making service the
centerpiece of life, regardless of one's occupation.
As he famously put it: "If a man is called to be a streetsweeper, he should
sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare
wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth
will pause to say, 'Here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.'"
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tom Terez is the founder of InnerBest.com, BetterWorkplaceNow.com,
and TomTerez.com. His talks and workshops are all about helping individuals
and organizations achieve their very best. Click here to send Tom a note.
Copyright 2006 Tom Terez. |
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