Coaching and Dr. King: Leadership and Our Capacity for Hope

Coaching and Dr. King: Leadership and the Capacity for Hope

When addressing the young people of South Africa in 1966, Robert F. Kennedy made this observation about leadership and hope. It was the same passage that Ted Kennedy used at his funeral… It goes like this:

“Some believe that there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the array of the world’s ills. Yet many of the world’s great movements of thought and action have flowed from the work of a single person…

These individuals moved the world, and so can we all. Few will have the greatness to bend history itself, but each person can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.

It is from numerous diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he or she sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.

… Those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

Given that we are recalling and celebrating leadership and vision of MLK in January, on the coat tails of a magnificent movie, Selma, that portrays the courage and the hope of MLK and his followers, it effectively can remind each of us of how his example cogently lifts up for us is the dynamism of leadership, and that there is spiritual source and there is a soulful force behind being guided by one’s ideals that gives authenticity to being a leader…

When a reporter once asked Dr. King about when he will stop in his war protests, or when he would stop standing up for the poor, his response was this:

Sir, I am sorry that you do not know me. I am not a consensus leader. I do not determine what is right and what is wrong by looking at the budget… Or taking a Gallop poll. [ I make my decisions based on my purpose, my mission] Ultimately, a leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus… There comes a time when we must take the position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but we must do it because conscience tells us it is right. …”

In the social justice magazine, Sojourners, we are reminded us that leadership is no one decision, one person, one outlook on life:

“[To remember King in any full, authentic, and lasting way is to act like him.

Otherwise it is faint praise, and as shallow a regard as to make it a caricature of respect. The change that King led is not contained within museums, monuments, or mausoleums, but lives vibrantly on in the people of social movements — people who believe that, step by step, a divided country can be united and broken spirits can be uplifted.]”

There is, then, to my understanding, a meeting and turning point that connects leadership with hope… It is ancient, and it is visionary. It is ancient simply because of its interconnection, while not often remembered, has been around for ages. Confucius made the first connection when he said:

“A leader, in order to lead, is not a perfect man, that is reserved for the Master… A leader has a vision, that stretches them beyond the comfortable or the familiar, then he leads his people by dealing with discouragement, and providing a sense of hope.”

It is a mistake to look for an ideal person as a leader; we cannot discount the human struggles that are part and parcel of any person’s daily challenges; What we overcome, as Teddy Roosevelt put it, is the yardstick of our growth that fully measures our successes.

Knowing full well that change will not happen because of the entrenchment of both ego and prejudice, it becomes the task of each advocacy group, each social justice coalition, and yes, each person take up our part in providing our country and our communities with ethical leadership and a resilient hope.

In short, I believe that each and everyone is capable of growth or transformation; each person has within her/himself a variety of gifts and skills; each of you is a leader capable of contributing a significant shift or positive adaptation to our world.

Remember this crucial inner truth- You lead by your enthusiasm; by your dedication, by your passion…. By your ability to see a need and fill it…

Now, I am sure that I will hear, well, “I’m no leader! I am quiet, pensive, reserved, and shy…” But we lead in many unspoken private ways, as well… In the power of a smile, in giving the benefit of the doubt, in everyday courtesy, in maintaining personal dignity and upholding civility, etc. . You lead by expressing your caring to someone who needs sympathy and support, you lead by providing rides and meals, or an encouraging letter…

Each step of involvement and participation can be seen as a step in cooperative leadership that meets a known concern or that can compassionately anticipate and then provides for an unknown need.

Lastly, While I do not expect any of you to easily command the energies of a King, or shoulder the awesome responsibilities of a President, what I do believe that each of you has is the capacity to give and hold hope for one another.

In a world where discouragement, incivility, and daunting challenges seem commonplace, we can feel overwhelmed. Yet, there is no limit of skill or education that is necessary to shift your focus towards optimism, towards possibilities, towards having hope. If your heart is open, you can hold hope for yourselves and for the rest of us…

Emerson states that we judge the wisdom of a person… And I would say, the wisdom of a community, by how well it holds on to its hopes…

As we recall Martin Luther King, as a leader who held out a vision of hope for all people, I will be reflecting on his visionary message and how I can assist and encourage others to apply it in their lives…. To explore and to discover how each person contributes to the wholeness and wellness of her/his community by acts of spiritual and ethical leadership and by moving themselves into meaningful actions… Moving ahead, step by step, to a promising future that is filled with hope…

So Be IT!