“I Have a Dream” Speech 50th Anniversary: Does A Leader Create Followers or Grow More Leaders?

Google is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the speech “I have a Dream” with a Doodle today, Martin Luther King delivered the speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. The speech is still inspirational, energizing and thought-provoking today, to make our heart heavy and mind stimulating, after five decades, the progress has been made, but the march is still at the beginning..Should a great leader attract the followers as many as sands on the beach or  grow more leaders as brighter as stars on the sky…
 

1. A Visionary Leader Inspires and Create More Leaders

“I have a dream.., I have a dream.., I have a dream.., I have a dream.., I have a dream today…” –MLK

• A leader is someone with a clear vision, a “dreamer” like MLK is a visionary who is able to convince not only a group of people, but global citizens of that vision, and then move them from where they are right now to the shared vision. A leader must create many 'Believers'. Creates room of immense potential as the belief is in something so strong, probably stronger than your own, and bigger than yourself. Real leadership is when you let go the authority you possess from the role and still see if you have 'Believers'.. It's a great sense of achievement to see how much someone is 'Energized” 

• A leader inspires by providing inspirational leadership, in that way they provide clear direction and alignment of resources; not by setting out to try to inspire for its own sake. The ultimate mission of a true leader is to create interdependence, which results in helping the followers become leaders, and initiate their own visions and missions.. Whether those who are inspired become followers or new leaders depends more on their own qualities, and on how they respond to what the leader's example does to them; rather than on what the leader directly does for them. 

• A great leader creates more leaders: All 'followers' have a unique competency; until the followers discover theirs and begin to pursue it intelligently, a wise leader inspires them and guides them towards its discovery. When the flame of leadership purpose is kindled, they become 'emerging leaders' for their generation, their era and their dreams. A good leader creates good performance....a great leader creates more leaders, as they understand that successful and sustainable leadership is not a one person role and as such inspires followers to become leaders.

2. An Inspiring Leader is Authentic & Character-Based

“I have a dream that one day, my four little children will live in a notion that they are not be judged by their color of skin, but the content of character..”-MLK

• You must be able to BE you! The fullest expression of leadership is the discovery of a noble purpose and then pursuing that purpose with a passion and integrity that attracts and inspires others to come alongside the leader to help fulfill that noble purpose. That personal purpose then morphs into a bigger purpose when those who are attracted to the leader make his / her purpose their own.

• The leader's role is BOTH to positively influence followers and grow more leaders. Leaders should develop in others with the capacity to think independently and make critical decisions. To accomplish that, leaders want to build a team that can challenge the status quo. The leader's main job, relates to moving the entity, of whatever form, in the direction to which it must go to achieve its purpose. 

• Character matters: What matters is the character of the leader as a human being, then her/his capability to influence the hearts and minds of those around to follow a certain course and push the world forward. It doesn't always matter how many followers a leader has, as sometimes a leader’s vision & mindset is well ahead of the era. The problem with many leaders all around the world however is the corrupted notion of leadership that seeks to maintain 'followers' in that perpetual state of 'follower-ship' by keeping them from discovering and pursuing their own unique greatness.  

3. Let Freedom Ring

“Let Freedom Ring. When we allow the freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every city to every hamlet; from every state and every city, we will be speed up of that day…” -MLK

•  "Leadership is first a Trust given in exchange for Trust, then it is the ability to energize others to achieve agreed upon goals with a spirit that amplifies and multiplies the mutual leadership of all members. Whenever you are the right person at the right time with the right purpose you are the Leader.

• The evolution of the mind, brain and culture are certainly determining factors for leadership effectiveness. Leadership is consistent with changing of your 1) Associates 2) The environment and 3) the circumstance within. . It is, therefore, important to successful leaders that they have the capacity to capture deep thoughts that may be difficult to hear or divergent thought different from their own...

•  Leadership is the ability to get others to do the things you want them to do because they want to do them. The characteristics of  leaders include at least three interesting attributes and beyond: 1)  Long term thinking; 2) Empathy and pursuit of universal happiness and care for the planet; 3) Inclusiveness; Influence, Maturity, Balance., etc.

Leadership is influence; the purpose of leadership is to envision the future and drive collective human progress, from self-reflection to leadership discovery, more and more unique leaders are needed to fill out the gap, add the new color or bring the novel ideas, it is the continuous dream to unify mankind.

Posted in: Food for Thought,Future of Leadership