Leaders Who Inspire

I was three years old when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, seven when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot, and nine when we landed on the moon. Every night I watched the body count from the Vietnam War on TV. The decade of the 60s was a transformational time for both America and the world and with that contrast came a treasure trove of experience for a young boy eager to examine the various forms and applications of leadership.

As I watched the assassination of Dr. King on my black and white TV in early April of 1968, I started to understand the meaning of true leadership. Since I did not yet know how to read, I directed my questions to my friend Anthony, a fellow illiterate and the only black student in my class. Anthony and I shared many conversations about the events of the day in the two years that followed while we pursued the journey of learning from the contrast around us.

It has been over 50 years since I last saw Anthony. I have no idea where his path took him in life or the positive change he effected, but I do know that he forever changed my view of the world and that change has divided and multiplied over the decades to change the lives of hundreds of others whom he will never meet. Such is the gift of leadership. You may work with someone for years or just meet them for a moment, but who you are being in that moment will make an impression on them and if you are an inspiring leader, that impression may last a lifetime.

Shortly before he was assassinated, Dr. King gave a talk to a group of junior high students. In that speech he said "If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well." That was over half a century ago and I still hold those words close to my heart - that is the inspiration of true leadership.