Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Diplomacy

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of the most well-known and effective leaders of our time. He is an American icon who has inspired generations to live up to a higher set of ideals and character. He was a visionary with an incredible ability to communicate and appeal to the emotions of people of all races, colors and creeds.

One of Dr. King’s greatest leadership competencies was diplomacy. He is known for his incredible speeches, but he was also very good at integrating and aligning groups from across the nation. These groups had various agendas and objectives, but Dr. King was able to pull them together and span boundaries to unite them behind a common cause.

He was also great at building social capital. He developed an outstanding social network that all worked together to spread his message across the country through grassroots movements. This fostered cooperation as well as the coordination and exchange of resources.

Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech is powerful, and everyone should take the time to listen to it and hear the emotions and power behind it. The speech would not have had the same impact if Dr. King had not had the diplomacy to needed to build a strong network that spanned the boundaries of small groups nationwide. He turned a grassroots effort into a nationwide movement.

Use the this holiday to listen to “I Have a Dream” and find a way to better use diplomacy in your life using Dr. King as a role model.

 

Disclaimer

Here at Lead Read Today, we endeavor to take an objective (rational, scientific) approach to analyzing leaders and leadership. All opinion pieces will be reviewed for appropriateness, and the opinions shared are solely of the author and not representative of The Ohio State University or any of its affiliates.