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Brilliant post Tom -- thank you -- Mr King was indeed an inspiration.

I am currently reading 'William Wilberforce--a biography' by Stephen Tomkins. The book mainly catalogues Wilberforce's long battle to abolish the slave trade and then slavery itself. There were many disappointments and defeats along the way for Wilberforce as the politicians of the day found reasons to defend the slave trade--based purely on financial grounds. One of the many lessons from the life of Wilberforce is that if you have a vision - never give up on it. It may take a life time to achieve but if your cause is just then it is worth fighting for. The slave trade was finally abolished 200 years ago in 1807 and the first commons motion Wilberforce put forward was in 1789. It took him 18 years to get a majority in the House of Commons but he never gave up fighting to abolish something he believed was inhumane. Slavery itself was finally abolished in 1833 and Wilberforce died three days later--a lifetime's ambition fulfilled.

How many of us give up on our big idea?

Who knows what might have happened had we kept going.

I don’t have much knowledge of American politics and I suppose it is none of my business but I wanted to make a comment about the Presidential race.

How refreshing it is to see a young man like Barack Obama talking with optimism and passion. I have read in the American media how he has won hearts and minds and that to me is more important than any criticism of lack of depth or experience. When hearts and minds are 'up for grabs' it often means people are desperate for change.

I am sure many critics will say he is not experienced enough but I love this quote;

“Yes I know I am young and inexperienced but it is a fault I am remedying every day.” William Pitt on becoming Prime Minister at age 25 in 1783

It is a long race to the White House and there will be many twists and turns before the final decision is reached by US voters in November this year. For now I want to enjoy the feeling of having someone in the world spotlight that exudes energy, enthusiasm and passion the like of which we have not seen for the last few years on the world stage. Most current leaders in world politics seem to be males who are charisma-challenged, boring, white, middle-aged, middle-class, out of the same mass produced mould. Mr Obama seems different – I hope he is different and I wish him well.

Posted by Trevor Gay at January 21, 2008 9:09 AM

This is certainly true. If Obama is selected as president it will have come full circle.

Posted by Dan Schawbel at January 21, 2008 11:04 AM

Like Trevor, I don't know enough about US elections to know his policies but Mr Obama can certainly speak!

I do feel that there is too much training (or the wrong sort of training) around public speaking both in public life and business. I find most people in these areas so utterly uninspiring in style. All the passion has been trained out of them and replaced with carefully timed phrases off an auto cue.

Perhaps we expect too much from our leaders that they should be perfect speakers. It's amazing to read historical accounts of great leaders of previous generations who were not great orators and yet achieved great things.

Having said that there is something special when passion and competance comes together on stage.

I just have to think about Martin Luther Kings's speeches to bring a lump to the throat

Posted by PaulH at January 21, 2008 11:56 AM

From over here in the UK, the rise of Barack Obama is a fascinating one. The US does appear to be taking another massive leap forward (way ahead of the UK by the way).

The comparison between Martin Luther King and Barack Obama is an interesting one. There are similarities and differences: Dr King had to overcome, I suspect, a belief from many of his audiences that it couldn't be done, along with prejudice, fear and intimidation. Mr. Obama is trying to overcome that same belief that it can't be done too but he's also fighting cynicism and the mistrust of politicians that many people have.

Different challenges, but similar needs - the ability to win hearts and minds of those who support you..... and then those that might support you if they see the tide turning. Leadership is often about turning that tide.

For anyone interested, Dr.King's 'I have a dream' speech was voted as one of the Top 10 Greatest Speeches Of The 20th Century' by The UK Guardian. Listen to it at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/greatspeeches/story/0,,2059236,00.html

Posted by Andy Hanselman at January 21, 2008 12:28 PM

Is it just my feeling, or does Barack Obama try to emulate Martin Luther King in his speeches...

I'm drawn to the fact that he uses (a lot of) iteration when he speaks - for e.g. the "yes we can" speech.

As a foreigner in a foreign land, it's quite something - the sweepstakes of presidential politics - something not too many people outside the US paid attention to - say 15 years ago - is now front and centre in every home in (almost) every country in the world

Posted by Arun Sadhashivan at January 21, 2008 12:34 PM

Speaking as a citizen of a different culture (Europe) I have to shout out: "Hut ab! Chapeau! Kudos to the United States!"

Why that? - http://www.felgner.ch/2008/01/martin_luther_king_day.html

And thanks to one of your books, Tom, I learned who that Fons Trompenaars was in the first place ...

Posted by Harald Felgner at January 21, 2008 1:20 PM

I felt like a strikebreaker driving to work today, there were so few cars on the road here in Philly. Which was great (not that our office was open, but that so many people were sleeping in for peace and freedom, in honor of Dr. King).

We never got in the habit of closing because our business started in Virginia, which intentionally desecrated this great holiday for years by labeling it Lee (Robt. E)/Jackson (Stonewall)/King (grudgingly) ML day to make sure civil rights never got a day to itself.

Posted by Micah Solomon at January 21, 2008 1:22 PM

...of course, most of us in private enterprise, like you, and me, and most others commenting here, unfortunately or fortunately or both, take off a lot less time than the public or quasi public sector which is most of whom I jostle with for position every morning except this one. Education and government are big here.

Posted by Micah Solomon at January 21, 2008 1:27 PM

A funny thing happened yesterday as a few of us were sitting around watching football. My 9 year old son comes in and asks if we are going to the grandparents to celebrate MLK's birthday. I smiled and told him we didn't have plans. We decided we would make a cake tonight. you have to love innocence!

Posted by Mike Mendoza at January 21, 2008 2:32 PM

Thank you, Tom. The extraordinary beauty and truth of Dr. King's speech lie in part in its ability to connect with our deepest core to eradicate systems that are fundamentally and systemically ill-conceived and crippling, even if we are inactive ourselves, even if the mere thought of change challenges our comfort zones, our own ideologies. We know that change is envitable, for the betterment of a thing or its demise.

Enlightened ones develop methods to assist in eradicating dysfunctional systems and replace them with those that depend on the whole to determine direction which require off-beat ideas and constant change. (Again--thanks, Tom.) A system where some benefit (economically or presumably emotionally) at the expense of others, where it continues to evolve, having a greater or lesser impact on the culture, require revolution. But the beauty is in the method.

Trevor, thanks for this bit of history and for your thought-provoking words. "Words matter."

Mike- thanks also. What a beautiful hopeful story.

Posted by Judith Ellis at January 21, 2008 2:52 PM

Thank you Tom. Re-imaging is a way to greatness.

Posted by Gary K. at January 21, 2008 9:12 PM

Here's my favorite quote from Dr. King:

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in times of comfort and convenience, but [where he stands] in times of challenge and controversy."

I put this at the bottom of my e-mails. It helps on those less than inspirational days...

Posted by nextgenradio at January 21, 2008 9:32 PM

Humans don't usually like to disagree, but I have learned to do so when it's sincere, even if proved wrong (hopefully) or in this case, thought of as a pessimist.

I have to disagree with you, Tom. Not in how inspiring MLK was, not at all. He is one of the people I admire most. And I agree with his speech and how we must never give in, try to live by that.

But I disagree in the sense of the comment "how far we've come". Even though people with darker skins (or black people) are treated A LOT better nowadays, humans on average have a lot of discrimination that isn't dealt with at its roots. What do I mean by that? Even though we are WAY more diplomatic now, there is still much ignorance in the average human which leads to burning bridges and bulding walls instead of building and USING bridges. In what sense: well, in the racial sense, religious sense, sexual orientation sense, political sense, economic sense, social status sense, and so on, and so on, and in the future, with all the new inventions out there, there may very well be genetic discrimination (talk about the ultimate bigotry!).

But, I want to also say this. I do like to focus on the positive, so I AM thankful certain atrocities aren't practised anymore. But wanted to point out many things that have the same root (fear) as racial discrimination in the sixties against black people, that remain to this day, even in the "most advanced, liberal" cities in the world, though more conceited now, but as destructive and non supportive to human life as ever.

Why pointing them out? To question your own beliefs at the root, and DO something about it. I'm not saying I'm perfect, but i love to question. For example, people sometimes say: I'm not racist because I treat a "black" person fairly enough... But ask yourself this, then: If you have a daughter, how would you feel if she came home with a black boyfriend? (Well, this is rather common nowadays) So better yet, ask yourself what you would feel if she came home with a native american indian boyfriend? Or with a latino boyfriend? Or with a (your race of preference here) boyfriend? Try as many races as you can and really see for yourself if you have something against somebody. Or try these other questions: What would I do if my daughter came with a jew boyfriend? Or a muslim? Or came home with a girlfriend (rather than a boyfriend)? Or came home with someone who is a republican (if you are extremely democrat)? Well, you get the picture now, ask yourself these types of questions and you'll find out how far you personally have come.

Thanks everyone, have a great day!

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PS I've done this exercise (I'm not above anybody here!) and have come to several most interesting insights! : O

Oh, and I also love the quote about man's true measure by MLK, thanks for reminding me of it, nextgenradio!

Posted by Cesar at January 21, 2008 9:57 PM

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Ceasar- I appreciate your sentiments here and would like to make a comment. But before I go any further, for such a forward thinking seemingly no holds barred kind of guy, why not include your last name? In any event, I can both appreciate the progress we have made as a country AND advocate for further change. We MUST acknowledge that we have made strides toward greater equality. Not to acknowlege this truth is to walk through just about every city in America with blindfolds, obliterate the increasing Black middleclass, and erase from the history books the likes of Oprah, Powell and Rice. Besides the sheer brilliance and competence of all the above, regardless of political persuasion, society to a greater or lesser extent played a role in the making of these great Americans, albeit in an ancillary way. The point here: nothing occurs in a vacuum. A speaker needs an audience. A product needs a buyer. A service provider needs a client. And we need each other. Change has come and greater change yet to come.

Posted by Judith Ellis at January 22, 2008 2:00 AM

On Sunday my wife Annie and I listened to a wonderful talk by Nicky Gumbel entitled ‘How to live and Act with Integrity.’ Nicky tells the story of ‘Gibbo’ who worked for Gordon Selfridge the American founder in 1906 of ‘Selfridges’ - Britain’s first department store. The phone rang and Gibbo answered. The caller wanted to speak to Mr Selfridge. Mr Selfridge said ‘Tell him I’m not here' Gibbo handed the phone to Gordon and said ‘You tell him you’re not here’ Selfridge was furious and Gibbo said to his boss ‘I refused because if I can lie FOR you I can lie TO you and I will NEVER lie to you’. Gibbo became a trusted source of Mr Selfridge from that point. Cesar’s point and Judith’s follow up are about acting with personal integrity I think. If you want 42 minutes of brilliant FREE wisdom that you would pay a fortune for from a management consultant have a listen to Nicky’s talk ‘How to live and Act with Integrity’ at this link http://www.htb.org.uk/

Posted by Trevor Gay at January 22, 2008 5:40 AM

I recently reviewed a great list of some MLK quotations (online at http://martin-luther-king-day.123holiday.net/king_quotes.html) and by far the one that most resonated with me today was this one:

"Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against
love."

Posted by Rachel Whalley at January 22, 2008 5:41 AM

Thanks, Trevor. I'll check out Gumbel's speech. I guess the core issue is always personal integrity. But I also wondered about the collective consciousness of a culture and how we arrive at certain beliefs and what method is used to eradicate or foster ideology or behavior. In business environments or life in general we implicitly or complicitly agree or disagree about the culture. I wonder about the method and process for collective change. Tom's notion of small groups doing small things through excellence and passion seem apropos in all environments, having an affect on the larger culture. Of course, visibility helps. I also wondered about the role collective consciousness plays in both success and failure, personal effort aside. Does it then go back to method and process? The beauty is in the method. The CGRO et al have all-important roles.

Posted by Judith Ellis at January 22, 2008 9:21 AM

Tom, thanks for your post, and Trevor, thanks for making us aware of Nicky Gumball's talk.

It is extraordinary, isn't it, to consider how much human value has increased in the last half century. It makes me wonder how might human value increase in the years and decades ahead. I suspect that many of us meeting in Tom's corner of cyberspace share an interest in elevating human value at work. In the early 80s, when I was a new employee at Texas Instruments, I read "In Search of Excellence" and we went through a course based on the book. The message resonated with me (I still have the book and tapes). Nearly 25 years have passed and although the workplace has made some progress, there is so much further to go. I wonder if the approaching labor shortage and competitive pressures of globalization might force employees to increase human value in the workplace in order to attract and retain the talent needed to meet market opportunities. Rather than take up too much space here, I just posted some additional thoughts on this topic at my new blog michaelleestallard.com.

Posted by Michael Lee Stallard at January 22, 2008 3:34 PM