One of the many reasons Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an incredible leader was his ability to communicate his messages to people of all backgrounds (i.e., target markets). As a PR Executive and writer, I am a consummate communicator. And it is my job to help businesses/people communicate to their target market. Those in the field of communications, whether marketing, public speaking or media as well as those dealing with customers/clients of any kind, whether hourly, daily or monthly (whether B2C or B2B), can learn myriad lessons from Dr. King’s ability to find endless ways to reach and relate to his audience(s). It was his gift and if we study and learn from his approach then it can be one of the many gifts he gave to us.
Three lessons in communication from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
1) A well-researched, properly structured campaign can change perceptions
Brand perception is key to the marketing, PR and social media industry. It’s what we do for our clients … we conceptualize and create brands (visual and verbal/logos and taglines) and then work hard to make sure that our clients’ messages are received and perceived correctly by the public. For those clients who are “stuck in their ways” for a long period of time (or for customers whose perceptions of a company have been skewed over time), it’s often a challenge. It was Dr. King’s challenge as he fought for human rights. Through copious research, he determined that rallies and marches would be the most effective way to speak to his audience (his “consumer,” if you will). His approach attracted the media’s attention which in turn attracted the attention of the youth/college students, political figures and community leaders who organically became his spokespeople; Crowdsourcing. His strategy worked. Learn from it.
2) Fight passionately
If you believe in your message, don’t hold back. Fight passionately for your business and communicate that passion to your clients, potential clients and the media. You are the talking head of your business. No one will every be as passionate about your business as you are. Dig into every corner of your business and find all the pieces of your passion: the who, what, why, when and how of your business and then start “shouting out” about it. Your passion can become a rolling stone for your business.
3) A key to becoming a successful practitioner is humility
While a business owner’s job is to be the “passionate face” of his/her business, a public relations executive’s job is to be the “behind-the-scenes-passion” of that business. Our focus is to do “things” that make others look great. However, passion cannot be cocky — whether you are the PR executive helping a client or the business owner herself. While MLK was both, those who know his story also know he did not want to be the face of the movement; but, because he felt it was his place to serve his people, he became his movement’s PR executive. He is a lesson in running a campaign with great humility.
As we celebrate Dr. King’s life, in honor of his legacy here are some of his memorable remarks on leadership, communication and progress:
- “A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”
- “People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.”
- “When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.”
- “Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.”
- “The art of acceptance is the art of making someone who has just done you a small favor wish that he might have done you a greater one.”
- “All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.”
- “Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.”
