The MLK MBA

The Business of Peace—and “The Fierce Urgency of Now”

Feb 14, 2023

June 5, 1957, New York City: exactly two years after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. received his doctorate from Boston University (the same day then-Senator JFK received an honorary law degree), and exactly 18 months after leading the Montgomery Bus Boycott, that propelled him to the forefront of the Civil Rights movement—and into J. Edgar Hoover’s crosshairs. Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

To my knowledge, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has never appeared on any list of “great business leaders.” Yet he was one of the greatest.

His final speech—“I Have Been to the Mountaintop”—included this:

“We mean business.”

His most famous speech—“I Have a Dream”—was also commercial in nature:

“We have come to cash a check…a Promissory Note.”

August 28, 1963: from the sweltering steps of The Lincoln Memorial, King addressed a crowd of 250,000. Tens of millions more watched on national TV. His 17-minute speech is every bit as majestic as his hero’s two-minute “Gettysburg Address,” and as emblematic of the Greater Good spirit of the 1960s as JFK’s Inaugural Address, where he urged all Americans to “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.” Photo via Wikimedia Commons.

The Promise was expressed in The Declaration of Independence: “all men are created equal…endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights.” King said America was still in default on the Note, 105 years after President Abraham Lincoln affirmed the terms of the USA’s Formation Contract in Proclamation 95 (aka The Emancipation Proclamation). King said “The Bank of Justice” was demanding payment on the way past due account.

Given that today marks the halfway point in Black History Month, and America seems as divided as it’s ever been—certainly every bit as much as when King tried to keep the hellhounds of divisiveness and violence at bay, it seems fitting to inquire into and refresh his inspiring leadership principles.

But, you might ask, entirely fairly: is he still relevant? Can what a Baptist preacher said and did 60 years ago really help me run my big bank, small start-up, or local PTA meeting? Haven’t his teachings been proven to be too timid, too radical, or too—fill in the blank? Hasn’t American society (the world for that matter) changed too much since he was “in business”?

No. King’s progressive teachings are more relevant than ever. His principles can help any organization, from a small family to a sprawling Fortune 50 company; any leader, current or aspiring. His creative message and methods haven’t been proven wrong. They’ve been proven prescient.

After all, King said violence begets violence, and incendiary rhetoric incites still more violence.

And look where we are today…

Just six weeks ago…in Memphis, where King was assassinated in 1968…at the Lorraine Hotel, that now houses the National Civil Rights Museum…where not too long ago a “Kin Killin’ Kin” exhibit lamented the profoundly tragic paired facts that while (i) as a percentage of the population Blacks are killed 6-7 times as often as Whites, (ii) (depending on the methodology) 70-90% of Blacks die at the hands of other Blacks…as so horrifically corroborated when five Black police officers savagely and fatally beat a Black man during a routine traffic stop…

Last February…in Ukraine, Putin pounced…unleashing his benighted, propagandized and frenzied troops to commit atrocities not seen since Srebrenica…and sucking the U.S. into a metastasizing proxy war that’s far more dangerous and volatile than the one waged with China in Vietnam…

Meanwhile…speaking of the PRC…Xi isn’t just rattling sabers over Taiwan but sending airships over Tennessee (and many other States)…that are capable of carrying a lot more than Uber Eats egg rolls, and of dropping a lot more than dim sum…

While many of America’s elected leaders seem most interested in leading the news with the least civil but catchiest sound bite, leveled much less frequently against the rising tide of fascist dictators than their domestic political foes…their sworn duty to serve the Greater Good apparently as far removed from their calculus as it seems to be from Pyongyang’s, or—fill in the blank…

Sixty years ago, King didn’t just visit America’s elected leaders in Washington, but, as he faced the U.S. Capitol and with The White House to his left—he spoke Truth to Power…urging all Americans not to “fall into the ‘valley of despair.’”

Is it too late? Doesn’t Memphis, Moscow, and the seemingly unstoppable centrifugal force of Hate Speech prove that we've descended too far down into the valley, and there’s no way out—short of Armageddon, a New World War, or a New Civil War? Is King’s business of peace and reconciliation now just a pipe dream, a myth?

No. It’s not a myth or a pipe dream. It’s within our grasp. Provided we all do our part, and work together.

As for me, though I’m no King scholar, I’ve been an avid student of his business philosophy for 40 years. In 1983, after stumbling upon a collection of his riveting, magnificent speeches, I shocked and worried my poor parents by taking what they felt sure would be a permanent “leave of absence” from my JD-MBA program to write a screenplay about the time King not only brokered a truce between two Black gangs in Chicago but persuaded the most vicious gang leader to renounce violence—and, instead, “March with me.” Though James Earl Jones agreed to star and a senior VP at Universal Pictures backed The Promised Land, its VP of negative pickups told me “Jones is over the hill” (before Field of Dreams), and “I don’t see a film about Black gangs as having crossover appeal” (before Colors). So I returned to Hyde Park, tail between my legs, ego bruised, my bank account considerably depleted.

These days, involved as I am in one of King’s favorite proponents of the business of peace, The Fellowship of Reconciliation, I’m convinced he’d say The Promised Land is still within our grasp; that, though it might be over the horizon, his “Bright Day of Justice” will dawn, some day. In his final speech, delivered just hours before he was killed, he said:

“Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.”

King wasn’t just a star. He was a supernova.

Why? Because, as C.S. Lewis said, “principles last.” The author of The Chronicles of Narnia and Mere Christianity also said that the only “engine” that can power truly sustainable progress—is built on the sort of principles by which King lived his life.

Like what principles, for instance? What was King’s engine?

The factory-installed engine under King’s hood was Judeo-Christian. Because the Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr. preceded his son as pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, MLK Jr. was steeped in Old Testament prophecy. So it’s no wonder the son’s opus that so captivated me in 1983 could almost be a Berry Gordy production: The Prophets’ Greatest Hits, from Amos to Zechariah. However, the son went on to add many after-market accessories, supplied by Marx, Gandhi, The Prophet Mohammed, and others.

March 1966: The White House. Johnson’s powers of persuasion were legendary. But LBJ met his match in MLK. Photo courtesy of Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.

So what were King’s leadership principles? Seven rise to the top.

1. Love conquers all

King’s 1963 TV interview with journalist David Susskind was a tour de force. Polite, erudite, eloquent, and unflappable, King discussed myriad beliefs, principles and practices, but always returned to one message: love one’s brothers and sisters. He believed that every member of the human race was his sibling. Being the scholar that he was, King was the first to admit he wasn’t breaking any new ground. Gandhi preached the same gospel of love decades earlier, regarding different Untouchables. Similarly, 2,000 years ago, when Hillel was asked to rank Yahweh’s sacred principles, the great rabbi said there was but one: love thy neighbor as you would have them love you; “all else is commentary.” Books like Business is War, The Art of War for Managers, and Business War Games offer advice on how to “crush” or “kill” the competition, but the metaphors of hate never factored into the philosophy of two of America’s greatest leaders. Love landed Frances Hesselbein on the 1991 cover of Business Week’s special edition on “America’s best-run organizations,” and love is why, in 2016, Fortune (in its inaugural list of the world’s greatest leaders), rated Alan Mulally America’s #1 overall greatest leader, the world’s #1 business leader, and the world’s #3 overall greatest leader. It’s why the heart of Alan’s “Working Together”© leadership and management system—which drove transformational change despite colossal obstacles—is “love by design,” and his cardinal principle is “People first…love ‘em up.” Both he and Frances agreed with Kahlil Gibran that work is not war—but rather “love made visible.”

King’s boyhood home (restored, preserved, and owned by The National Park Service); by age 7 (1936), he would have already heard hundreds if not thousands of hours of parables and sermons at home and his father’s church. Photos courtesy of the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Principle 2. Everyone should be “judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character”

The Georgia of King’s youth was Ku Klux Klan territory, at least in many parts of the State. Rather than a disqualifier, membership in the “Invisible Empire” was often a requirement to be elected judge, sheriff, or mayor. Thirty years later, there were still Black church bombings, cross burnings, lynchings, and other extrajudicial killings throughout the South. When King was an Alabama pastor, George Wallace was an Alabama judge; later, after hiring a Klan leader to advise him, then-Governor Wallace issued his infamous, shameful battle cry: “Segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” However, as King told Susskind, things were sometimes worse in the ghettoes, schools, churches, and residential neighborhoods of the North, West and Midwest. On top of it all, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, officially the U.S. Justice Department’s “top cop,” insisted King was no savior but rather a menace to society; so he viciously persecuted him. Though often provoked and baited to denounce the likes of Wallace, King always deflected the hate, and instead heaped praise on “the many White people of good will in America.”

Principle 3. Justice delayed is justice denied

One of King's favorite sayings was “the time is always right to do what is right.” In his “I Have a Dream” speech, he urged all Americans to embrace “the fierce urgency of now,” and resist “the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.” Incrementalism, he said, can not only create more harm than good but also be “fatal to the Nation.” So, at work, if we’ve done wrong, we should own up and apologize, sooner rather than later, and try to make amends ASAP.

Principle 4. Be passionate—but not physical

King arrived at Boston University in 1952 uncertain regarding how best to advance Civil Rights. Like most activists, the role of violence was a key question. Like many, King tended to believe that the time for violence may have arrived. But by the time he left with his doctorate, Thurman (who preached just east of where Thoreau had walked, talked and been jailed for his own creative non-violence a century prior, and was informed by his time with Gandhi in India 25 years prior) persuaded King that rejecting violence wasn’t just the best way, but the only way. If you really felt that even KKK “Knights” were worthy of respect, then violence was not an option. When Susskind asked King to comment on Malcom X and other Black leaders who at the time were arguing that a non-violent strategy was weak and misguided, King politely but methodically demolished their argument not by invoking unprovable theology or the ancient Law of Moses but by citing modern psychology and the law of supply and demand. On the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that hot August day in 1963, though he praised the “marvelous militancy” of some, King insisted Blacks would achieve far more by “meeting physical force with soul force.” The key was passionate restraint, not pyrrhic retribution.

Principle 5. The only way to achieve lasting peace and prosperity is by ensuring that all of the stakeholders have a seat at the table, and everyone is working together for the Greater Good

King often talked up the importance of teamwork and finding common ground. Like Lincoln, he said “a house divided cannot stand.” In Memphis, speaking at a Temple the night before he was assassinated, he said the Pharaohs of Egypt always tried to sow dissension amongst the slaves, and the only way the slaves achieved anything, including the ancient Hebrews, was when they unified in solidarity. That simple but profound message—comprehensive inclusion—is why Hoover began wiretapping King. Though he could abide King working with white southern Baptists, northern urban Catholics, Mexican migrant workers out west, and even Black Muslims in Chicago—the FBI Director drew the line, a bright red one, at giving The Communist Party of America a seat at the table. Despite King’s adamant and genuine opposition to Marxist philosophy on the grounds that it was incompatible with Judeo-Christian principles, Hoover insisted King was a “closet Commie.”

Principle 6. Welcome sacrifice

King knew that authentic leadership was often unpopular, as reflected by the last Gallup poll taken before his murder, in 1966, where his unfavorable rating was 63%. True leadership requires sacrifice, up to and including the ultimate sacrifice. When Susskind asked him before a TV audience of millions if he agreed with those who said it was “a ‘miracle' you’ve not been killed already,” without a trace of bravado or provocation, King deftly sidestepped the loaded semantics and replied: “I get death threats all the time, and they are increasing…but I don’t even have a bodyguard, and I’ve declined federal protection.” King believed that if he looked or sounded afraid, the forces of Racism could claim victory. Five years later, those same forces silenced him, the day after he'd implicitly prophesied his own death in his “I Have Been to the Mountaintop” speech. Forty-three years later, his popularity stood at 94%. CEOs rarely need to put their lives on the line, but even genuine gestures like cutting their pay during financial difficulties inspires the troops.

Principle 7. Educate yourself

While the NAACP’s iconic “A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste” ad campaign didn’t debut until four years after King’s death, it affirmed his own views on the importance of education. He regarded education as the linchpin of Black equality and prosperity because it opened doors, leveled playing fields, and manifestly rebutted the insidious racist myth of Black intellectual inferiority. Though he didn’t attend Harvard or have a speechwriting army like JFK and other Presidents, King’s speeches are unparalleled in their erudition and accessibility to the masses. So, if you’re a new hire (or an old one), going out of your way each and every day to learn something new by listening to your colleagues—will earn you handsome dividends.

In the distance, above the white car, on the second floor, a wreath marks the spot where King was cut down by a sniper. The Lorraine Motel now houses the U.S. National Civil Rights Museum (a Smithsonian affiliate). Fifty-five years later, Tyre Nichols would also be killed in Memphis, prompting more national grieving and soul-searching. Photo courtesy: DavGreg, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

I don’t know what the good reverend doctor would say about today’s toxic climate of disrespect and gratuitous violence, 59 years after he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. But, as King was an empirical man, I’m sure he’d say that Peace seems a very long way off.

I’m also sure Peace would be much more within reach were this incredibly gifted and principled leader still with us, and hadn’t been called Home well before his time.

What I'm less sure about is: Who will continue his legacy of servant-leadership, of working together to achieve a bright future? The U.S. population in 1968 was 200 million. Today it’s nearly 350 million. Is there no one in this great land with the skill set and fortitude to follow in his footsteps? Who understands the fierce urgency of now? Who means business as King meant it? The business of peace, governed by The Bank of Justice?

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