MLK Leadership Breakfast

28th Annual Community Leaders' Breakfast
January 16, 2012

Will the Real Leaders Please Stand Up!

A cursory look at our country and our world immediately reveals a need for effective leadership. We face some of the most critical times that our nation has ever known and I am concerned about who will stand and lead in humility and wisdom. Dr. King once said, "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in times of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of conflict and controversy.”

We certainly live in a time of conflict and controversy. Many who would lead seem more capable of criticism than leadership. The absence of genuine solutions versus the plethora of complaints is shocking. This in itself is an indication of the dearth of leadership in our country. When billionaires with no history of public service can “jimmy” their way into the possibility of leading the greatest nation of the world, when the wars of words are more prevalent than wars against injustice, when Washington gloats in gridlock while the children of America go hungry we have reached a place of conflict and controversy. Who will and who can lead becomes the question of the day. Since we have labeled this day not just an MLK breakfast but an MLK Leadership breakfast it is incumbent on me to speak to the issue of leadership. And my heart is to inspire us to be leaders in the spirit of the man whose day we honor.

What is a leader?

Dr. King said, "A genuine leader is not a searcher of consensus but a molder of consensus."

Of course Dr. King, like me, had the wonderful privilege of leading without ever having to be elected by popular vote and so I understand that a political leader must duly represent his or her constituency. But I believe what Dr. King infers is that a genuine leader will not constantly change his or her stance based upon who they are talking to or what camp they happen to be campaigning in or what church they happen to be leading. A leader forms consensus by determining what the problems are and developing solutions to those problems and coalescing teams to help address those problems. Phony leaders spend most of their time criticizing those who caused the problem or inherited the problem while real leaders spend more time discussing solutions to the problem. You show me a real leader and I will show you a woman or a man who has ideas about how to bring change to issues in real and practical ways.

Being a leader has little to do with title and everything to do with results. Bishop Charles Williams once declared that, “If a man calls himself a leader and no one is following, he's just taking a walk.” And no matter what we call you if no one follows you the title does not transform you into a leader. Bishop, congressman, senator, president, supervisor - it doesn't matter if you cannot produce results. This means that there are leaders that don't know they are leaders. There are great mean and women who have no idea of their own measure of greatness. They are housewives and janitors, cooks and clerks, members and friends who do what they do every day producing solutions and creating consensus among their friends, families and co-workers!

A true leader does not waste time angrily attacking others who are trying to lead. If you can do better--show me! I decided a long time ago that I could not walk the road of the traditional so called evangelical Christian and stand in a pulpit every Sunday shouting and screaming at the darkness. I decided to stop shouting at the darkness and light a candle. To stop berating women who considered abortion and build a home for unwed mothers.

To stop demeaning those who had no job and create ways to find them training and employment. To stop closing my eyes to the hungry and feed them every week. A leader does not shout at the darkness, he lights a candle in darkness!!

Dr. King said "Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can."

Why Do We Need Leaders?

Jesus said that the person who decides to lead must first be servant of all. In other words real leaders are not those who want to be in charge but those who want to improve the quality of life for others. We don't need leaders in the traditional sense, we need servants who have a heart for others and are willing to give of themselves so that others might be helped. If there has ever been a time in history when servants were needed it is now. When you look at the condition of many of our young people and the high school drop-out rate you realize a need for leadership. When you observe the overcrowding of our prisons there must be someone out there that has an idea with more thought behind it than a ten year strategic plan for building more prisons!

MLK once said "Rarely do you find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is almost a universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think!"

We need servants who will identify a need and determine to do their part to change it. Much of the discouragement that floods our nation is derived from a dependence upon governmental leaders to provide all of the solutions to problems we face in our communities. And make no mistake, government has a role to facilitate solutions to national threats and issues however a nation whose hope is in her government is a nation that will surely be disappointed. Ultimately our trust must rest in God and the good nature of the citizens of this great nation in order for lasting change to take place in our world.

We need those who are gifted to think, facilitate, finance and execute solutions so that those who have lost hope can rediscover it; so that those who have lost their way can find it; so that those who have found nothing to live for can have a change of mind.

Will You Lead?

In our church I like to think of myself in three ways--Chief Fundraiser, Chief Servant. Chief Recruiter. Fortunately for you I'm not here in the first capacity today, but I am here in the second and third. I'm here to serve you by encouraging you and restoring your confidence in who we are as a nation and region. But my primary role today is Recruiter.

I'm here today with a sign-up sheet. MLK once said that, "A man who hasn't found something to die for is not fit to live!"

Today we hold in our hearts a sign-up sheet for those who are willing to light their own candle. For some there may be a need to relight your candle. For some there is a need to pick up a second or third candle.

I'm not here to recruit you to my church or to come and volunteer in any of the organizations that I lead. I'm certainly not here to represent any political party and I'm not here to recruit you into a newly formed group. I want to recruit you into your own sphere of influence and simply ask you, "Will you lead?"

Because if you will say yes to this question, together we can change Hampton Roads and we can impact out state, nation and the world. There is enough brain power in this room to solve most of the social ills of our area. There is enough money in this room to pay for or find the means to pay for those solutions. The key to channeling that intellectual, spiritual and financial power is found in the one thing that each of us totally controls--our own will.

“Will you lead” is the question of the day. Not is he a good leader? or did they do a good job? or who got us into this mess? The question of the day is what will you do?

The real leaders will have to say something!

MLK once said "When life comes to an end we will not remember the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends."

You and I must be willing to say something about the injustices of the world and not keep silent. We must be willing to say I will help make a difference. We must be willing to extend our hand to those who need us most and say I care and I'm going to help you.

The real leaders will have to do something!

MLK once said that "Faith is taking the first step before you see the entire staircase."

If you wait until the entire picture unfolds you will never do anything. But start with an idea. Carefully plan that idea and develop a timeline and a budget for your idea. Ask God for His help and to lead you to others who may have a similar passion who can bring synergy into the process. Never be too proud to start small.

WILL THE REAL LEADERS PLEASE STAND UP

If you're tired of waiting for someone else to do it then you ought to stand up yourself. If you're weary of the pundits and their sound bites, you ought to stand up yourself. If you're sick and tired of seeing family members and friends dying in their troubles you ought to stand up. If God has given you the means to help someone else you ought to stand up. If sometimes you feel like David fighting Goliath or Tim Tebow playing the Patriots you ought to stand up!

If God can find someone who will stand He will use your life as a tool to transform someone else's life. If you will stand up and be a leader, yes even a servant, we will hasten the day when the dream of Dr. King becomes a reality, "We will speed up the day when all over America and all over the world justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

© Written and copyrighted by Courtney McBath
January 15, 2012