Confession. For years I struggled with the praise of MLK, especially in Christian circles. It wasn\u2019t that I didn\u2019t whole-heartedly agree with his movement to advocate for the rights of blacks, but I struggled with the dark side of King, the alleged affairs and womanizing. It probably didn\u2019t help my ignorance that I grew up in Wyoming, a region of the US very isolated from diversity of any kind. Thus, the first time I encountered students of a different race, such as blacks, was as a college student at the University of Wyoming. Not too many years after these first encounters, I went on to live and work in an all-black community known as Binghampton in Memphis, not too far from where King was assassinated.<\/p>\n
As a new Executive Director in 2005, one of my first encounters with racial tension was with a man we had hired who had recently left behind a life of crime, drugs, and pimping. Going by the nickname, Big Dog, he was a force to be reckoned with as a 6\u20194\u201d 260lb all-star black athlete. Big Dog and I had it out several times as our cultures and assumptions of one another clashed often. Yet, yoked together in the name of Christ, our genuine love not only maintained the relationship but forged it over time. Even after I left Memphis in 2009, Big Dog and I have remained friends, and he has served as a safe sounding board for me as I have struggled through various challenges regarding race. One phone call two years ago was about my struggle with King. Big Dog listened but was just as quick to put me in my place and challenge my \u201cwhite version of Christianity.\u201d He was not suggesting that the extra-curricular activities were merited, but that regardless there was much one could learn and respect about MLK. I was rightfully put in my place that day. Reading King\u2019s Letter from Birmingham Jail, <\/em>I was struck by this quote, \u201cOver the past few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek.\u201d[1]<\/a> I wrote in the margin of my book, \u201cWow. I admire King for many reasons, but two of them are his humility<\/u> and love.<\/u> Quite commendable.\u201d Big Dog was right, I have much to learn and appreciate.<\/p>\n Switching gears, Western and Garcia\u2019s leadership book, Global Leadership Perspectives<\/em>, proved to be an insightful survey of the different leadership styles from around the world. With some similarities to Meyer\u2019s The Culture Map, <\/em>this book provided a helpful framework for understanding the variety of leadership practices and suggested four dominant discourses of leadership. They define discourse as the \u201cunderlying set of assumptions that becomes accepted as the norm.\u201d[2]<\/a> Following is a breakdown of each discourse:<\/p>\n In addition to these regional leadership breakdowns, the authors identify other potentially overlooked leadership approaches. South Africa has been pegged as possessing Paralysed Leadership due to the lack of consistent leadership and the depressive culture. It was suggested that changing this broken system will require a change in the leadership-followership dynamic.[4]<\/a> Since the end of apartheid and Mandela\u2019s exceptional leadership, the leadership vacuum has been difficult to fill. The US is said to model Melancholic Leadership. The authors give the sense that the US has lost its way and has become deeply polarized as we have failed to produce the American Dream.[5]<\/a> Thankfully we have had leaders along the way to \u201cmake America great again.\u201d \ud83d\ude09 Or not.<\/p>\n I found Global Leadership Perspectives<\/em> helpful in considering how region, culture, and history map a country\u2019s leadership approach. It was notable to me, and a little odd, that Canada didn\u2019t make the cut. However, the chapter on Mexico gave me a deeper appreciation for my neighbors and their rich history and varied leadership styles over the years, but also Mexico\u2019s tenacity to learn \u201cdifferent ways of facing life and solving unique Mexican problems.\u201d[6]<\/a> Finally, with our trip to South Africa fast approaching, I am even more excited to better understand the impact of race, culture, and leadership in this diverse country. South Africa, here we come!<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Martin Luther King, Letter from Birmingham Jail\u202f; the Three Dimensions of a Complete Life<\/em> (S.l.: Penguin, 2018), 27.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Simon Western and \u00c9ric-Jean Garcia, Global Leadership Perspectives: Insights and Analysis<\/em> (Los Angeles: SAGE, 2018), 190.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Ibid., 192\u2013200.<\/p>\n\n