MLK Serve

“Everybody can be great because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve.
You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, February 4, 1968


Somewhere…along the path of the last 50 or so years when Dr. King delivered this speech there seemed a dramatic shift to the way we live our lives.

The sentiments to serve…to be of service to others…to “share the ball”  (as I’ve been known to say/write about) has been in large part been replaced with “I, Me, Mine.

Yes, I’m old!
Yes, I’m a child of the ’60s but I’ve also been a student of human behavior masquerading as an executive search guy/basketball coach for a bunch of decades…

This perch has entitled me to view untold numbers of individuals at various places on the success continuum and know full well that the only scalable success model is to lead (or be pretty dang close to leading the league in assists.

Does this mean not to think of yourself…your wants, needs, and desires?
ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!
My book (“How the Truth Will Set You and Your Career Free) is structured around Lord Polonius advice to Laertes…”this above all, to thine own self be true”…

Before any of us can do any real good for another we must be true to ourselves…our success model has to contain first some level of selfishness…
As Aesop taught…we should not “kill the goose that laid the golden egg”…

But from there…
Once we feel on solid, emotional, footing …

A model that includes being altruistic…attaining “helpers high” is one that seemingly has fallen out of fashion

*Altruistic ( from Psychology Today)
Altruism doesn’t always come naturally, since by definition, it requires people to disregard their own concerns to help others without any expectation of reward, though “reciprocal altruism” is a term used by evolutionary biologists and psychologists to characterize the decision to help with an expectation that one will receive some benefit or payoff to oneself. Cooperative behavior allowed our ancestors to survive under harsh conditions, and it still serves a necessary purpose to a highly complex society. Even when people don’t behave altruistically for recognition or reward, they often feel energized and happy after helping others, sometimes called the ‘helper’s high.”

Bottom line is this…

None of what’s written is about yours truly trying to tell anyone how to live their life…
As I’ve told my own kids for years and years; “do whatever you want to do with your life…as long as nobody gets hurt, enjoy your life “

My reason for venturing out into the blogosphere is simply an attempt to honor a great, great man, whose contribution to humanity, in general, is significant and then some…
A man who left us far too soon but whose wisdom and inspiration needs to remain easily accessible for any of us in need of wisdom and inspiration…

Happy birthday Dr. King
Thank you for all that you did and continue to do for us all…

We must now continue to work on making your dream our reality