DISC, Leadership and Martin Luther King

If Dr. Martin Luther King had taken his Everything DiSC Work of Leaders profile, what would it have shown us?

Martin Luther King Jr.

Fifty years ago, a truly remarkable man delivered a truly remarkable speech. As myself and my partner Tony were sitting watching the incredibly moving BBC2 programme “Martin Luther King and the march on Washington”, it got me curious. I wonder what the great man’s DiSC and leadership style would have been had he completed the DiSC profile questionnaire?

Of course, we know that Dr. King was an inspirational speaker (every time I hear the ‘I have a dream speech’ it gives me goosebumps) but how well did he demonstrate the best practice leadership behaviours outlined in the ‘Everything DiSC Work of Leaders’ model?

If Dr. King had taken the Work of Leaders assessment, I wonder what his three strengths and his three areas for development would have been?

Yes, just like any leader who takes the DiSC profile questionnaire, the resulting profile report would have highlighted his top three leadership challenges as well as his top three leadership strengths. This is all based on comparing the respondent’s answers to known best practice leadership behaviours.

Just like every leader (even the very best), Martin Luther King would have found certain parts of the leadership process easier than others. This will have been affected by his own particular DiSC style, priorities, preferences, and tendencies.

So here goes….. I’m going to make a first stab at speculating what Dr King’s leadership strengths and challenges might have been.

Please do feel free to offer your comments as to what you think the great man’s leadership strengths and development might have been!

By the way, it might be useful to have a look at the Everything DiSC® Work of Leaders Profile to understand how it works.

The ‘Everything DiSC® Work of leaders’ model distills the process of leadership into three main areas:

  • Crafting a vision – imagining an improved future state that people will make a reality
  • Gaining alignment – getting to the point where everyone understands and is committed to achieving the vision
  • Championing Execution – ensuring that the conditions are right to turn the vision into a reality

Each of the above parts of the process has three drivers or enablers and each enabler has two best-practice behaviours that support the driver.

So moving onto Dr. Martin Luther Kings Leadership Strengths:

  • His first leadership strength for me would have been: ‘being adventurous’ rather than ‘being cautions. This is under the ‘vision’ part of the process ® with the ‘boldness’ driver.

In his famous “I have a dream” speech, one of the most powerful ways in which Martin Luther King touches our hearts and minds is through the very powerful and vivid picture he paints about the future. He’s definitely a visionary –and, let’s face it, this is no ordinary or safe dream. Quite the opposite. His vision is extremely bold and adventurous.

In their book ‘The Work of Leaders’, the authors say ‘ if a leader is not able to muster an inner spirit of boldness, it limits his or her ability to move forwards. This is a best practice behaviour. They go on to describe adventurous leaders as ‘people who set out to stretch the boundaries beyond what is currently known’. Dr. King certainly did that.

  • His second leadership strength to me would have been ‘being driven’ rather than ‘being low-key’. This is under the ‘championing execution’ part of the process ® with the Momentum driver.

Dr. King was completely driven – uncompromisingly focused on freedom and racial equality for all. In their book, the Work of Leaders, the authors highlight as an essential leadership behaviour the need to create a sense of urgency. In the years between 1955 and 1968, he travelled over 6 million miles and spoke over 2500 times. This was momentum!

  • My third leadership strength for Dr. Martin Luther King is ‘being expressive’ rather than ‘being reserved’. This is under the ‘alignment’ part of the process ® with the ‘Inspiration’ driver.

As a speaker, Dr. King was able to communicate his passion in a way that completely connected with his audience…and his speech still does today!

He was able to powerfully transmit his sense of importance with such certainty that it infected his audience with optimism and courage!

Again, in the ‘Work of Leaders’ book, the authors remind us that ‘inspiration’, (in other words, bringing positive energy to the group and to people’s goals) is an essential, best practice leadership behaviour.

Dr. Martin Luther King’s Leadership Challenges

I’ve struggled with this one! Mainly because I sense that Dr. King was very much a multidimensional leader…able to listen quietly when he needed to. In fact, in an article by Dr. J Ling, he described Dr. King as having “a remarkable ability to get people, who would otherwise be feuding, to work together’.

Having said that, there would have been areas in the process he found more difficult….

Because of his more active style, he may have found it more difficult to do the following:

  • ‘Exchange perspectives’ rather than ‘present information’ (This is under the Alignment stage ® with the ‘Dialogue’ driver)
  • ‘Analyze in-depth’ rather than ‘follow his first impression’ (this is under the ‘championing Execution’ part of the process ® with the ‘structure’ driver)
  • ‘Be challenging’ rather than ‘being receptive’ (this is under the Alignment part of the process® with the ‘Dialogue’ driver)

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