AFMC leader takes Martin Luther King Jr.'s leadership into the future

Published Feb. 3, 2011
By Catherine McNally
Hilltop Times staff

HILL AIR FORCE BASE, Utah -- During the month of February we celebrate, as a nation, African American History Month. There are many great leaders, activists and educators associated with African American history, but out of them all Martin Luther King Jr. is perhaps the most well known, and for good reason.

To start off the celebration of African American history, a Martin Luther King Jr. luncheon was held Jan. 13, 2011. Students from local schools demonstrated why King is one of the most celebrated historical figures by delivering a few of his most famous speeches, followed by a speech by Col. Allen Jamerson, Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command chief of staff, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

Colonel Jamerson began his speech by reminding those listening that King was considered many things by many people. He was considered a civil rights activist and a pastor; those who were not for the civil rights movement considered him a rabble-rouser and even J. Edgar Hoover called him a communist.

"No matter how you want to tag him, I think even J. Edgar Hoover would begrudgingly have to agree that Dr. Martin Luther King was a great leader," Colonel Jamerson said.

"He was a great leader who cared about underrepresented people, mistreated people and people of various races," he continued. "His goal was to bring those people into the mainstream of American life. He led with supreme articulation skills; the innovative belief that nonviolence was truly the way to succeed in civil rights and also he led with the unwavering vision that people -- all people of our diverse nation -- deserve to be treated with respect and dignity."

King's leadership skills can be applied even to challenges we face today, Colonel Jamerson said. In a book titled "Martin Luther King, Jr. on Leadership: Inspiration and Wisdom for Challenging Times," the author, Donald T. Phillips, identified 16 distinct leadership principles that King practiced. The colonel identified the three most important for today's Air Force leaders as:

Mastering the art of public speaking;
Encouraging creativity and innovation; and
Involving everyone through alliance, teamwork and diversity.

Mastering the art of public speaking

"What made Dr. King a great speaker?" Colonel Jamerson asked. "Certainly it had something to do with practice. But it also had a lot to do with observation."

King watched other great speakers -- pastors at his local church -- and in turn learned from them. He began practicing at his own church, then moved up and began speaking at Billy Graham functions and eventually spoke at the march on Washington.

"Martin quickly got to the point that public speaking was second nature for him," Colonel Jamerson explained. "He could do it from memory at a moment's notice to crowds large and small. I believe the lesson for us is that we can all be at least satisfactory or maybe even great speakers if we're willing to put in the work like Martin did."

The colonel pointed to his own experiences as a policeman and speaking at his church as ways he was able to practice public speaking. He noted that Airmen can observe other speakers at functions, such as Airman Leadership School graduation ceremonies and base and local events.

"Now some of you might be thinking, 'There's no reason for me to be a public speaker; I'll never have to stand up there like Jamerson and do a speech,' he said. "Well, I would counter by saying you never know where life's going to take you; you never know what opportunity will be presented to you.

"More importantly, public speaking is critical because it helps you articulate the beliefs, values and directions of your organization," Colonel Jamerson said as he explained the benefits of public speaking. "It helps you to educate, convince and sell people on your ideas and it helps to keep your organization informed of what's going on. And finally, it can inspire people to take action.

"Dr. King, the master public speaker, was also able to communicate his beliefs -- from the tactical to the strategic -- with a passion that captured the imagination of many," he added. "It really scared a lot of people and ultimately it helped spur the civil rights success that this nation enjoys," he said.

"So just think what a difference your public speaking skills can make in your organization, in your community," Colonel Jamerson said.

Encouraging creativity and innovation

"Dr. King believed in a nonviolent approach to the civil rights movement," Colonel Jamerson said. "Dr. King knew that that was never, ever going to be the road to success, taking the violent way. So he and other civil rights leaders had to adopt an innovative approach to get the job done."

The nonviolent and innovative approach to the civil rights movement began in 1942 when James Farmer, a founder of the Congress of Racial Equality, launched a "Journey of Reconciliation" that brought black and white riders to the South on buses.

Though the effort met strong resistance and many of the riders were jailed, Farmer and the Congress of Racial Equality didn't stop there. Instead, they reached out to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, which was then led by King.

"Dr. King saw this as a great opportunity to push the nonviolent approach," Colonel Jamerson explained. The activists went on to participate in other nonviolent protests such as the Freedom Rides, which focused the nation's attention on what was going on in the South. Ever determined, the civil rights activists continued to push forward and finally their nonviolent protests -- including the Montgomery Bus Boycott -- led to success with the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

"That same willingness to be innovative is what has driven United States military success, particularly in our air and space arena," Colonel Jamerson continued. "How many test planes have crashed? How many rockets didn't get off the launch pad before the technology matured into a lethal weapons system?

"But like Dr. King, our aviation pioneers, they didn't quit. They went back to the drawing board and they tried to figure out a better way to get ahead," he said.

"Without that dedicated creativity and innovation, the units that make up Team Hill and our United States Air Force would not be the outstanding organizations they are," the colonel said.

"I also submit to you that our willing to be innovative and creative in our processes, tactics, techniques and procedures is what keeps us at the forefront of the world's greatest aviation force," he continued.

"Today's leaders have to encourage that same creative and innovative persistence in their organization, be it your squadron, your church or business," Colonel Jamerson said. "You have to work hard to get people to understand why and how innovation can bring about the change that we need.

"Once Dr. King got people to understand the benefits of nonviolence, the movement achieved a much greater success. And what Dr. King also learned is that when a good idea gets out there, it spreads like wildfire," he continued.

"If our people know their good ideas are appreciated and used, they will work even harder to generate more. It worked for the Civil Rights Movement, it certainly works for us," he said.

Involving everyone through alliance, teamwork and diversity

"As a young leader, Dr. King had success galvanizing his portion of the Civil Rights Movement," Colonel Jamerson said. "His portion. However, some of the older civil rights organizations were kind of jealous at times.

"Well, Martin realized that he was in competition with these organizations and he also was smart enough to know that there was no time for competition, there was no room for competition. Everybody had to come together to work for a single cause," he continued.

"So he started a campaign to build an alliance of organizations all working toward the same goals," the colonel said as he described King's efforts to promote diversity and teamwork. King sought the help of not only black organizations, but political, social, economic, cultural, intellectual and religious groups as well.

"In short, Dr. King knew that he needed a broad-based diversity to help pull off the biggest social revolution in our history," he said.

"Now as public servants it's not our job to bring about social revolution but it is our job to seek out the most effective and efficient ways to come up with the best weapons systems that we can to employ against our enemies," Colonel Jamerson pointed out as he explained the following:

"Dr. King showed us that by encouraging alliance, teamwork and diversity, leaders can contribute five advantages within their organizations:

1. By bringing individuals together, we create energy, enthusiasm and courage.
2. People gain more strength and power in the form of an organization.
3. Major social change occurs in groups.
4. Alliances help you expand contacts and networks of communication.
5. Alliances allow more results to be achieved. Anything is within the realm of the possible if we widen our alliances and we increase the diversity of our organizations."

"(King) also knew that civil rights success would come only through partnership with diverse races and diverse organizations who all believed in everyone being treated equal," Colonel Jamerson said. "Dr. King himself best summed up this principle when he talked about meetings that took place in 1959. He said, and I quote, 'The meetings cut across class lines. The vast majority present were working people. Physicians, teachers and lawyers sat or stood beside domestic workers and unskilled laborers. The Ph.D.s and the 'no-Ds' were bound together in a common interest.'"

This diverse group sharing one common interest not only drove civil rights success, it also set the stage for the diversity movement as we know it today.

"I hope you all know that the Air Force is making a serious push to encourage and institutionalize diversity in our service," Colonel Jamerson said. "We recently released a diversity roadmap that allows the service to attract, recruit, develop and retain a high quality, talented workforce with the intent of leveraging all the talent and perspectives of our members."

"Anyone who works in the military community is a leader or certainly has the potential to be one," he said. "Therefore, we can all learn the five valuable lessons taught to us by a great leader.

"So no matter what your rank or your position is, I encourage you to study this man and look beyond the fact that he was a great civil rights activist or preacher and understand that he was a great leader of people who used his talent to bring about the greatest social change in our nation's history.

"At a place like Hill Air Force Base, which needs great leadership at every moment of every single day, I truly believe that his principles have relevance -- certainly in the past and absolutely into our future as we continue to strive for our nation's air dominance."

AFMC leader takes Martin Luther King Jr.'s leadership into future