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Writer's pictureKaryn Ross

Kind Leadership Overcomes - Martin Luther King Day 2023


It’s Martin Luther King Day today here in the United States. I didn’t grow up in the USA and when my son started preschool he learned about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and came home singing this song: We shall overcome...


Last night, and this morning, I woke up humming it: We shall overcome…


As a person working on creating a kinder world by activating others to go from thinking about being kind to leading with kindness, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and discouraged when things don’t go as planned, there are things I can’t figure out, things seem to be moving backwards, not forwards and the task just seems to difficult and impossible to accomplish.


Maybe this happens to you too. You want to lead with kindness, actively model kind behaviors, assume positive intent, choose and use your words kindly, listen, with open eyes, open ears, open mind and open heart, and practice the other Key Kind Leader behaviors, but things get in the way. Or the gulf between thinking about and actually doing these things just seems to difficult and scary to bridge.


When you feel overwhelmed and despondent, (because you will), think back to a time when you overcame an obstacle you didn’t think you were able to. And then remember that all things take, time, perseverance, courage and practice. And then get started again.


Because, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said in his famed speech, and as Pete Seeger sings below: We shall overcome.


In honor of Dr. King’s dream, please listen to this song. Especially the last verse, where Pete Seeger talks about overcoming fear and taking action. Dr. King took action. And his kind actions created a change and modeled the way for Kind Leaders to work to overcome.


Please remember, the actions you choose to take as a leader CAN make a kinder, better and just world. And that together, our kind acts, kind words and kind thoughts can overcome prejudice, discrimination and racial injustice.


Through kindness and Kind Leadership, we can...and shall...overcome.

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