Leading with Hope

“We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.”

These were the words of Martin Luther King Jr. nearly 2 months before his assassination and are a powerful reminder of the need to keep working for what we long for despite opposition, obstacles and overwhelming odds. Martin Luther King Jr. and the many others who worked so hard for civil rights back in the 1950s and 1960s, were driven by a hope and a belief that the inequality, injustice and oppression that people of colour were experiencing in the present was not something they would experience in the future. Martin Luther King Jr. endured failures, disappointments, threats and imprisonment. On the night before he was assassinated, he said, “I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.”

As we now know, the hard work and challenges that were endured back then by King and many others were not in vain. Their hope for a more equal and just world guided them through some incredibly dark times and, whilst the full beauty of that promised land he envisioned may still not be fully realised, huge changes have taken place over the past decades thanks to their commitment to infinite hope.

As leaders, one of our greatest responsibilities is to inspire and motivate our team through cultivating a sense of hope and painting a picture of the future we long to see. It is also to remain tenacious, with our eyes fixed on our ultimate destination, leading our team through the inevitable failures and disappointments and never losing hope that our vision can be a reality.