BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. –
In observance of Martin Luther King Day, Beale Airmen gathered for breakfast, January 11, at the Recce Point Club. Participants left the event with a challenge to lead from keynote speaker Brig. Gen. Richard Clark, 8th Air Force vice commander.
General Clark, an Air Force Academy graduate and command pilot with 4,000 hours of flying time, clarified to audience members what great leaders, like Martin Luther King, Jr., do differently.
"As leaders, we tend to be pretty good at telling people what we want them to do. We even tell people how to do their jobs sometimes. But it's not often that we are able to tell people why," said General Clark. "Why do you get up In the morning to come to work to carry out your mission every day? We all have different whys, but understanding that why is the way we get inspired. Great leaders inspire."
General Clark said there was nobody better at helping people discover their why than Dr. King. "He inspired a nation by telling them why. It was that why that inspired people back in the 60's to move on with civil rights, and it's the why that has allowed our country to continue to progress, to treat all people according to the content of their character rather than the color of their skin," the general said.
Recalling Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech on the Washington Mall in 1963, General Clark stated, "It wasn't called the 'I Have a Plan' speech or the 'I Have a Road Map to Success' speech. He laid out a vision for the entire country to see what America could be. That was the why that Dr. King relayed to America and that's the why that lives on today."
Leaders can all learn a great lesson from Dr. King, according to General Clark. "It's not about telling people what they need to go out and do or telling people how to do it. Great leaders are able to tell people why. They're able to inspire people to action, to reach heights they never thought imaginable."
General Clark said in order to be a great leader, one must understand their own why. Recounting a flight he took last spring from Baghdad in the company of two flag-draped coffins, General Clark told the audience, on that flight, he had redefined his personal why as a leader.
"As a senior leader, I'm charged to lead people willing to give their lives for this country, for a higher purpose, for a higher calling, " he said. "What my why is now is that I'm not worthy to lead people like that - and never will be worthy to lead people like that. What I can do is serve people like that, enable them to reach their full potential," General Clark said. "When you are leading people who are willing to make that ultimate sacrifice, you have to have a higher calling. It has to be about servant leadership."
The lesson to be learned from Dr. King's example is about inspiring people, General Clark said. But the only way a leader can really inspire people is if he or she is inspired themselves. "We have to challenge ourselves to understand our own why," he said.
"I found my why," General Clark concluded. "Find your why, and help the people you lead to understand their why so that you can inspire them to greatness, as well."