Forty years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stirred the passion and imagination of Americans with his dream of equality for all people. Reflecting on the life of Dr. King, I am reminded that history has demonstrated that leaders often emerge during periods of great change.

For every major turning point in American history, great leaders assumed the mantle of leadership: Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, and Harry Truman all come to mind.

What is interesting is that usually great men and women don’t go looking for leadership. Instead, leadership finds them.

When Dr. King received the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, he said, “History has thrust me into this position. I neither started the protest, nor suggested it. I simply responded to the call of the people.” King’s words remind me of Plato’s, “Only those who do not seek power are qualified to hold it.”

It’s as if you want it, you shouldn’t have it. Instead, if you commit to other things, leadership will come. What do people who become great leaders commit themselves to that lead them to greatness?

Here are four key commitments:

1. They commit themselves to growth.
   King was a lifelong learner. “I question and soul-search constantly to be as certain as I can that I am fulfilling the true meaning of my work, maintaining my sense of purpose, holding fast to my ideals, and that I am guiding my people in the right direction.”

   Coretta Scott King confirms this by saying that King, “Worked so hard and studied constantly—long after he became a world figure.”

2. They commit themselves to a larger than life vision.
   King saw the civil rights movement as the continuation “of that noble journey toward the goals reflected in the Declaration of Independence, the Preamble to the Constitution, the Constitution itself, the Bill of Rights, and the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and Nineteenth Amendments to the Constitution.”

   Dr. King portrayed the movement as not simply a conflict between white people and black people, but a struggle between “justice and injustice.”

3. They commit themselves to action.
   Dr. King always advocated specific and practical initiatives. Great leaders point to the problem and then clearly give several solutions. He would ask how is it that we can have all the great technology in America and yet cannot make the Constitution work at a luncheonette in a southern town.

   “What is needed,” he said, “is a strategy for change, a tactical program that will bring the Negro into the mainstream of American life as quickly as possible. When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind.”

4. They commit themselves to leaving a legacy.
   King said he wouldn’t “have any money to leave behind” but wanted “to leave a committed life behind.” This is best demonstrated in that he didn’t want “a long funeral,” not even “a eulogy of more than one or two minutes.”

   He wanted no mention of his Nobel Peace Prize or other awards he had received. Instead, “I’d like somebody to mention that Martin Luther King, Jr. tried to give his life serving others. Say that I was a drum major for justice, a drum major for peace, a drum major for righteousness.”

Dr. King was right for the moment. He showed the nation a better way. Millions of us live with hope of an even greater future as we remember his dream of when “little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. didn’t look to become a leader. Leadership found him, and because of his commitment, he was able to answer leadership’s calling.

That is a great lesson for all of us to learn. When leadership finds us, will we be the kind of people who can step up and lead? What we commit to now will be the determining factor.

John C. Maxwell

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John Maxwell grew up in the 1950s in the small Midwestern city of Circleville, Ohio. John's earliest childhood memory is of knowing that he would someday be a pastor. He professed faith in Christ at the age of three, and reaffirmed that commitment when he was 13. At age 17, John began preparing for the ministry. He attended Circleville Bible College, earning his bachelor's degree in 1969. In June of that same year, he married his sweetheart, Margaret, and moved to tiny Hillham, Indiana, where he began his first pastorate.

While serving in his second church, Maxwell began to study the correlation between leadership effectiveness and ministry effectiveness. On July 4, 1976, while preaching at a service commemorating America's bicentennial, John sensed that God was calling him into a ministry to pastors. Within days after that event, pastors began to contact him, asking for his assistance in nurturing their churches. Over the next four years, on an informal basis, John helped scores of fellow pastors. Then, in 1980, he was asked to become Executive Director of Evangelism for the Wesleyan denomination.

Though his time at Wesleyan headquarters was productive, John soon realized that his deeper desire was to help pastors from numerous denominations. He knew that desire would be unfulfilled if he were to stay at denominational headquarters. As a result, in 1981 John accepted the call to return to the pastorate, this time at Skyline Wesleyan Church in the San Diego, California area. But he did so with the church's blessing to pursue his vision. The Skyline congregation allowed him to continue mentoring and assisting pastors even as he led them to new levels.

In 1985, as he continued to equip and encourage other pastors, John took the next crucial step in leadership development. He founded a new company called INJOY and created the INJOY Life Club, featuring a monthly tape for leaders. The fledging operation, established in the corner of a garage, was soon bursting at the seams. The INJOY Life Club tapes were received with great enthusiasm, and the number of subscriptions quickly increased from hundreds to thousands. Simultaneously, the demand for other resources and seminars exploded. Pastors from coast to coast were responding, and their desire for help was even greater than John had anticipated.

As the years passed, INJOY began demanding more and more of John's time. In 1995, he resigned from his position as senior pastor at Skyline following a very fruitful 14-year tenure. The church had tripled in size and its lay ministry involvement had increased ten-fold. Dr. Maxwell is in great demand today as a speaker. Through his bestselling books, audio and video resources, and major conferences, he communicates directly with more than one million people every year. He is frequently asked to speak for organizations such as Promise Keepers and Focus on the Family, but his greatest joy and desire is to help pastors become better leaders.

Because the need for leadership development knows no borders, John established EQUIP, a non-profit organization which trains leaders in urban communities, academic institutions, and within international organizations. EQUIP is also spearheading a movement which has enlisted more than one million pastoral prayer partners who covenant to pray specifically for those who shepherd God's flock.

John continues to seek new opportunities to help churches and church leaders. He knows that one thing is constant: the only hope for the world is salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, who gives life abundantly.