Ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, members of the MLK Observance Committee at Boston Children's Hospital penned a blog post Jan. 14 highlighting how the civil rights leader and minister inspires them as leaders.
Hospital leaders cited leadership traits such as drawing strength from convictions, lifting others up and growing through mentorship.
Here are three quotes from the post:
Shani Kelly. Operations Administrator and Executive Assistant, Human Resources, and MLK Observance Committee Member since 2019: Martin Luther King refused to sit back and live in injustice. He envisioned a world in which his children, his people, would not be judged by the color of their skin. He motivated people to face their fears and never give up. I carry that lesson with me. As a leader, you're going to face challenges, you may fail, but leadership is getting back up — with grace, with poise and courage — and having the strength within you to get back up again. You have to have that kind of persistence to be a leader.
Angela Perry. Practice Administrator, Martha Eliot Health Center, and MLK Observance Committee Member since 2013: Martin Luther King taught me that leadership is about what the people take away when you're gone. Did your presence impact them in a way that cultivates change and moves the needle forward? I make it a point to know all the people who work at Martha Eliot by name. I ask them how they're doing, and I wait for an answer. It's important that they know I care about them, where they work and what their working conditions are.
Karol Jordan. Technical Training Specialist, Human Resources, and MLK Observance Committee Member since 1995: I stand on the shoulders of people who have mentored me at Children's. I came here 44 years ago, and many people have guided me along the way. Early in my career, my supervisor called me into her office and said some things that helped put me on the right track. When she left, she made me supervisor. Her leadership changed my life. That's one of the things we're celebrating when we celebrate Dr. King.
Boston Children's, one of the nation's largest pediatric medical centers, celebrates MLK Day each January. The federal holiday is Jan. 17 this year.