I have a Dream – Powerful narratives help drive change

August 28, 1963: It was 100 years after the United States President Abraham Lincoln had issued a Presidential Executive order called as the Emancipation Proclamation that changed the status of millions of enslaved African-Americans in the US Confederate States from slave to free. But unfortunately the American Civil Rights movement was still fighting against legalized racial discrimination, disenfranchisement and varied forms of racial segregation.

Martin Luther King Jr., a civil rights activist and a Christian minister, was leading the March on Washington and delivered an address at the iconic Lincoln Memorial to around 250,000 supporters. And to this date, this speech famously known as the “I have a Dream” speech is one of the most iconic speeches in history and is considered the defining moment of the American Civil rights movement. In case, you have not watched this speech yet please do so here. Video

Scores (yes scores) of critics have analyzed this speech over the years and have distilled some very essential ingredients that made this speech so impactful

1. Rhetoric – Rhetoric is the art of persuasion and as per ancient wisdom of discourse it is the most nuanced skill after the basic skills of discourse namely, Grammar and Logic. “I have a Dream” is a master piece of Rhetoric wherein King makes historical references to the Emancipation Proclamation and says: "It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity." In the very beginning he uses the phrase “Five Score years ago” in Lincoln style. Most importantly he is at Lincoln memorial making this speech and hence it becomes that much more poignant
2. Reality – King in his narrative made sure that he explains clearly the current situation of the African Americans in the country. More importantly the speech very clearly discusses the gap between the American dream and the reality on the ground. He beautifully states how the rights of Americans were a promissory note on which America failed for her citizens of color.
3. Repetition – King uses repetition very powerfully in this speech to emphasize the value of the vision he was painting for the future of America. The phrase “I have a Dream” is stated eight times and so is “Let freedom ring”; “Now is the time”, “With this faith” and “Free at last” are said three times each all of which lead to a very strong
4. Relevance – And most importantly, King ensured that the “I have a Dream” speech would connect with fellow African Americans in every part of the country. In order to make that happen he built a narrative taking as example situations and his vision for Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, New Hampshire, New York, South Carolina and Louisiana. By bringing in real places and real situation brought the relevance and relatability to everyone concerned. 

Such was the power this speech that he could deliver so much impact despite being the sixteenth out of eighteen speakers who spoke at the Lincoln Memorial that day. The speech was so transformative that King was named Man of the Year by TIME magazine for 1963, and in 1964, he was the youngest man to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Personally, the best part of the speech for me was when he said “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream ... I have a dream that one day in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.”

And in my view, it is really these four ingredients of Martin Luther King’s speech that are critical when a Change Management practitioner has to build a strong narrative to urge his/her team towards change

1. Rhetoric – Your organizational context determines how you will build the right Rhetoric. While you may not have a Lincoln Memorial, there is always this powerful setting in your workplace which is sometimes a specific leadership meeting/event and, in many cases, even involves a specific meeting venue as well. Latch on to that and make sure that your message will appeal to the Logos (Logic), Pathos (Emotion) and Ethos (values) of every stakeholder that you wish to impact with the real vision of the change program that you are leading.
2. Reality – Sounds very simple but not the easiest thing to do as part of your narrative. This is the step when stakeholders can get defensive and even go negative and so you will need to craft your message very carefully. And it is never a bad idea to take an end customer view or a third party perspective so that you can share the brutal reality while ensuring everyone remains on board.
3. Repetition – Repeating the message is something that most of underestimate and also struggle to execute. The change narrative in almost every situation is never fully understood when it is first stated. You may never be able to do poetic justice to King, but you need to be prepared to repeat the message over and over again in your planned speech and over the course of your many change conversations that you will have drive as part of the change program.
4. Relevance – And finally build the relevance through multiple actual examples. This one really boils down to the homework you have done. If you have done enough field trips or have gone through the real experience yourself, you will be able to offer credible examples that are both relevant and relatable. And that will definitely set you in good footing to engage your organization to imagine the new world with the change you are championing. 

With this faith, let me wish that all of us change practitioners can ring the bells of change with much better narratives powered by Rhetoric, Reality, Repetition and Relevance. Amen !

References:

https://www.archives.gov/files/press/exhibits/dream-speech.pdf

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vP4iY1TtS3s

Cleopatra’s Retreat – A powerful Change Management Lesson

Cleopatra, the last Pharaoh of Egypt, is evidently the most chronicled, enigmatic and controversial woman in history. The Egyptian Queen is popular even today for her unparalleled beauty, her mastery of nine languages, the admiration she received from her subjects, her relationship with Julius Caesar and her eventual nemesis through her decadent relationship with Mark Antony.

Cleopatra’s charm won over Mark Antony and he terminated his tripartite partnership with Octavian. He then moved to Egypt to marry Cleopatra and rule over the eastern legions of the Roman Empire. Their power struggles with Rome and Octavian continued eventually culminating in a historic naval battle that is now known as the ‘Battle of Actium’.

Cleopatra and Mark Antony, the power couple, set up a fierce naval force with giant warships fitted with powerful bronze bows / rams. These bronze rams were designed to smash the enemy’s ships below the waterline and make them sink. In the battlefront Cleopatra and Mark Antony had a fleet of 500 warships. Mark led from the front while Cleopatra was behind Mark’s frontline in second flank with 60 ships.

In comparison, Octavian had a much smaller and less powerful fleet of 260 warships. On the day of the naval battle, it is said that Octavian’s fleet was actually backing down behind and going to the sides in fear of Cleopatra and Mark Antony’s powerful warships. While this was prolonging the combat, Antony’s front facing fleet had more than a fighting chance to defeat Octavian’s smaller warships. But Cleopatra somehow felt that Antony’s ships were slowing down and may not have enough impact on Octavian’s ships when they ram them. Harboring doubts in her mind, Cleopatra’s and her rear fleet just retreated in to the open sea without engaging. Seeing Cleopatra flee Mark Antony backed down and followed his ladylove leaving behind hundreds of ships and his over 5000 men to a battle lost to Octavian’s Western European Roman Empire. The desolate Mark Antony caught up and boarded Cleopatra’s ship but didn’t speak to his wife and sat with his head in his hands for three days. After they fled back to Egypt their relationship suffered leading to their downfall and eventual death, both taking their own lives separately.

‘Cleopatra’s Retreat’ offers one of the foundational lessons in Change Management that despite having the best capabilities it is so critical to have senior leadership alignment. From the way the battle panned out, we can see that the doubts in Cleopatra’s mind led to her retreat and made Mark Antony also follow suit. Despite having a much more powerful fleet of warships they lost the battle to a seemingly weaker enemy, all because Cleopatra had doubts in her mind. Had she remained aligned with her husband, the battle would have had a different result and Western Europe would have never become so powerful and you can imagine from future events that today’s world could have been a very different place.

The lesson for change practitioners, is that each one of us will need the unflinching sponsorship of the senior most leader in the organization which galvanizes the leadership team. The big takeaways in my mind are

1. Never ever compromise in your efforts to align your senior most leader
2. Probe the leader and make sure they share every single doubt they have in their heads
3. The senior most leader will be constrained for time, but change champions need to grab their time and attention and ensure they are aligned fully

And, if you cannot do the above, please be prepared to face ‘Cleopatra’s Retreat’ on the day of the decisive battle.

PS: Several historical facts are simplified in the above narrative: Mark Antony, Lepidus and Octavian ran a political alliance called the Triumvirate for Organizing the Roman state. Before meeting Cleopatra, Mark Antony was married to Octavian’s sister Octavia Minor. He later divorced her and moved to Alexandria in Egypt to marry Cleopatra. Octavian’s trusted General Marcus Agrippa’s mastery and wise counsel is credited as a big reason for Octavian’s victory in the Battle of Actium. Octavian was later known as Augustus Caesar and 300 years of peace followed the Battle of Actium. This reshaped the world order with the rise in power of Western Europe, then European Imperialism and eventually the development of the US as a world power. As you can imagine, there are conflicting stories in various websites and videos in the internet, whose plausibility need not be contested as the premise of this article is different. Cheers!