Secrets to Success Deborah Cole Micek and John-Paul Micek

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Rosa Parks has a lesson for business

One woman's simple act sparked a revolution of change in America. Fifty years ago, Rosa Parks made a simple decision - to stand up for her dignity by sitting down - that is, on a bus in Montgomery, Ala.

She had no idea that her simple, quiet act was part of her living out her destiny of what she was to become. Her life was catapulted in a new direction simply because she acted on her good conscience.

What followed was her arrest, a bus boycott, threats on her life, and ultimately, a much-needed change in laws for public transportation, and civil rights, across America. More than two-thirds of Montgomery, Ala., bus riders boycotted public transportation to protest her arrest. For an entire year, people walked, rode taxis, and used carpools in an effort that severely damaged the Montgomery transit company's finances. Now THAT'S perseverance!

How many times can you say that you've persisted for an entire year in your business by doing what's right, petitioning your government for much needed change, with no guarantee that your efforts would bring change?

It's in the waiting and quiet times that change takes place. We just need to trust that it will -- in due time -- and continue to persist and overcome obstacles along the way. It is only those who outlast those that give up who get all the rewards, recognition, and fulfillment for their lives.

What type of change agent are you?

Are you a catalyst for change like Dr. Martin Luther King, who raised awareness and led the nation, but never lived to see the results of what he put into motion?

Or are you like Rosa Parks -- who with a quiet act of perseverance will stay the course, holding steadfast no matter how long it takes to see something through.

On October 24, 2005, almost fifty years to the day when she stood up by quietly sitting down, Rosa Parks died at the age of 92 from natural causes in her Detroit home. Known as the "mother of the civil rights movement," she left a legacy of an eloquent voice for change. She also co-founded the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development in 1987, devoted to developing leadership among Detroit's young people.

In business, living your legacy is of equal importance to watching the bottom line, if not more so, in light of the bigger picture of what you'll leave long after you're gone.

In 1988, at a celebration in her honor, Rosa Parks was heard saying, "I am leaving this legacy to all of you ... to bring peace, justice, equality, love and a fulfillment of what our lives should be. Without vision, the people will perish, and without courage and inspiration, dreams will die -- the dream of freedom and peace."

What's your vision?