As we continue to note, leadership is a funny thing. We have more books, workshops, and gurus than ever before and yet great leadership still proves elusive. Too many executives today really are not that great at their jobs nor are they great people to be admired. Many executives work to put off the image of their so-called greatness. This is particularly true in the age of social media and overall non-stop media. One could call this the marketing of leadership. Executives today have personal PR Professionals. Spin Artists and a team of digital marketing experts procuring their image. Maybe they should spend more time leading the company and being an effective leader.
True leadership pretty much speaks for itself and does not need to be embellished; by its very nature it shuns the limelight. But today some executives crave the limelight or at minimum, love to strut their power and privilege. Media tries so hard to emulate and promote so-called Rock Star Executives and create stories that sell. The media could not wait to call Elizabeth Holmes of Theranos the next Steve Jobs because she wore black turtlenecks. Business correspondence (so called experts) on the business channels readily proclaimed Sam Bankman-Fried as the next JP Morgan even though he was clearly disturbed. Both were frauds with all the hype the media could offer. (Never did get an apology from the media.) And this isn’t new. Many times, Enron was touted at as a great company and the best company to work for until it got busted for fraud in 2001.
That is not to say all CEOs and executives are frauds or lack character. There are a lot of high-character executives but it seems the media does not focus on them. We should really check why we admire the executive we admire and do a little research to see what they are really like. Make sure we like them for their good character not because that are a character. Even this week in an attempt to have a “hot take” to benefit his company the CEO of Kellogg, Gary Pilnick stated that with increasing food prices, families should have cereal for dinner. This statement did not land well as I am pretty sure he will not be eating cereal for dinner any time soon himself with his multimillion-dollar salary. I think we got an insight into his character.
So, to cleanse my pallet and remind us to strive for good character, I would like to share a story with you about character that has impacted my life since I was a teenager.
Leadership grows from the same vine as character. A person’s character is developed over a lifetime and only on a few occasions may be publicly on display. Many philosophers and theologians would tell you that the greatest acts of character—and for our purposes leadership—are known by only a few. However, in this hyper-media age we’ve become accustomed to our daily or even hourly fixes of the spectacular and the sensational. Yet I maintain that the heroics of people like Gandhi or Crazy Horse were expressions of a character that were forged over time and trials—quietly, without fanfare.
When I think about high character I cannot but reflect on a story that I heard when I was just a young teenager early on a summer morning before getting out on my paper route. The AM radio news reporter was telling the story about how a running back for the Kansas City Chiefs, Joe Delaney, had died. Being a football fan, I knew of this hulking and tough running back with the really cool face mask on his helmet. He had died while attempting to rescue three children from drowning in a body of water not meant for swimming in Monroe, Louisiana.
Joe Delaney had only been in the NFL for two seasons but had already distinguished himself. He was named Rookie of the Year in 1981, was selected for the Pro-Bowl and broke many Kansas City rushing records. His future was bright.
On June 29, 1983, Delaney was with friends at an amusement center in a local park near where he lived. He heard the three children flailing for their lives in a murky body of water. Despite his inability to swim, Joe Delaney jumped in to try and rescue the children. He saved one, got another one out who eventually made it to the hospital but died there, and a third one who drown along with Joe while Joe was trying to rescue him.
I sat at the edge of my bed wondering how this man could make such a decision to help when he did not even know how to swim?
On the radio I heard a number of people being interviewed who knew Joe — his family his friends and his teammates. They all said the same thing: “That is just the kind of person Joe was.” They were so matter of fact about it. It taught me what true character is.
I knew then that heroism doesn’t just randomly come out of a person. It is forged over time. Delaney had a lifelong history of helping others. And although this act was sensational and newsworthy, his entire life was the real story. There were dozens of accounts of the character, generosity and selflessness that abounded about Joe Delaney—because that’s the kind of person he was. In posthumously awarding the President’s Citizens Medal Ronald Reagan said this about Delaney:
“He made the ultimate sacrifice by placing the lives of three children above regard for his own safety. By this supreme example of courage and compassion, this brilliantly gifted young man left a spiritual legacy for his fellow Americans.”
But please make no mistake, Joe Delaney’s example to us as leaders and as human beings has to do with the entirety of his life—most of which was not sensational at all but was the necessary foundation of the heroism of that summer day in 1983.
And so too it is with leadership. Great leaders are great leaders every day, mostly without fanfare. They do not do it for the cameras, stature or even for legacy; they do it because it is what they do. You see, no great leader ever set out to be a great leader and to be viewed as a hero. They go out and do what they are supposed to do or feel called to do to the best of their ability. I laugh when I hear that presidents in the final year of their terms have a task force trying to articulate and craft their legacy and plan their presidential libraries. What a bunch of horse dung. Great leaders just go and do their thing and people judge if they are great leaders or not. You cannot come up with a marketing campaign to confirm your leadership greatness. You are either great and people recognize it or you’re not and they won’t.
So, take a moment today and recognize the leaders around you, whether at work, home or neighborhood, who show great character every day in the simple and sometimes mundane acts of daily life. You will see that “it’s just who they are.”