Weekly Thought – June 18, 2024
Fred wrote about heroes and their value in his 1983 book You and Your Network. He firmly believed in the influencing effect of heroes on us. His thinking on heroes causes us to probe our own history.
Someone to Look Up To
We cannot live fully without heroes for they are the starts to guide us upward. Not only do they personify what we can be, but they also urge us on. Heroes flesh out our ideals, and embody our highest values. Socrates said, “Talk, young man, that I might know you.” I would add, “Talk of your heroes that I might know not only who you are, but who you will become.”
A discerning investor had lunch with the young, recently named CEO of a corporation in which he held a large bloc of stock. He asked about the executive’s heroes. The new CEO named a ruthless military general and a well-known arrogant businessman. From then on, the conversation cooled and ended much sooner than expected. As the man told me of this encounter he remarked,” What a shame to turn over an organization to such immaturity.” Because of his impression of the CEO he sold his large holdings in the corporation. It proved to be a wise decision as the leadership took the corporation in a disastrous direction.
Dr. J.C. Cain of the Mayo Clinic. We talked about the difficulty in choosing new students. All had excellent grades, fine discipline, high motivation, and outstanding work habits. In searching for questions to use as he interviewed to discern he used “Tell me of your heroes.” Dr. Cain found this to be an essential cluse to their value structure.
Those who have no heroes have not yet identified their highest ideals. Greatness demands an appreciation of correct values as seen in others. As a person changes his heroes, he changes the direction of his. The saddest person of all is the one who egotistically become their own heroes, which is disastrously like trying to become one’s own god.
I am convinced that the one who occupies the hero category cannot be contemporaneous. We can admire, respect, and use men and women as models, but until they have run the race and their lives have assessed, I don’t see them as qualified for the true hero space. Finishing well is a current buzzword. I believe there is credibility in looking at the entire run. Dr. Donald Campbell, President of Dallas Theological Seminary in teaching on the kings of Israel pointed out one “lived too long” making his latter years shameful.
I often counsel young men to live their lives in such a way that they don’t “make a junkyard of their old age.” Live as heroes-in-training.
This week think about: 1) Who do I consider a hero? 2) When I was 10 who did I want to be? 3) How could I use the question about heroes this week to open up a conversation?
Words of Wisdom: “Don’t make a junkyard out of your old age.”
Wisdom from the Word: “Encourage younger men likewise to be self-controlled,[a] showing yourself to be an example of good works in every way. In your teaching show integrity, dignity.” (Titus 2: 6,7 NET Bible)