Rabbi Jonathan Spira-Savett once asked Hillary Clinton how she balanced her fierce ambition to run for President and the particular virtue that a life of public service demanded. The rabbi had in mind the virtue of humility.
Virtue is thus defined: a behavior showing high moral standards; a commendable quality or personal trait or moral excellence. Contrary to what our people seem to believe, educational accomplishments have next to no relationship with virtue.
The most important leadership traits reside in the hall of virtues: humility, mercy, kindness, patience, integrity, discretion, honesty, hard work, love, and faithfulness. In this article I would like to highlight humility.
History is filled with leaders from various backgrounds, with virtues that have influenced millions across the globe, from the earlier-mentioned Hillary Clinton to Winston Churchill, to Nelson Mandela. And then there are the Hitlers, the Amins and other monsters.
Winston Churchill was once asked, “Doesn’t it thrill you to know that every time you make a speech the hall is packed to overflowing?” Replied Sir Winston: “It is quite flattering. But whenever I feel that way, I always remember that if instead of making a political speech I was being hanged, the crowd would be twice as big.”
Nelson Mandela is generally considered one of the greatest and most influential leaders of our era. He is remembered especially for his humility. Saint Lucia was fortunate to have hosted him in 1998, at the time of 19th meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government. Saint Lucians were thrilled to witness in person the great statesman at a youth rally in his honor, the way he communicated with the young people, laughing and joking, even dancing with them.
On the matter on leadership, Nelson Mandela was quoted in a 2001 interview published in Oprah’s now defunct O magazine: “If you want the cooperation of humans around you, you must make them feel they are important—and you do that by being genuine and humble.”
Let us for a minute consider The Book of Virtues. It contains several oxymorons and seemingly contradictory statements. For example: “Giving is receiving.” And “To live is to die.” Well, humility comes because you are a servant. And when you want to be served, that is actually an aspect of pride. So, whoever wants to be first must become last and be a servant. Greatness comes through being the least.
Too often we confuse humility with weakness, when in fact it is one of the surest signs of strength in an individual. Humility is best demonstrated when a leader brings positive change to our world, when he is able to lift others up that were down. When he assists the poor, when he reaches out to young law-breakers who may have taken wrong turns because of governmental neglect: poor education, less than adequate housing, unending unemployment and so on.
Often such dehumanizing conditions exist in countries whose leaders are themselves intellectually bankrupt, leaders who effectively are the enemies of progress. Right here in Saint Lucia our leaders have seemed incapable of addressing subjects that do not reek of divisiveness and self-serving politics. It does not require much talent to abuse poor and uneducated people taught to believe their only chance of survival is to treat elected fools as if they were gods.
My hope is that we are able, come the next general elections, to separate the wheat from the chaff, the candidates who truly care from the charlatan snakes in cheap suits. The talented humble from the self-interested noisemakers. We need to hear now from those who seek office their plans to deal with our front-burner problems: crooked politicians, violent crime, our overwhelming poverty, our lack of standards, the anti-social behavior that in our country is now the new normal. The world has changed in so many ways, still our politicians expect us to believe their old failed policies will somehow deliver in our more than ever demanding new environment. What arrogance. What an insult to the national intelligence!
My invitation to reset the leadership criteria should not be seen as just another call to enlist in the growing army of disgruntled citizens and others who habitually criticize and oppose for the sake of it. Rather, it is a rejection of self-serving political agendas, of ad hominem exchanges masquerading as informed debates.
For too long have we encouraged the worst in ourselves and in our neighbor. It is high time we made a determined national effort to dig ourselves out of the mess we created with our own selfishness, our complicity, our willingness to turn a blind to our brother’s misery. Too many times have we handed our souls to the devil for peanuts. We must believe in our hearts and minds that brighter future awaits us, if only we can muster the courage to pursue it regardless of how difficult the road. Our own and our children’s future depends on what we do today!
