Sunday Night With John: Tear Down The Giants
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Tear Down the Gaints
John Paul Derryberry
"Makers of men, creators of leaders, be careful what kind of leaders you're producing here. I don't know if Charlie's silence here today is right or wrong. I'm not a judge or jury, but I can tell you this: he won't sell anybody out to buy his future! And that, my friends, is called integrity. That's called courage. Now that's the stuff leaders should be made of." -- Frank Slade, Scent of a Woman. (If you ever need a pep talk about standing up to corrupt leadership, watch the final 30 minutes of the film, Scent of a Woman).
We all hit crossroads in life, but they are not the usual, significant, movie-moment crossroads that we normally think of. No musical cue lets us know it's time to make a decision that might upset the status quo. We do not have Al Pacino sitting next to us, telling us through an impassioned monologue that it's time to challenge our leaders. No, our moments are small moments that chip away at our moral compass and make us cynical about others. And, the leaders and the giants of whatever craft, skill or industry we cut our professional lives in are banking on us to just go with the flow. They expect us to accept their answers as infallible, to not challenge a decision they have made or a person they have anointed as the next great leader. Most importantly, they want us to look the other way when faced with their hypocrisy.
I vividly remember my first professional "moment" when I knew the company I was working for did not want leaders but followers. I was given a glowing review and told I was deserving of a raise. I asked what type of increase I would be getting. That seemed to me like the logical next question. The reply was, "We haven't given raises here for 11 years." My response was, "I won't work for a company whose leaders cannot figure out ways to increase the pay." After this challenge, when the supervisor had caught her breath, she informed me that she had worked here for 12 years without a raise. My response didn't change and her demeanor toward me was forever changed. I was insubordinate because I had dared to challenge the status quo and leadership when all I wanted was fair compensation for my craft.
Now we see daily stories of these so-called giants being exposed for creating sexist, racist, and good ol' boys' club workplaces. They want employees to be happy just to have a job. We all have seen companies that, while raking in record profits, cannot find a way to pay living wages or provide health benefits. We have seen these leaders, who are paid 10 times what their lowest employee is paid, claim equal pay for women is too hard to achieve. It's all based on the premise of unflappable leadership. But, the notion that the people tapped as leaders know all and know best 100% of the time is dangerous. Every leader has their blind spots, biases, and gets things wrong. And, I'm not excluded from that equation.
Sir Isaac Newton gave us the saying, "standing on the shoulders of giants." This means that great leaders provide us a platform to see further into the world by building on what they have accomplished. And Frank Slade gave us an incredible line saying that, if what our leaders have accomplished is corrupt, we should take a flamethrower to the place (Not a real flamethrower, violence is never the answer). As we have witnessed the pulling back of the curtain on American leadership - in corporate America, in politics, in Hollywood, and in our schools - we have the evidence that we are standing on a crumbling foundation of giants. It is time to tear them down.
Let us find people who didn't take the shortcut to success. Let us find people who have had integrity as their guiding light and, most importantly, are people who cannot be bought. Let us find giants whose shoulders are actually worthy of standing upon.