ANCIENT& not so ancient WISDOM
offering a weekly positive perspective

July 21, 2005

"Great deeds are not done by great people. Great deeds are done by people who do what is right in the face of consequences." 

- Jeffrey Hansler (1957 - )

Winning a 7th Tour de France is a great FEAT for Lance Armstrong! It may not be a great DEED though. (Although, after enduring a painful and short ride on my bike from Huntington to Balboa, it may be a great deed to just sit on a bike seat.)

I feel strongly that the great deeds were done by his teammates. You know, the ones who's names we may not be familiar with. The ones who will return to much less fan fare. True, it is unlikely that any of them could have done what Lance did. True also is it is unlikely he could have done it without them. It is one thing to peddle the Tour de France to win and another to peddle for the single cause of helping a teammate to win: the practice days and hours and the pain all remain the same.

The great deed is not prosecuting Bernard Ebbers, former WorldCom boss. The great deeds were those that risked their careers and futures standing up to him and those quietly going along with his decisions before it was completely clear that fraud was involved. The easy route was to take the rewards and go along for the ride. 

I also wonder if his punishment would have been 25 years if he had made money for the stock holders? A great deed would have been risking a retirement check to expose the fraud while the stock was climbing, not punishing him when it didn't work out. Where were the lawyers and the SEC while ethics and practices were being pushed for years? What about the discrepancies that still continue?

In short, I believe great deeds often involve doing something very unpopular that involves disclosing the truth to the best of your ability.

The future great deeds regarding WorldCom will be done by those that lost their retirement and return to quietly rebuilding it without it affecting those that they care about.

The question in this case is 'What are you willing to give up to do what is right?'

On a more personal note, I'm very proud of my sons and in a way they are both doing great things (OK, so I'm partial). My older son's (Mack) waterpolo coach announced he was going to another school for a better teaching opportunity. The coach did it openly and communicated completely with the kids and the parents. Some of the parents, feeling slighted, were less than gracious with their response. The two great deeds were the way the coach handled the departure and the response of the team. Change is always difficult and both are dealing with the change as best they can. Anyway, Mac is quietly taking a leadership role through example in getting the team ready for the upcoming season. He really liked his coach and was genuinely upset with his departure. Some of the parents, who were big supporters of the coach turned on him the minute he announced his departure. Go figure.

My other son has faced a challenge of a different sort. This summer he has been playing with the varsity basketball team as a sophomore. Attending the games, I noticed that he was one of the few non-starters that was getting any game time. I noticed the other teams were playing their entire bench. Strategically, I think summer is the time to be playing the bench to build the strongest team for the season. So I spoke to the coaches about playing the bench. Their main reason for not playing the bench was that the other players got game experience at practice (yes, you read it correctly). When I pointed out that this didn't make much sense and that there might be a different way to look at it, I met some resistance. Go figure.

Much to my surprise, the next game the entire bench was played! I thought great! After the game, the coaches' debrief with the team occurred. Ri did not return to the gym with the other players and one of the coaches. Several of his friends looked at me and mouthed that Ri was being talked to because I had talked to the coaches. When I asked the coach that was in the gym where Ri was he said talking basketball with the other coach. When I asked point-blank if it was concerning my discussion with them, he said he didn't know.

Ri was pretty upset when he got in the car. Seems the coaches had gotten their point across very clearly. He said, 'Don't talk to the coaches!' It was quiet in the car for sometime. 

I said to Ri that I had two problems with what occurred. One, a coach lied to me and two, they took up an issue with him that had nothing to do with him. I explained that I couldn't go back to the coaches to complain because there was an integrity issue involved because of the lie. I explained that threats and misuse of power were not reasons to be quiet about anything (Oh, yes there's a 60's thought process). I said I would be taking it to the athletic director as an information only discussion. 

The story the athletic director heard from the coaches was a little different as you might expect. Seems they had planned to play the bench all along. It was part of their master plan. They also had planned to move Ri to JV before my discussion with them. 

The great deed was Ri going to practice for the next two weeks knowing what had occurred. My son loves basketball: he loves being surrounded by leaders with integrity even more.

I know what you may be thinking. I should have just stayed out of it. Let it go - after all he was playing - Why worry about what else was going on? You know, nothing gets changed until someone speaks up about what they believe in. And no, this wasn't a great deed by me, just a clueless one, because I underestimated the extent to which someone would go to make themselves feel in charge. Well, the good news for me and the bad news for the athletic director is that I no longer have to deal with the coaches and he does. (Yes, I'm sure the coaches feel the same way about me - just another annoying parent with an opinion).

Wishing you great success and the position of being annoying when you speak up about something you believe in. You will make a positive difference (It just may take awhile.)!

Sincerely,