Ordinary Heroes

from Able Leader, August 2004

by Steve Kaye

You have something in common with each of these people. They show:

Determination
This woman has every reason not to be here. She’s frail, young, and wears clunky plastic braces on each of her thin legs.

But I often see her at the health club working out. She rolls her wheelchair up to a spot, parks it, and pulls her body onto the bench. Then she works through curls, presses, or lifts. You can see her entire body tremble as she lifts a pair of two pound weights over her head.

I find her determination to be inspiring. She could easily quit, finding so many easy excuses to justify it. But here she is, working out to become stronger, to push away her limitations. When I see her pushing her body through these routines, I realize that if she can do this, so can I.

Service
When she reached her 80th birthday, she decided to celebrate by inviting her friends and close relatives to join her for a special birthday party. Over a hundred people filled the recreation center at her community in Florida.

Throughout the entire afternoon, everyone talked about how much she had done for them. The talked about the wonderful friend that she was. They talked about her energy, her service, and her spirit. I felt genuinely impressed that over a hundred people could gather to offer such a wealth of praise. It was a touching testimonial for someone who has given a lot to her community.

This also shows the power of learning new things. For example, she figured out how to use a computer so that she could help others with E-mail. And many years ago she took a tax preparation course so that she could help others with their taxes.

I can report that she’s 89 now and still going strong. She still serves as a volunteer for Meals on Wheels, she still helps people with their taxes, she still offers countless bits of support helping others through life's challenges.

Courage
As a single parent she needed to find a job. Fortunately, she had an interview scheduled. But she was afraid of meeting new people and talking to them.

As she drove to the interview, she worried about making a mistake or saying something awkward. She drove into the parking lot, parked, and then sat in her car worrying about the interview. The door to the building with the interview was just a short walk from her car. But she sat there, worrying. And eventually fear won. She drove home without going inside.

Later that week she saw an ad in the newspaper for Toastmasters. It offered hope. So she decided to go to a meeting. At the meeting, people encouraged her to come back. She did. And over time, her courage and ability to speak in public grew. Years later, she reached the position of District Governor, presiding over 200 clubs representing about 6,000 members. And, yes, she got a job on her next interview.

In Total
As I mentioned at the start, you have something in common with each of these people. It's this: All of them are doing things that you can do. And all of them are demonstrating the characteristics of effective leaders.

They are showing determination and courage to achieve, learn, and grow despite obstacles. They are providing service to others. And they are doing these things while living ordinary lives.

Key Point: You can do heroic things by showing determination, service, and courage.

Much success,

Steve Kaye
714-528-1300