In honor of the 40th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, I’d like to take a moment to talk about Heroes. MLK Jr. did not set out to be famous, celebrated, or even admired to the magnitude he is today. His mission: Equality. Simply put, he was a man trying to make a difference . Like most heroes, MLK Jr. was a forward thinker, an optimist, and had an unfaltering faith in his mission. With that in mind, I pose the question… Are there heroes in the work place?
A natural response to my question might be “Well, how do you define Hero”. I don’t have the answer to that; and admittedly I am writing this in an effort to sort through my thoughts on the subject, as well as to hear others’ opinions.
With the term “Hero” undefined, some might answer: Yes, there are lots of heroes… folks that “do good”, managers that recognize and reward their teams fairly, etc. By no means do I support diminishing the “Everyday Hero” – the person who works hard to make an honest living, provide for themselves & their families – I value those people. But are there people in the work place that are really DRIVEN to make a difference… to stand up for what is right, even at the risk of serious consequences? (a la Norma Rae)
Perhaps it’s the “Everyday Heroes” that become DRIVEN heroes. Maybe they start out as honest people just trying to do the right thing, and as others recognize these Everyday Heroes’ good intentions, things start to snowball. Next thing you know… there’s a civil rights movement.
So whether your ambitions are big, like MLK Jr.’s, or you’re just trying to do what’s right like Norma Rae… Do It, because the world needs people like you. I challenge each of you reading this to take a moment and think about how you can be a hero…(and queue Bonnie Tyler’s I Need A Hero)…now get to it!
Editor’s Note – Beth Kobermann is Gen Y, and a Sr. HR Generalist at Honeywell. As you might expect, we love it when the youngsters on the team can do a shout out to a deep 80′s icon like Bonnie Tyler, although I’m disappointed she didn’t work in Total Eclipse of the Heart instead of I Need a Hero. If this video doesn’t inspire you to take more chances at work, I don’t even know who you are anymore.
P.S. – If Bonnie knows we need a hero, why isn’t she running back in the burning house?
GREAT question/comcept! In the day when employee engagement (and the accompanying side-effects – turnover, productivity, profitability, and teamwork – are so impactful) is such a huge issue, what a great way to frame the issue. However, I think the challenge should be for/to today’s business LEADERS: how do YOU bring that “hero factor” out in your people? That is the big question – have you got a big answer??
Nice post Beth. Do you know any heroes in your workplace? People who really make it all work or go the extra mile for their co-workers or tell their bosses what’s up?
One example comes to mind: When Fidelity/American Funds/all the other biggies (still are I think) were refusing to divest from the funding of genocide in Darfur, how many enraged employees went to their bosses at the financial firms? I know one.
Steve: how to bring the “Hero” factor out in your people… great idea for another post. I’ll have to ponder my thoughts on that. My knee-jerk response is impower them… but how exactly?? Stay tuned…
Mauren: i’m not aware of anyone i know taking a stand like the “one” you mentioned… actions like that are beyond commendable and the exact type of “doing the right thing” that snowballs into a “diven” hero. I was chatting with my husband about my post & thought… what if no cared about what MLK Jr was doing? would we have even had a civil righs movement? i’d like to think we still would have, but would it have even been possible at that point in time if he didn’t have the support/following backing him up??
all that’s to say, you don’t have of had the original “dream” to make a difference in the world… we need to support the “every day” heros b/c what starts as 1, can quickly grow to many.
My sincere grattitude and support goes out to Mauren’s friend!
this is the real point that definy a hero, well you mentioned Martin Luther King to me one of the most great heroes in the mankinf story, and a great man, an example.