Leadership Inspiration from Jesse Owens

For sports fans, the late Jesse Owens is truly an inspiration. His appearance at the 1936 summer Olympics where he was the first American to win four gold medals propelled him to international fame. I have enjoyed reading up on Owens’ life and would like to condense some of my findings with you.

No other Olympian had achieved so much in previous Olympics. His success was a major blow to Adolph Hitler, who had hoped to showcase Aryan superiority at the games.

I’ve been a sports fanatic all my life. I enjoy all sports, with football and baseball topping the list. I’m spending a lot of time out at The Joe (the nickname of the stadium named for Charleston Mayor Joe Riley) watching our local team, the Charleston Riverdogs. The Riverdogs are a farm team of the New York Yankees. Granted, I’m not a Yankees’ fan, but I do like baseball, and our home team is fun to watch.

At a recent game while enjoying a hot dog, it came to me that there is a lot we can learn about business and leadership at a ball game if we’re paying attention. So, with a little help from that famous Yankee catcher and philosopher, Yogi Berra, I’d like to point out a few leadership ideas.

Donald McCullough in his book, The Pitfalls of Positive Thinking, shares some interesting insights from individuals considered persons of accomplishment, yet who struggled with personal disappointments.

McCullough writes, "Alexander the Great conquered Persia, but broke down and wept because his troops were too exhausted to push on to India. Hugo Grotius, the father of modern international law, said at the last, "I have accomplished nothing worthwhile in my life." John Quincy Adams, sixth President of the U.S.--not a Lincoln, perhaps, but a decent leader--wrote in his diary: "My life has been spent in vain and idle aspirations, and in ceaseless rejected prayers that something would be the result of my existence beneficial to my species." Robert Louis Stevenson wrote words that continue to delight and enrich our lives, and yet what did he write for his epitaph? "Here lies one who meant well, who tried a little, and failed much." Cecil Rhodes opened up Africa and established an empire, but what were his dying words? "So little done, so much to do."

In his writing, Perhaps I Am, Edward W. Bok shares a story of kindness involving Herbert Hoover and Polish premier Paderewski. Here is an excerpt from the inspiring story Bok shares.