Heroes

Who are your heroes? Do you have people from whom your life has taken inspiration? I have had quite a few at different times of my life. Here is a short list of people whose lives have given me insights, helped form my values, and have served as a motivational influence.

Daniel Boone was an early inspirational force in my life because our family is descended from this historical pioneer. Boone is credited playing a major role in the development of the Wilderness Road, which opened the way for early Americans in eastern states to go west and settle in the midwest. Numerous qualities made him a great man. He was a truly courageous person, extremely knowledgeable about the ways of the wilderness, and very responsible.

In reading many books about his life, one quality that I especially identified with was his distaste for government, power politics and legal shenanigans. After settling Kentucky, Boone served his friends and neighbors as a surveyor. Unfortunately, because the title deeds were not properly submitted, each of his friends lost their land. Boone made good by severing off his own property, eventually giving away all of his one million acres. The whole experience so disheartened him that he decided to leave the country and moved to Missouri. Once again, a bad turn intervened as Missouri became part of the U.S. in the Lousiana Purchase.

Boone was a peaceful man whose one regret was that in the defense of Boonesboro and the settlements of Kentucky he was forced three times to take the life of a Native American. He was a man highly respected by the Native tribes and at one time he was adopted into one where he lived for two years. His was a remarkable story and he was a man bigger than life.

I have already written elsewhere about the influence of Ulysses S. Grant on my life. He, too, had many qualities that made him a great leader, but unfortunately was not skilled at navigating the political garbage that he had to deal with in Washington as president. You can read about U.S. Grant here.

A third inspirational leader for me was Chief Sitting Bull of the Sioux. The contrast between Native American leadership style and Machiavellian power games is nowhere more appaent than in the lives of Sitting Bull and General George Armstrong Custer.

To be a leader of an Indian tribe you had to earn this privilege. Sitting Bull's power came from being himself powerful in himself, wise, courageous, worthy of respect. Being a general in the army was a matter of graduating West Point and being given a command. You could be the world's most arrogant, idiotic jerk, and Custer was, and men would have to obey you. Sitting Bull's leaadership was based on persuasion and influence. There were no top down command chains among the Native Americans.

Perhaps in another entry I will share some other names of people who made an impact on my life. In the meantime, who are your heroes? Learn more about their legacies through books. As you read about their lives, ask questions. What were the values that made them great? Their motivations? The circumstances that enabled them to extend their influence to a wider world?

Then share what you learn. It will reinforce these same values in your own mind and life.

Here is a link to a few more of my own personal heroes. I call it Living Lessons from the lives of Great Men.