Two Iron Ladies: Margaret Thatcher and Meryl Streep

Celebrity Heroes, Political Heroes

By Scott T. Allison and George R. Goethals

In the introductory chapter of our book Heroes, we discuss American actress Meryl Streep and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher on consecutive pages.  We make the point that both women well illustrate the point that heroism is in the eye of the beholder.  Streep is not a hero to Americans as a whole, but she is to most people in the film business.  Hardly anyone would regard her as a villain.  On the other hand, most of the British public, and many Americans, have opinions about Thatcher, with different people regarding her as either a hero or a villain.

The two were recently paired in a movie that few will ever forget.  In the movie The Iron Lady, Streep portrays Thatcher in what we consider one of the best acting performances in years.   Streep has been nominated for almost two-dozen Oscars as either Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress.  Before this year, she had won twice, for Sophie’s Choice in 1983 and Kramer vs. Kramer in 1980.  And in The Iron Lady, Streep hoisted the hardware again in her role as Margaret Thatcher.   Streep’s performance is doubly impressive compared to the usual biopic.  She plays Thatcher both in her current semi-demented state, and in her prime as the longest serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century.

Thatcher herself was a highly divisive figure as Prime Minister.  The daughter of a grocer in Lincolnshire, England, she rose through the ranks of the Conservative Party by articulating and embodying middle class values and virtues that seem now almost anachronistic.  She stood more firmly on her fundamental principles than almost any other politician in a democratic state.  University of Richmond leadership scholar Gary McDowell wrote “principle, she never failed to believe, is everything, and leadership is, at least in part, a matter of great, principled truths being simply told.”  Among the principles that were central to Thatcher, McDowell added were, “individual liberty, small government and low taxes” as well as “a sense of personal responsibility.”

Thatcher was not loved by all.  Her most dramatic leadership came twenty years ago during the brief war over the Falklands Islands in the South Atlantic Ocean.  The islands are just off the coast of Argentina, and that country had long held that they, called Malvinas by the Argentines, rightfully belonged to Argentina and only British imperialism made them English.  In 1982 Argentina invaded and captured the lightly defended islands.  Under Thatcher’s leadership, Great Britain launched a major – and very expensive – military counterattack thousands of miles away from the home country.  British forces made short work of it, quickly regaining the Falklands.  In doing so, they sank an Argentine destroyer killing hundreds of sailors.

Many people, in and out of England, questioned the value of the Falklands and severely criticized Thatcher for spending so much money and wasting so many lives in order to recapture the sparsely populated islands.  For Thatcher, the principles of national sovereignty and self-defense unequivocally dictated the islands’ retaking.  She became both a hero and a villain, depending on whose eyes were beholding.

Meryl Streep acts wonderfully throughout The Iron Lady, and shows Thatcher’s steely determination best of all, perhaps, in the Falklands scenes.  The film is fascinating, and presents two possible heroes for our consideration.  It is well-worth watching.

Below Meryl Streep talks about her portrayal of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the film The Iron Lady.

Jeremy Lin: The Hero Who Came Out of Nowhere

Sports Heroes

By Scott T. Allison and George R. Goethals

There are times when real-life hero stories are so unlikely, and so inspiring, that they have the appearance of a fairy tale.  The story of New York Knick basketball player Jeremy Lin is one such tale.

Lin played college basketball at Harvard, a school known far more for its academics than for its athletics.  Lin was a star player at Harvard, but when he graduated in 2010, there were no professional basketball teams in the NBA interested in him.  He was judged to be a marginally skilled player who lacked athleticism.

Eventually the Golden State Warriors decided to take a chance with Lin, but they gave him little playing time and eventually cut him from the team.  The Houston Rockets then did the same.  Lin’s basketball future looked bleak.

But Lin never abandoned his dream to play professionally.  He began this current basketball season languishing at the end of the New York Knicks’ bench, still waiting for his chance.  There appeared to be little hope that Lin would ever be able to prove himself on the basketball court.

At this point, the magical part of the fairy tale kicks in.  On February 5, 2012, with the Knicks struggling to win games, coach Mike D’Antoni took a chance and decided to bring Lin into a game against the New Jersey Nets.   Lin proceeded to dazzle everyone by scoring 25 points and handing out 7 assists, leading the Knicks to victory.  His performance stunned everybody.

Was it a fluke?  There was only one way to find out.  Coach D’Antoni allowed Lin to start the next game against the Utah Jazz.  This time Lin scored 28 points and dished out 8 assists, again leading the Knicks to victory.  Next came the Washington Wizards.  The Knicks won again with Lin scoring 23 points and getting a career-high 10 assists.  Against the Los Angeles Lakers, Lin poured in 38 points and had 7 assists.  He out-played the Lakers’ future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant, who muttered, “Players don’t come out of nowhere.”

In his first four games as a starter, Lin scored more points (109) than any player in NBA history.   That includes legends such as Michael Jordan and LeBron James.  “I have never seen this,” said Knicks coach D’Antoni. “What he’s doing is amazing.”  Lin is the first New York-based team athlete to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated two weeks in a row since the magazine started in 1954.  Lin’s stunning rise to stardom has captivated New York Kick fans, who erupt into a Beatlemania-like frenzy whenever Lin touches the ball.  The phenomenon has been called Linsanity.

As if Lin’s storybook rise to fame isn’t enough, he has also shown remarkable humility and generosity off the basketball court.  When interviewed, Lin comes across as genuinely gracious, modest, and grateful for the opportunities given him.  He always gives credit to his teammates first.  One day he wants to become a pastor devoted to helping others and establishing non-profit organizations to assist those less fortunate than him.  Lin also plans to work in inner-city communities to help underprivileged children.

Every once in a while, a hero appears out of nowhere to accomplish goals that no one could ever have anticipated.  The story has a powerful, almost archetypal quality to it.  It reminds us of fables and childhood tales that mesmerize us at a young age.  No one expects Cinderella to become a princess or the ugly duckling to grow into a majestic swan.  These stories inspire and move us because they are so very rare and have such a great emotional payoff.  And when they do occur, as with Jeremy Lin, our views about the promise and hope of humankind are rekindled.

Below is clip showing some highlights of Jeremy Lin leading the Knicks to victory over the Lakers.

Yaqub Hussain: A Modern Muslim Role Model

Activist Heroes

By Mikkel Juel Iversen

9/11 changed the direction of the world as the war on terror has been top of the agenda since that day. As a consequence, the rift between the Western world and the Islamic world has grown ever bigger. To the uncritical eye, Islam has become synonymous with terrorism. A recent study of Muslim stories in UK newspapers since 9/11 shows that 46% of stories had terrorism/extremism as their news hook. This has left a generation of young Western Muslims feeling shamed and frustrated, leading to isolation.

Young Western Muslims desperately need role models who share their faith and have achieved success in Western societies. Such heroes will inspire these young people to believe they are faced with a world of opportunities. But the rest of Western society also need to experience Muslim role models who are an anti-dote to the negative Muslim stereotype that has developed.

The awe-inspiring journey of Yaqub Hussain, a real life ugly duckling tale, is one that both Muslims and the wider society will identify with. The magical power of heroes is that we relate to their spirit and bravery regardless of their race, religion or social class. Even if we don’t admit to it — that is the power of human nature.

Many heroes from literature and film have one huge mountain to climb to realise their goal. From this perspective Yaqub was born at the foot of a mountain range. While growing up, Yaqub’s world was destitute of love but rich in abuse. At an early age he realized to survive he had become streetwise and a fighter. Today he is passing these valuable lessons on to champion fighters and youngsters by teaching them self-discipline and belief.

Yaqub is a role model especially to young Muslims as several incidents where he has had to dig right to the bottom of his soul for strength are related to his cultural background. Three fragments from his life story highlight how he has had deal with issues of family honour, forced marriage, racism and terrorism.

At the age of 16 his father sent him to Pakistan on a holiday which turned out to be a set up for a forced marriage. A desolate rural village nearly became his last destination on earth. After refusing to marry he was dragged off to a shed, tied to a chair and beaten 2 days by 3 burly villagers. Waking up in a puddle of blood he knew agreeing to the marriage was his last chance of survival. He had to sacrifice his freedom to stay alive. But Yaqub didn’t end up a married 16 year old as he hatched the most amazing escape from Pakistan to the UK on the “big day”.

A decade later an event that landed him in prison brought about a life changing transformation. Yaqub was attacked outside his workplace and defended himself. In a state of panic he asked a friend to falsely witness which became his downfall. He was charged with perverting the course of justice and remanded in custody. In prison he was an obvious target being the only Asian on the wing and once again he literally had to fight for his life. But slowly the dynamic changed as he started talking to the other inmates about faith, unity and brotherhood. They were inspired by his words and gained a sense of hope. Realizing that he had changed things in one of society’s most hostile environments, he decided to become a lawyer to fight for truth and justice.

Being an ex-convict Yaqub’s foray into the legal profession was a rocky road. But the turning point came with the Transatlantic Liquid Bomb terrorism trial which was one of the biggest cases in British legal history. Despite only being a trainee lawyer he came to play a key role in the case of Donald Stewart Whyte who was exonerated of all terrorism charges after a three year-long nightmare. In that moment Yaqub was rewarded for living through all the pain and hardship as he saw an innocent young man avoid a life sentence to reclaim his life.

A key lesson we should all take from Yaqub’s story is that despite having had to fight many wars he did not turn bitter on society. He never stopped believing there was a place for him in this world and time has proved him to be right. Heroes might become victims of circumstance but keep taking action until they regain control of their own destiny. In that sense we are all either heroes or victims and the choice is ours.

– – – – – –

Yaqub Hussain has continued his ascent in the legal profession and today runs his own law firm LP Evans.  The author, Mikkel Juel Iversen, is a London based filmmaker at Dignity Entertainment who is producing a feature film inspired by Yaqub’s life story.

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Ellen DeGeneres: Heroic Comedienne and Underdog Advocate

Activist Heroes, Celebrity Heroes

Oops!  We had to remove the hero profile you’re looking for because it appears in our book Heroic Leadership: An Influence Taxonomy of 100 Exceptional Individuals, published by Routledge in 2013.

Our contract at Routledge required us to remove many of our profiles on our blog.  But we do have other hero profiles and information about heroes on the menu bar located on the right side of this page.  Check it out!

In the mean time, please accept our apologies.

 

— Scott Allison and George Goethals

Joe Paterno: The Death of a Fallen Hero

Sports Heroes

Oops!  We had to remove the hero profile you’re looking for because it will soon appear in our new book Heroic Leadership: An Influence Taxonomy of 100 Exceptional Individuals, to be published by Routledge in 2013.

Our contract at Routledge required us to remove many of our profiles on our blog at this time.  But we do have other hero profiles and information about heroes on the menu bar located on the right side of this page.  Check it out!

In the mean time, please accept our apologies.  Here is more information about our new book.

You can click here to return to our HERO home page.  And thanks for visiting!

— Scott Allison and George Goethals

Wesley Autrey and Dave Hartsock: Heroes Who Seized the Heroic Moment

Unsung Heroes,

Wesley AutreyBy Scott T. Allison and George R. Goethals

Most of the exceptional individuals profiled in this blog are heroes who devoted their lives to making the world a better place.  But not all heroes follow this same journey.  Some heroes are ordinary human beings who perform a single heroic act in response to an extraordinary situation.  They are compelled to make a quick decision to help someone at the risk of great injury to themselves.  In short, these individuals encounter a heroic moment, and they rise to the occasion by doing the right thing.

Recently, two men have seized the heroic moment in especially dramatic fashion, and we are pleased to give them the attention and accolades they deserve.  The first man is Wesley Autrey, who recently was waiting on a New York subway platform with his two young daughters, age 4 and 6.  Standing beside them was a 19 year-old film student named Cameron Hollopeter, a complete stranger to the Autrey family.  Suddenly, Hollopeter began having a seizure.  Autrey went to assist him, but the writhing young man fell onto the tracks.  Autrey looked up and saw an oncoming train barreling toward the stricken man.

Autrey found himself in a heroic moment.  There wasn’t enough time to pull Hollopeter to safety.  With two young daughters, Autrey could have easily and blamelessly done nothing.  But Autrey did the extraordinary:  He jumped onto the tracks, lay on top of Hollopeter between the tracks to protect him, and got as low as possible while five train cars rumbled over the two men.  Inches separated Autrey from certain death.

“I don’t feel like I did something spectacular,” said Autrey.  “I just saw someone who needed help. I did what I felt was right.”  New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg presented him with the Bronze Medallion, New York City’s highest award for exceptional citizenship and outstanding achievement.

Our second hero who found himself in a heroic moment is Dave Hartsock, a skydiving instructor from Texas.  Dave HartsockOne day in March of 2010, Hartsock was taking Shirley Dygert on her first skydive.  During their descent, both her main chute and emergency chute failed to deploy properly.  Hartsock grabbed onto Dygert, tried unsuccessfully to help her, and then made a remarkable decision just seconds before impact with the ground.  To protect Dygert from the full force of the impact, Hartsock chose to position his own body beneath Dygert’s.  In short, he used his own body to break her fall.

Hartsock’s plan worked; Dygert was injured in the fall but is well on the way to a full recovery.  Because he bore the brunt of the impact, Hartsock unfortunately sustained devastating injuries.  The impact crushed his vertebrae, and he is now paralyzed from the neck down.  As with subway hero Autrey, Hartsock downplayed his gallant action.  “I couldn’t have lived with myself if anything had happened to her,” he said.  “It was my job to protect her. I did what I had to do, the only thing to do.”

The split-second heroic decisions of Autrey and Hartsock are just as impressive as any heroic actions we’ve featured in this blog.  When rare and dangerous situations arise that require immediate action, most people understandably freeze and fail to act.  Fortunately, there are exceptional people among us who, under desperate circumstances when lives are at stake, demonstrate the noblest qualities of humanity.  We’d like to believe that Autrey and Hartsock are modern-day Nathan Hales in their use and promotion of a powerful heroic script than any one of us can follow if the situation is right.  Today we salute and honor their remarkable actions.

Below Wesley Autrey describes his heroic act to David Letterman.