It’s a pleasure to be up here in the Antelope
Valley. The Boy Scouts in Los Angeles have a special badge
you don’t have. It’s for setting up camp on the freeway
because they’re stuck in traffic overnight.
It is truly an honor to be here tonight at the first
annual American Heroes Dinner to pay tribute to those Boy
Scouts and local citizens who have displayed outstanding
leadership ability. It’s also an honor to share the platform
with my dear friend Buzz Aldrin – the 2nd man on the moon.
Of course, I learned something myself about being number two
when I ran for governor.
And I appreciate the opportunity to serve as MC for this
wonderful event. I’ve been asked to say a few words about
leadership, and it’s a pleasure for me to express some of my
thoughts on this important subject. One of my favorite
definitions of leadership came from Harry Truman, who said
“a leader can get someone to do what he doesn’t want to do
and have him like it at the same time.” As all of you know,
this is no easy task.
Leadership is always a timely topic from the executive
boardroom to the city council chamber to the infantry
platoon. Thousands of articles and books have been written
about it and you can even enroll in classes designed to
improve your leadership skills. But I can think of no better
model of leadership instruction than that offered by the Boy
Scouts of America.
Young men learn leadership by practicing it first hand in
the Boy Scouts. Leadership ability is developed through
participation in a wide variety of activities. Scouting
builds self-confidence, self-reliance, and self-esteem. The
mission of the Boy Scouts is to prepare young people to make
responsible choices over their lifetimes by instilling in
them strong ethical and moral values. Leadership ability
often shows itself at a young age. And it certainly is
fostered in the scouting community. And these young leaders
here with us tonight represent all that is good about our
society.
I’ve sometimes tried to emulate the Scouts, but there’s
no truth to the rumor that I once tried to start a fire by
rubbing two Democrats together. The awards we’re handing out
this evening demonstrate that everyone has an opportunity to
be a leader.
Many of the scouts here tonight are with their parents,
and parents are leaders, too. Good parents - like good
leaders - set the example. Good parents have lofty
expectations. Good parents are unselfish and
completely devoted to their children. My mother and father
taught me the most about leadership. Like the moms and dads
here tonight, my parents were an inspiration for me. They
had high standards of behavior and achievement for their
children.
Some people say that leaders are born, not made. Others
believe they’re made, not born. I’m in the latter category.
I believe that leaders are born with certain natural
abilities, but a person will not reach his full potential
until he matures and comes to terms with what he’s made of.
Human psychology is complex, and there are as many styles
of leadership as there are personality types, but the
qualities I believe are most crucial can be developed. I
call them the 4 C’s – Character / Competence / Compassion /
and Conviction. All good leaders exhibit them.
Character is most important. It involves understanding
right from wrong and the value of self-discipline and
personal sacrifice. Within this category comes courage. What
Hemingway called “grace under pressure.” Character is also
about honor. An honorable person is one who is able to place
the truth above his or her own personal welfare. Someone
once said that character is what you do when no one else is
looking.
There’s also an internal compass that keeps us on the
path toward character, the human conscience. We all have a
wise counselor that we can rely on. The little voice that
tells you the right thing to do in every situation is your
conscience. Take heed because it will tell you right from
wrong, good from
evil, and honorable from dishonorable.
Next is competence. If a leader is not competent in his
or her field, no one will follow. Knowledge is fundamental
to competence. And with knowledge comes confidence and with
confidence comes the ability to take action, which is
indispensable. My dad always told me that it’s not enough to
have
a good idea, you must be willing to act upon it. Without
action, even a brilliant idea is worthless.
And we all realize why compassion is such an desirable
quality. A leader who doesn’t care about the people who
serve with him, will have neither their loyalty nor their
faith. Pope John Paul II was a compassionate leader.
Conviction means believing in yourself and having the
confidence to chart and stay the course you know to be
right. Leaders with conviction have a sense of purpose and a
passionate zeal to achieve their goals. They turn dreams
into reality.
Buzz Aldrin and Larry McClain both had a passion for
flying and in the course of their lives reached heights that
had hardly been imagined in decades prior. Throughout the
history of the United States, men and women have come
forward in times of difficulty to help guide the country and
have taken their
rightful places in the pantheon of great leaders.
We remember our nation’s founders – Washington,
Jefferson, Hamilton, and Adams among many others. We
remember Abraham Lincoln, Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, John
Kennedy and Martin Luther King. We
remember Ronald Reagan. And today is no different. President
Bush and Rudy Giuliani were praised
for their handling of the terrorist attacks on 9/11. And
they will be remembered by generations to come.
Many more public officials - some here tonight - are
providing able leadership at the national, state, and local
levels.
Our nation has been blessed with many excellent leaders
for future generations to learn from and we are fortunate to
have their example because there will always be a need for
many more. In the program tonight we salute the men and
women of America’s armed forces. And we remember those who
have fallen in the war on terror and in all the other wars
America has fought.
Let us also salute and pray for the future leaders of our
country - those
here tonight and across America - who will serve in the
military as well as
the public and private sectors because They will determine
our future.
Thank you and God bless all of you.
