A characteristic that great leaders have in common is an awareness that they’re meant to do something with their lives - a sense of destiny.  In a study of 490 eminent people, a sense of destiny was found to be a common trait.  Philip Baker examines the life of JFK and draws out leadership attributes from his life which can enhance our own personal impact and sense of destiny.

The following four candidates were all once famous leaders. If faced with an election which of the following would you vote for?

Hangs out with political hacks and consults with astrologists.

Has at least two mistresses.

Smokes cigarettes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.

Has a physical handicap that is usually hidden from the public by those around him.

Was accused of deliberately provoking a major war.

Has been kicked out of office twice by the voters.

Has sleeps until noon.

Has used opium in college.

Was strongly suspected of being a racist.

Drinks as much of a quart of brandy every evening.

Was the inspiration behind one of the greatest military blunders of all time, which killed tens of thousands of people from his own side.

Has lost at least 6 local elections.

Has twice gone bankrupt

His businesses failed and he was equally bad with women.

A child once told him to grow a beard to hide his ugliness.

Met a woman who seduced him and then ordered him to marry her, which he did.

Was later accused of being a racist and an opportunist.

And our last candidate is…

He was a decorated war hero.

He was a vegetarian.

He doesn’t smoke or use drugs.

He drinks only an occasional beer.

He has no scandals at all with women.

He was of average size in appearance. 

He does not fit the image of a leader but he unified his nation after a devastating period of social and political change.

If we were faced with such an election who you would vote for?  If you voted for Candidate # 1…you voted for Franklin Roosevelt.  If you voted for the opium-using Candidate # 2, with the drinking problem, you voted for Winston Churchill. If you decided on Candidate # 3… you voted for Abraham Lincoln.  And if you picked Candidate 4 who had no bad background at all, you voted for Adolf Hitler.

The principle we intend to adopt is that if someone has failings in their character or if they’re not a shining example of moral decency we really can’t learn anything at all from them.  The bottom line really is that none of us have it ‘all together’.  We’re all broken.  The Bible says we’re fallen.  Isaiah Berlin coined the phrase we are cut from crooked timber. Nevertheless, by looking at characters in history we can learn lessons for our own lives.

Let’s turn then to another leader with an international reputation.  What can we learn from the life of John F. Kennedy?

Intellectual curiosity feeds off itself.  As the circle of knowledge grows so does the boundary of ignorance.  The more we learn the more we realise that we know very little.  Our output cannot exceed our input.  And if we’re not ‘inputting’ into our lives in meaningful ways then we’re not going to output the same quality of material.

This is seen in many ways in the life of Kennedy.  It started at the meal table where the Kennedy family would sit around and hold engaging conversations about politics and history and the like.  Clearly, they were taught to be curious at an early stage.  I think it’s a great lesson we can learn especially those of us who are parents - to foster curiosity in the lives of our kids.

Later, as a young man Kennedy went on a trip around Europe to expand his knowledge of the world, to meet people and to understand different cultures. Everywhere he went he would ask questions trying to gain knowledge and also kept a diary of what he had learnt on his journey.

It is important to maintain intellectual curiosity. Probably the greatest example of this to be seen in Kennedy was his love for books. His passion for reading greatly impacted his life and leadership. In fact, the book The Guns Of August by Barbara Tuchman about how World War I began was very important in shaping Kennedy’s thinking.  By reading that book he learnt lessons which he then applied during the Cuban missile crisis. At a key moment the knowledge and wisdom which came from reading that historical account, guided him. 

Our lives are different based on the people we meet and the books we read.  Make sure you’re committed to being a reader to continue to grow.

One thing that great leaders seem to have in common is that they have an awareness that they are meant to do something with their lives - a sense of destiny.  In a study of 490 eminent people this was found to be the number one characteristic they shared - a sense of destiny.

I actually think that everybody has a sense of destiny but people who achieve tend to keep their vision alive, and not let it fade. They pursue that destiny with a passion.  Kennedy had an overwhelming sense of purpose.

With Kennedy it was not just that he had a sense of purpose, but he knew he was in a rush to do it.  Time was short.  He had an awareness, like Martin Luther King Jr., that his life would not be that long.  One of his favourite poems went like this:

…death closes all: but something ere the end,

Some work of noble note, may yet be done…

Come my friend, ‘tis not too late to seek a newer world

Tennyson.

When he got back from his honeymoon, he said to his wife Jackie, “I’m just going to tell you what my favourite poem is.” He read her the poem by Alan Seeger called ‘Rendezvous’.  The opening and closing lines are:

“I have a rendezvous with death at some disputed barricade,

I shall not fail that rendezvous…

and I to my pledged word am true I shall not fail that rendezvous.” 

Basically, he was telling his new wife that he felt he was going to die early. What a really encouraging thing to do when you are newly married! There was a sense of foreboding, that he didn’t have much time and needed to get on with his life’s work. In our own lives are we challenged to search for a sense of destiny, and to know what our purpose is? 

Jackie and Jack lived with humour.  There are many stories to illustrate this, and perhaps this one is a little hypocritical. Jackie was talking to Pat Nixon (Richard Nixon’s wife) the night before the election.  Pat Nixon said to Jackie, “Well last night I slept with the future President of the United States!”  And Jackie said, “Well yeah, Jack would do almost anything for another vote!”

Jack also used humour to defuse criticism.  Often when the press got on his case he used humour to his advantage.  For example, when there was a big uproar because Bobby had been appointed Attorney General with hardly any legal training or legal experience, President Kennedy said, “Well I see nothing wrong with giving Robert some legal experience as Attorney General before he goes out to practice law!”

Kennedy’s father, Joseph, was well known for bankrolling his campaigns and buying votes in the community.  On one occasion, Jack got up and said, “Well I got a telegram from Dad which said this - I don’t want to buy one more vote than necessary.  I’m happy to pay for a win but I’ll be damned if I’ll pay for a landslide!”

On another occasion, there were disputes over numbers.  The Kennedy side was accused of magnifying the numbers saying there were thousands at a rally when there weren’t and it became a story which gained the attention of the press.  The Kennedys knew there were going to be questions on it, so to diffuse the issue he said, “Well, we’re sorry about this.  Apparently Kennedy is counting all the nuns and then multiplying by a hundred.”  Everyone laughed and there were no more questions, thanks to his use of humour.

There’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance.  One of the areas where Kennedy showed his confidence was that if he had an opinion on something he’d be quite happy to change it if someone else convinced him they were right. However, he wouldn’t discard what he thought and just believe an ‘expert’ unless he knew it to be true for himself.  He would hold and believe in his convictions until proven otherwise. 

I think it is a good sign of confidence which every leader needs to have.  He never walked across that line of arrogance.  He knew that the proverbial wisdom about “pride coming before a fall” was actually truth.  He would listen to others. 

There’s a Rabbinical saying that when you go through life always wear a coat with two pockets and have a note in each pocket.  The note in one pocket says “I’m nothing but dust.” The note in the other pocket says “But for me this whole world was created.” This is nobility and humility coupled together.  Churchill said it well, We are all worms…I think maybe I’m a glow-worm.

Philip Baker, Senior Pastor, Riverview Church

This article has been adapted from a presentation by Philip Baker at a Building Business Leaders’ Breakfast.  These are quarterly events held in each capital city which build leadership, business and personal development principles into CEOs, middle-managers, self-employed people through to employees across all varieties of companies and fields.  For more information on the next Building Business Leaders’ Breakfast in your city please phone the host, Riverview Church, on 08-94701256.

Four leadership lessons from JFK

1. Develop intellectual curiosity through conversation, asking questions and reading books.
2. Great leaders have a sense of destiny - an awareness that they are meant to do something with their lives.  Search for your sense of destiny and purpose, keep your vision alive and pursue it with a passion.
3. Laugh on the journey - have a sense of humour.
4. Walk with confidence, but not arrogance.