"Good character is more to be praised than outstanding talent.
Most talents are to some extent a gift.
Good character, by contrast, is not given to us.
We have to build it piece by piece by thought, choice, courage and determination." – John Luther
Does the end justify the means? Do we have to attain wealth, fame or power at all costs? Are shortcuts that contravene laws and ethics justifiable? Why do we indulge in mental gymnastics by rationalizing acceptance of a lesser evil, and not standing up only for what’s good, no matter how risky or unprofitable?
Corporate America has in recent years been rocked by breach of ethics scandals, which ravaged some of the world’s biggest firms – Enron, WorldCom, Arthur Andersen and the Martha Stewart insider-trading flap. There are many honorable, perhaps more difficult ways, to attain great success.
In the past, immigrant Chinese traders of the country’s Binondo financial hub routinely took out character loans from banks or built fortunes on credit from suppliers due to their sense of personal honor and integrity. Multi-million peso transactions can be consummated on pieces of paper in panciterias, whether circumstances change, the old-fashioned Chinese traders always fulfilled their end of the bargain. Their word was their bond. In the provincial areas, the personal or company checks of respected Chinese traders were highly-prized as a form of money – passed on numerous times in many other trading transactions – due to their unimpeachable integrity.
Corporate lawyer Jose Laureta once worked on volumes of loan contracts for Canada’s Bank Nova Scotia, which was lending money to a rags-to-riches immigrant taipan. After the signing, the venerable taipan half-jokingly told the Canadian bankers and their battery of high-powered Filipino lawyers that when lending money to self-made Chinese traders educated in the streets of Binondo or Divisoria just like him, they need not worry for their word was their bond. He said they should watch out for young generation executives educated in La Salle, Ateneo or Ivy League like Dewey Dee – even with volumes of legal contracts.
In May 2002, Pat Tillman surprised a lot of people in the US when he gave up a multi-million dollar fortune, fame and the easy life to fight terrorists who masterminded the September 11, 2001 attacks, which killed 3,000 Americans. He put his life on the line for love of his country and for his ideals.
Humble and intellectually brilliant unlike most sports jocks, Pat Tillman could have been the future president of the United States, or the CEO of a Fortune 500 corporation, but he was not motivated by money or power, but by a strong sense of honor. For him power, wealth and fame are empty and meaningless if you lose honor and compromise your ideals.
What was unique about Pat Tillman’s heroism was his humility and sincerity. When he turned down a $3.6 million dollars, three-year deal with the National Football League’s Arizona Cardinals in exchange for $18,000 per year for an uncertain future as a solider, he steadfastly refused the deluge of media interviews and photo requests. Even the prestigious Wall Street Journal had an editorial column commenting on this unique story. The leaders of the US armed forces would have wanted to use his story as a powerful recruiting tool, but he refused all photo-ops and publicity.
Steve Overmyer of CNN said, "Here’s a guy who shied away from the limelight… He didn’t want any cameras around when he decided he was going to join the Army Rangers. He didn’t want to talk with any media (outfit). He didn’t want this to seem like it was some sort of a PR move... And I’ll tell you, a lot of people consider him one of the most honorable men they have met… He was a very good man."
Tillman volunteered to fight terrorists who threatened his country. He fought not for personal glory, not for photo-ops, but due to personal conviction and principle. He joined the US Army Rangers – the most difficult unit – training 20 hours daily in swamps, jungles and mountains, and fighting in daytime temperatures of 105 degrees!
Peggy Noonan, one of the authors of Character Above All on the importance of character on leadership, said, "Maybe he was thinking, ‘Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Maybe it was visceral, not so much thought as felt, and acted upon. We don’t know because he won’t say, at least not in public. Which in itself is unusual. Silence is the refuge of celebrities caught in scandal, not the usual response of those caught red-handed doing good."
The strength of character of Pat Tillman was consistent through the years. In 2001, Tillman turned down a lucrative $9 million, five-year offer sheet from the Super Bowl champion St. Louis Rams that was pirating him, because he wanted to remain loyal to the less prestigious Arizona Cardinals team which could only afford a $3.6 million three-year deal. His agent Frank Bauer described him as a deep and clear thinker who never valued material things.
Can strength of character and mental discipline help a person overcome handicaps and obstacles in life? Pat Tillman was originally deemed too small (5 feet 11) and not too buff (200 lbs) to play college football, but he was able to get a sports scholarship from Arizona State University and established records as the best defensive player of the region.
Unlike most sports jocks that aren’t good in academics, Pat Tillman completed his marketing degree in only three-and-a-half years, taking 16 units per semester instead of the typical 12 units, earning high academic honors with a 3.84 grade-point average. He balked when Sports Illustrated went to his school and tried to photograph him bench-pressing a stack of books. Humble about his high grades, Tillman said, "I’m definitely proud of that. But I don’t think it’s something that needs to be shouted from the rooftops."
An official of Arizona State University, who knew this extraordinary youth well, told the US media, "I’ve been in this business for 25 years. He’s the first person I have ever seen who came to college for four years and the college learned from him."
As a young football athlete, he once ran a marathon and joined a 70-mile triathlon to test himself. In 2000, he set a Cardinals team record with 224 tackles. Despite the instant wealth he got from his NFL career, he led a life of Spartan simplicity. While his fellow football rookies rode around in new BMWs and Land Rovers, he went to practices in his bicycle. He later bought a used Volvo station wagon.
His former college football defensive coordinator coach Phil Snow said of Pat Tillman, "You don’t find guys that have that combination of being as bright and as tough as him. This guy could go live in a foxhole for a year by himself with no food."
NFL coaches and executives told Newsweek that if anybody was going to track down and capture the notorious Al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, this was going to be the guy to do it. The magazine said that the heroic Pat Tillman died trying.
The Chicago Tribune described Pat Tillman as "an inspirational figure with a noble sense of character and life’s greater callings."
A lot of business people and entrepreneurs (like the barbaric hordes of politicians now running in our national elections) love to use macho metaphors on war to motivate people, for sales and profit targets, as well as for defeating competitors – like "crushing the enemy." But how many among these so-called leaders exemplify the strength of character, passion, honor and the remarkable discipline of Patrick Daniel "Pat" Tillman?