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Reich calls on grads to be leaders
June 13, 2007
In his keynote address, former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich called on PLU graduates to be great leaders in society, to tackle the issues no one else wants to address and empower others.
Reich spoke to the Class of 2007 and their families during the Spring Commencement ceremony on May 27 at the Tacoma Dome. The following is the text of his speech:
President and Mrs. Anderson, students, graduates, members of the faculty and staff, regents, parents, grandparents, friends:
A hundred years ago today, a woman was born who changed America. She did not have any formal authority. She was not an official of any major organization. She wasn't the president of anything. But what she did has changed all of our lives. You may not even remember her name. It was Rachel Carson.
In the early 1960s, Rachel Carson wrote a book called “Silent Spring.” That book alerted America to the danger of pesticides and pollution, and sensitized this country and the rest of the world to the issue of environmental degradation; its effect on public health; its effect on the survival of human beings, as well as others who occupy this planet with us. Rachel Carson's influence helped found the Environmental Protection Agency and the entire environmental movement. Rachel Carson deserves to be remembered on the 100 th anniversary of her birthday as one of America's great leaders of the 20th century.
You do not have to have formal, official authority in order to be a leader in society. Many of you are already leaders in your class or in your community, even though you may lack any formal title conferring leadership upon you. You are leaders because you are doing something that leaders must do. It's something I've tried to do in my life -- although I haven't written a book as profoundly important as Rachel Carson's. (With my books, once you put them down, you can't pick them up.)
Let me explain by reference to someone who changed my life through his leadership. When I was a kid, I was short for my age and I was bullied. There are a lot of kids who are bullied, but I was bullied to the extent that, when I was six or seven, I really didn't want to go to school a lot of days. Then I came under the wing of a fellow who was about three years older than I was. He was in either fifth or the sixth grade at that time I met him. His name was Mickey.
Even at his young age, Mickey had a great positive spirit, and a forceful personality. He was a generous and sensitive young man. But he also had something else about him: Hewas respected by all who knew him. It was Mickey who protected me from the bullies. And because of Mickey's generosity of spirit and maturity, I was allowed to grow -- not necessarily physically, but emotionally, and I gained more confidence.
I didn't hear from Mickey for many years. He was, after all, several years older than I, and he finished high school and went on to college somewhere. Then, the summer after I graduated from high school, I heard news of Mickey. That was the summer of 1964, after the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. Mickey's full name was Michael Schwerner. He had gone to Mississippi with other freedom riders to register blacks to vote. Mickey, along with two other freedom riders, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney, were murdered by people who did not want blacks to vote.
When I heard the news, I was just about heading into college. It affected me very deeply. Perhaps you could say Mickey's death was responsible for giving me a passion for what I was to do with the rest of my life. A passion for social justice, a passion for sticking up for the little guy.
Like Rachel Carson, Mickey Schwerner had no formal authority, but he had enormous influence, during his young years and even after he died. You see, the role of a leader is to help focus the public's attention on certain things that many people may not want to focus their attention on. Within any group, any organization, any community, any society, there are always certain issues that people don't want to address because the problems seem too difficult. The problems reveal or embody a painful gap between social ideals and day-to-day reality. It's understandable that most people don't want to endure the psychological discomfort that comes from cognitive dissonance between ideal and reality. A true leader helps them overcome that discomfort and focus on that gap -- and try to overcome it.
That leader may be an artist or a poet. He or she may be a writer or a journalist. A religious leader or a statesman. Today Rachel Carson would be called an “investigative reporter.” Today Michael Schwerner would be called someone who is a model of generosity and courage. Leaders such as them focus the attention of the public on what the public would rather not think about or see; and in this way gets a society or an organization to roll up its collective sleeves and get on with the business of trying to solve a difficult problem.
In doing so, a leader has to cope with four big obstacles. In psychological terms, these obstacles might be called ‘work-avoidance mechanisms.' What I mean by that fancy term is simply this: Most societies and even organizations use one of four psychological means to avoid the work that needs to be done. They are means of avoiding the pain of discomfort that comes from recognizing the gap between the ideals that a society or organization professes, and reality. The true leader helps people overcome these avoidance mechanisms, and thereby empowers them to do the work of reducing that gap and bringing reality closer to the ideal.
The first avoidance mechanism is denial. Those of us who don't want to do the work of addressing a problem, or endure the pain of recognizing the gap between ideal and reality, find refuge in denying that there is a problem in the first place. A few years ago many people denied that the globe was warming. It is very hard to maintain that view now because the evidence is all too apparent. There are some people who say that inequality of income and wealth are not widening in America, or that homelessness is not a problem or that poverty is not growing. There are some who maintain that we are winning in Iraq. The leader will overcome denial by speaking truth, by summoning evidence, by offering vivid examples, by revealing to people what they don't want to see or to believe.
The second work-avoidance mechanism is escapism. To some extent, all of us have to escape from the societal and global problems that surround us. We could not go on with our daily lives if we did not have some means of psychological escape. Our days would be too difficult and too painful. The problem arises when we use these escapes to shield us so powerfully and permanently that, although we don't deny that a problem exists, we are able to pretend it is irrelevant to our lives and to the lives of those we love. Some of us live in gated communities. Some of us retreat into our iPods. Some of us love a good novel. There's nothing wrong with gated communities, iPods, novels or any other means of escape. But when escapism becomes endemic, a society cannot progress because its citizens can so easily retreat from hard problems rather than try to cope with them. Leaders do not allow people to withdraw completely into their own comfortable cocoons. Leaders summon their attention and their energies to what must be done.
The third work-avoidance mechanism is scapegoating. A society or group may acknowledge that a problem exists; we may even be willing to confront it. But the society or group attributes its cause to a person or people on whom they can cast blame -- whom can be expelled or expunged, and thereby enable the society or group to calm itself and feel that the problem has been resolved. We see this sort of scapegoating all the time. Some blame the stagnant incomes of so many in America today on immigrants. Or they blame the poor. A few years ago it was popular to blame our unsuccessful foreign policies on the French. You hear many blame China for America's trade deficit.
When an organization fails to perform as it should, it is common for the organization to look for a scapegoat or ‘fall guy' on whom to blame the problem. Michael Brown may not have been the most competent person ever to run the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but our nation's failure to respond quickly and comprehensively to Hurricane Katrina was not solely his fault. A true leader will help a public or a group overcome their tendency to scapegoat, and lead them to understand that the problem may lie within the very structure of society or the organization; that responsibility is widely shared; and the underlying problem needs to be fixed.
The fourth work-avoidance mechanism is often the most insidious of all. It's called ‘cynicism.' The cynic may acknowledge that a problem exists, be willing to confront rather than escape from it, and understand its underlying causes rather than engage in scapegoating. But the cynic may nonetheless avoid the work of solving the problem by saying to himself or herself that nothing can be done. The cynic's response to a societal problem, an organization or group in trouble, a community in distress, or sometimes even a friend in need, is to throw up his or her hands and say, “Nothing will ever change, no matter what I do. So why should I invest my time and energy?” Poverty will always be with us, says the cynic, so why try to do anything about it? Politics is inevitably corrupt, says the cynic, so why have anything to do with it? The true leader helps people overcome cynicism. The true leader engineers and celebrates small victories and helps that show that the cynics are wrong. The leader helps people overcome their conviction that nothing can work by showing them examples of things that work, and then pulling them in to making things work.
A few minutes ago, Jenn talked with us about the importance of asking the right questions, asking big questions. And Jessica spoke about the importance of listening. Leadership is certainly part about asking questions and listening very carefully. It is also about giving people a sense of empowerment and hope, enabling people to see that problems can indeed be solved, and spreading optimism rather than cynicism. Even a leader without formal authority, a leader like Rachel Carson or my friend, Mickey Schwerner, can change the world. I have known leaders who did not have formal authority. I have also known people with formal authority who did not exercise leadership.
So I say to you, graduates of the great class of 2007 of the great PLU: Go forth and be leaders. Have not just careers and professions but find your callings and your vocations in leadership. Make the world a better place than you found it by empowering others. May your lives be filled with passion. May your work be filled with meaning. Thank you.
Robert B. Reich
About Reich:
The former U.S. secretary of labor, Robert Reich served in three national administrations, most recently under former President Bill Clinton. He is currently a professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. An accomplished author and scholar, Reich also spoke at PLU in May 2006 at the dedication of the Morken Center for Learning and Technology.
President and Mrs. Anderson, students, graduates, members of the faculty and staff, regents, parents, grandparents, friends:
A hundred years ago today, a woman was born who changed America. She did not have any formal authority. She was not an official of any major organization. She wasn't the president of anything. But what she did has changed all of our lives. You may not even remember her name. It was Rachel Carson.
In the early 1960s, Rachel Carson wrote a book called “Silent Spring.” That book alerted America to the danger of pesticides and pollution, and sensitized this country and the rest of the world to the issue of environmental degradation; its effect on public health; its effect on the survival of human beings, as well as others who occupy this planet with us. Rachel Carson's influence helped found the Environmental Protection Agency and the entire environmental movement. Rachel Carson deserves to be remembered on the 100 th anniversary of her birthday as one of America's great leaders of the 20th century.
You do not have to have formal, official authority in order to be a leader in society. Many of you are already leaders in your class or in your community, even though you may lack any formal title conferring leadership upon you. You are leaders because you are doing something that leaders must do. It's something I've tried to do in my life -- although I haven't written a book as profoundly important as Rachel Carson's. (With my books, once you put them down, you can't pick them up.)
Let me explain by reference to someone who changed my life through his leadership. When I was a kid, I was short for my age and I was bullied. There are a lot of kids who are bullied, but I was bullied to the extent that, when I was six or seven, I really didn't want to go to school a lot of days. Then I came under the wing of a fellow who was about three years older than I was. He was in either fifth or the sixth grade at that time I met him. His name was Mickey.
Even at his young age, Mickey had a great positive spirit, and a forceful personality. He was a generous and sensitive young man. But he also had something else about him: Hewas respected by all who knew him. It was Mickey who protected me from the bullies. And because of Mickey's generosity of spirit and maturity, I was allowed to grow -- not necessarily physically, but emotionally, and I gained more confidence.
I didn't hear from Mickey for many years. He was, after all, several years older than I, and he finished high school and went on to college somewhere. Then, the summer after I graduated from high school, I heard news of Mickey. That was the summer of 1964, after the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. Mickey's full name was Michael Schwerner. He had gone to Mississippi with other freedom riders to register blacks to vote. Mickey, along with two other freedom riders, Andrew Goodman and James Chaney, were murdered by people who did not want blacks to vote.
When I heard the news, I was just about heading into college. It affected me very deeply. Perhaps you could say Mickey's death was responsible for giving me a passion for what I was to do with the rest of my life. A passion for social justice, a passion for sticking up for the little guy.
Like Rachel Carson, Mickey Schwerner had no formal authority, but he had enormous influence, during his young years and even after he died. You see, the role of a leader is to help focus the public's attention on certain things that many people may not want to focus their attention on. Within any group, any organization, any community, any society, there are always certain issues that people don't want to address because the problems seem too difficult. The problems reveal or embody a painful gap between social ideals and day-to-day reality. It's understandable that most people don't want to endure the psychological discomfort that comes from cognitive dissonance between ideal and reality. A true leader helps them overcome that discomfort and focus on that gap -- and try to overcome it.
That leader may be an artist or a poet. He or she may be a writer or a journalist. A religious leader or a statesman. Today Rachel Carson would be called an “investigative reporter.” Today Michael Schwerner would be called someone who is a model of generosity and courage. Leaders such as them focus the attention of the public on what the public would rather not think about or see; and in this way gets a society or an organization to roll up its collective sleeves and get on with the business of trying to solve a difficult problem.
In doing so, a leader has to cope with four big obstacles. In psychological terms, these obstacles might be called ‘work-avoidance mechanisms.' What I mean by that fancy term is simply this: Most societies and even organizations use one of four psychological means to avoid the work that needs to be done. They are means of avoiding the pain of discomfort that comes from recognizing the gap between the ideals that a society or organization professes, and reality. The true leader helps people overcome these avoidance mechanisms, and thereby empowers them to do the work of reducing that gap and bringing reality closer to the ideal.
The first avoidance mechanism is denial. Those of us who don't want to do the work of addressing a problem, or endure the pain of recognizing the gap between ideal and reality, find refuge in denying that there is a problem in the first place. A few years ago many people denied that the globe was warming. It is very hard to maintain that view now because the evidence is all too apparent. There are some people who say that inequality of income and wealth are not widening in America, or that homelessness is not a problem or that poverty is not growing. There are some who maintain that we are winning in Iraq. The leader will overcome denial by speaking truth, by summoning evidence, by offering vivid examples, by revealing to people what they don't want to see or to believe.
The second work-avoidance mechanism is escapism. To some extent, all of us have to escape from the societal and global problems that surround us. We could not go on with our daily lives if we did not have some means of psychological escape. Our days would be too difficult and too painful. The problem arises when we use these escapes to shield us so powerfully and permanently that, although we don't deny that a problem exists, we are able to pretend it is irrelevant to our lives and to the lives of those we love. Some of us live in gated communities. Some of us retreat into our iPods. Some of us love a good novel. There's nothing wrong with gated communities, iPods, novels or any other means of escape. But when escapism becomes endemic, a society cannot progress because its citizens can so easily retreat from hard problems rather than try to cope with them. Leaders do not allow people to withdraw completely into their own comfortable cocoons. Leaders summon their attention and their energies to what must be done.
The third work-avoidance mechanism is scapegoating. A society or group may acknowledge that a problem exists; we may even be willing to confront it. But the society or group attributes its cause to a person or people on whom they can cast blame -- whom can be expelled or expunged, and thereby enable the society or group to calm itself and feel that the problem has been resolved. We see this sort of scapegoating all the time. Some blame the stagnant incomes of so many in America today on immigrants. Or they blame the poor. A few years ago it was popular to blame our unsuccessful foreign policies on the French. You hear many blame China for America's trade deficit.
When an organization fails to perform as it should, it is common for the organization to look for a scapegoat or ‘fall guy' on whom to blame the problem. Michael Brown may not have been the most competent person ever to run the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but our nation's failure to respond quickly and comprehensively to Hurricane Katrina was not solely his fault. A true leader will help a public or a group overcome their tendency to scapegoat, and lead them to understand that the problem may lie within the very structure of society or the organization; that responsibility is widely shared; and the underlying problem needs to be fixed.
The fourth work-avoidance mechanism is often the most insidious of all. It's called ‘cynicism.' The cynic may acknowledge that a problem exists, be willing to confront rather than escape from it, and understand its underlying causes rather than engage in scapegoating. But the cynic may nonetheless avoid the work of solving the problem by saying to himself or herself that nothing can be done. The cynic's response to a societal problem, an organization or group in trouble, a community in distress, or sometimes even a friend in need, is to throw up his or her hands and say, “Nothing will ever change, no matter what I do. So why should I invest my time and energy?” Poverty will always be with us, says the cynic, so why try to do anything about it? Politics is inevitably corrupt, says the cynic, so why have anything to do with it? The true leader helps people overcome cynicism. The true leader engineers and celebrates small victories and helps that show that the cynics are wrong. The leader helps people overcome their conviction that nothing can work by showing them examples of things that work, and then pulling them in to making things work.
A few minutes ago, Jenn talked with us about the importance of asking the right questions, asking big questions. And Jessica spoke about the importance of listening. Leadership is certainly part about asking questions and listening very carefully. It is also about giving people a sense of empowerment and hope, enabling people to see that problems can indeed be solved, and spreading optimism rather than cynicism. Even a leader without formal authority, a leader like Rachel Carson or my friend, Mickey Schwerner, can change the world. I have known leaders who did not have formal authority. I have also known people with formal authority who did not exercise leadership.
So I say to you, graduates of the great class of 2007 of the great PLU: Go forth and be leaders. Have not just careers and professions but find your callings and your vocations in leadership. Make the world a better place than you found it by empowering others. May your lives be filled with passion. May your work be filled with meaning. Thank you.
Robert B. Reich
About Reich:
The former U.S. secretary of labor, Robert Reich served in three national administrations, most recently under former President Bill Clinton. He is currently a professor of public policy at the University of California at Berkeley. An accomplished author and scholar, Reich also spoke at PLU in May 2006 at the dedication of the Morken Center for Learning and Technology.