What would you do? You’re a cop. You pull over a speeding vehicle down a busy street. You approach the driver and realize your speeder is Ulysses S. Grant -the sitting President of the United States. All alone. No Secret Service. No political aides. No newspaper reporters.
The Officer did his duty. He impounded Grant’s horse and buggy and forced the President of the United States to walk four blocks home to The White House.
President Grant didn’t try to pull rank on the young officer, even though Grant enjoyed celebrity status as a Civil War Hero who accepted General Robert E. Lee’s surrender less than a decade earlier.
And the officer didn’t question his own authority to enforce the law against the President, no matter how much more comforting and face-saving for both of them.
Both the President and the Officer acted Honorably.
They didn’t just obey the law. They honored it.
They respected it. They revered it. They paid homage to it.
ON THEIR HONOR, the President and the Officer preserved the notion that no man is above the law. They honored each other’s professional duty and personal principles. They validated each other’s rights and responsibilities.
ON THEIR HONOR, some leaders even brand themselves with their allegiance to honor. They wear an Honor Ring as a constant reminder and driver of their leadership premise, promise and purpose. For 50 years, General Sam Houston wore his Honor Ring – a gold ring inscribed with the word “Honor. In doing the honors, General Houston fought for what he believed in, for what he lived for, for what he would die for -his honor.
It’s titled: LOVING Like a Leader with Empathy- one of three books in The Leadership Mints Series designed to help leaders refresh their feeling for leading. And as a bonus, the postscript titled- BUSINESS: A HUMAN EXPERIENCE — shares the impetus for this book on empathy impacting the bottom line.The two other books in The Leadership Mints Series -now available on Amazon.com — include THINKING Like a Leader with Clarity and SPEAKING Like a Leader with Civility.
The 3-books
in The Leadership Mints Series
available on Amazon.com
in print and e-book
