Here is one of my favorite stories about Ronald Reagan.  I am not impressed as much by a person’s achievements as I am a person’s life.  Jesus said it best, “What good is it to gain the whole world, but lose your own soul.”  Ronald Reagan was not merely a great politician, but also a great man.   If you asked Mr. Reagan he would tell you he wasn’t a great man, but just dealt with great ideas.  I believe he was a great man because he associated with great ideas - but never forgot he was just a person with faults and foibles like the rest of us.  It is very rare to see someone who can achieve great results and still maintain personal humility.  This is something I believe Reagan exemplified in his life.  Reagan loved people in the particular as well as in the mass.  So many would be leaders love the masses as long as they don’t have to know and serve them personally.   The “people” becomes a slogan to use and the leader forgets they are flesh and blood with hopes and dreams.  The great leaders know they are called to serve people in the particular as well as the general.  In fact, only when we serve people personally are we qualified to serve them generally.  Here is the story from Dick Wirthlin’s excellent book - The Great Communicator - that will tie this all together:

On February 23, 1984, I walked into the Oval Office and found the president standing beside his desk holding what appeared to be a photograph. 

            “Mr. President, what’s that you’ve got there?” I asked.

            “Well, Dick, I just got off the phone with this young man.” 

As the president turned the photograph around for me to view, I winced at the haunting image staring me in the face.  It was the picture of a twelve-year-old boy who had been severely burned while attempting to rescue his two younger brothers when their family’s trailer caught fire.  The first brother he found easily, and simply passed through the window.  Saving the second brother, however, proved much more difficult.  While frantically searching through the flaming trailer, the young man sustained severe burns before carrying his sibling to safety.  As a result, the president explained, the boy’s face and body had been seriously scarred and disfigured. 

            “I called this little fella to see how he was doing and to tell him how proud I was of his heroism,” Reagan said.

            Still shaken by the image, I struggled to get something out.  “I’m sure he appreciated your call, Mr. President.”

            As he looked back down at the little boy’s visage, a smile spread slowly across the president’s face.  “Dick, at the end of our conversation the youngster said, ‘President Reagan, I sure wish I would have had my tape recorder on so I could remember our call together.’  So I said, ‘Well, son, turn it on and let’s chat some more.’”

Now that is character in motion, which is another name for leadership!  The president of the United States takes the time to encourage a young boy’s heroic actions.   Never forget the tasks are secondary to the relationships.   As leaders, we many times get so focused on getting something done, that we forget to build those around us.  In fact, I would say this is the number one task of the leader is to build those around them.  Ronald Reagan knew and practiced this principle.    A principle for every leader to remember is, “Never be too big for the little person, because we are all little people!”  I believe Ronald Reagan’s prayer life kept him humble as he approached an Almighty God.  It is hard to think of yourself as too big when you face the Infinite.   Look at your life.  Are you taking the time to nurture relationships and encourage the discouraged?   Are you always too busy to point out other people’s gifts?  Worse yet, are you too self-occupied to even notice their gifts?  If the President found time to recognize heroic actions and encourage a young boy (and non-voter) then how much time can we find to do the same?   Another point to ponder.  God Bless, Orrin Woodward