THE TRUTH ABOUT HEROES

Over the next weeks I will write blog posts about heroes, their traits, their characteristics, their journeys and how we can adapt some of their main characteristics for our own personal and professional life.

Heroes. We love them. We worship them. We thank god that there are heroes, because often our freedoms are dependent upon these few. Heroes changed the course of history.

We admire heroes` bravery and dedication; we aspire to be as courageous and focused as they are to achieve what they set out to do.

But who are heroes really and what exactly makes them heroic?

ORIGINS — the first hero was a heroine

Historically the English word hero is derived from the Greek word hērōs, which literally means protector or defender. A lot of people may associate a hero with a strong male character but in fact the first and original hero in Greek mythology was a woman named, well, Hero.

Hero was a priestess serving the goddess of love herself: Aphrodite. Hero was the protagonist of a tragic, forbidden love story a là ‘Rome and Juliet: Hero had a secret lover, Leander, who swam every night from Asia to Europe to be in her arms, guided only by a little lamp Hero would put up on a tower every night. Eventually Leander was caught in a storm on his way and died; and so did our original Hero who drowned herself out of grief for her dead lover.

This Greek myth represents one of the main and most important character trait heroes stand for: they don’t hesitate to give their own life for a higher ideal.

A hero is someone who gives her or his life to something bigger than oneself.

WHAT ARE HEROS NOT

To understand what heroes are it is important to end some misconceptions and look at what heroes do not stand for.

There is a widespread misunderstanding about heroes: many people think that heroes are super-humans with super strengths who are perfect and free of any flaws.

That is complete and utterly wrong. Often it is the complete opposite. Like all of us, heroes do have flaws and weaknesses.

To illustrate this point, just think about the pinnacle of fictional heroes: super heroes.

Take Superman himself. This poor guy has a life-long identity crisis, he is not over the separation of his parents yet and also is, let´s say, not exactly confident when around women. Or Spiderman. Similar story. He is extremely shy and uneasy around women. He´s socially awkward and has a rather troubled relationship with his uncle and auntie.

Last but not least: Batman. He is probably the most flawed of all of them. He is depressive and suffers from a severe post-traumatic stress syndrome. Loving relationships? Forget it. The only one he really opens up to is his butler Alfred who serves as his therapist at the same time.

Need more examples? Take one of the archetypal hero figures of the 20th century: Indiana Jones. He is troubled by any form of emotional closeness and doesn´t seem to be able to sustain any human relationships…especially not the one to his own father.

Take a classic movie hero like the Humphrey Bogart character Rick in Casablanca. He is a textbook example of a flawed and troubled character. He is a drinker and a smoker, bitter and cynical and resents any sort of sympathy or loyalty. It takes Ingrid Bergman to bring out the hero in him and at the end he is ready to sacrifice the big love of his life for the higher good.

Why are heroes portrayed like that? Because we as spectators like people who have flaws and even more so when they admit to their flaws. That makes them human and more relatable. We like people who try to do the right thing even if it means that they fail. If heroes didn´t have flaws and fears, we couldn´t identify with them. Heroes are incomplete like all of us. But as we will see, they do go on a journey and grow.

Think of the opposite; think of characters who are seemingly perfect. Like Chuck Norris. Or Telenovela characters. Or the boss of the local McDonalds branch who plays super-important. We mock characters like that. We might find them funny in their own right but they definitely don’t serve as role models.

What about fear?! You would think that heroes are rather fearless as they embark on this big and dangerous adventures!? Again, the answer is a big No. Heroes have fears like all of us and thus are often rather reluctant to do the right thing and go on their heroic journey.

Think of Luke Skywalker in the beginning of Star Wars. Was he overly enthusiastic to go onto his interstellar adventure? No, he was scared, he hesitated. He would have at first rather staid in the cosy home of his foster parents. Think of a classic heroine like Jodie Foster in Silence of the lambs. Is she happily walking down the basement to chat with a lunatic cannibal? Of course not. She is so scared that she cannot sleep at night anymore and dives right into an existential crisis.

WHAT ARE HEROES

BUT: as opposed to many of us, heroes overcome their fears and do what they think is the right thing to do. And do not regret. They rather try and fail than not having tried. Failing is part of the game. All heroes fail big at some point on their journey.

COURAGE. Heroes show us that anything is possible; they often demonstrate an extraordinary courage that is rarely found. A person who rushes into a burning building to save another person does not only possesses the ability to overcome fear but is also extraordinarily brave.

POSITIVITY. Researchers suggest that heroes are positive thinkers by nature, which gives them the ability to look past the immediate danger and see a more optimistic outcome. They also have a higher tolerance for risk.

PROACTIVITY. If anything, heroes are active; they are doers. They have their conviction and act upon it; even if it means risking their social status or even their own lives. They show this unique kind of nobleness to serve others at a cost to themselves. That is truly heroic.

HUMBLENESS. Often heroes do not understand why they are being dignified because they only do what they believe is the right thing to do. They did not think before their heroic acts, “well, if I do this, I will be elevated to a hero and worshipped forever”. They simply do what they have to.

GOODNESS. And most importantly: Heroes value the higher good more than their own individual goals.

AND IN BUSINESS?

Bridging it to the business world, it first should be noted that being a hero isn’t about success or achievement. It’s more about the positive effect that the heroes’ deeds have on the rest of us, on their business and even on society as a whole.

Heroes are not only role models who inspire us to achieve the highest we can; they do more than that. Success is not the most important thing for heroes.

To be a hero, pursue your goal ethically, as an expression of your highest values. If heroes ever have to decide between success and integrity, they choose integrity. Success is short-term pleasure, integrity is long-term happiness.

There are enough successful people on this planet. Our world could do with some more heroes.

Think about it; if there had been more heroic business people, Enron, the credit crunch or the Shell oil spill might have never happened. Those events were ultimately triggered by pure egoism and greed; the opposite of what heroes stand for. And a lot of people stood by but did not step in. There were no heroes who intervened.

CHANGING THE BELL CURVE

One key take-away is, especially in these turbulent days is that heroes are people who possess the courage and right moral compass to resist social pressures that promote immorality.

The famous psychologist Zimbardo (remember the infamous Stanford prison experiment of the 1970s?) argues that the “the opposite of a hero is not a villain but a bystander”. Somebody who could have stepped in, but didn’t,

According to research, on the bell curve of humanity, villains and heroes are the outliers; few people do evil and even fewer act heroically. The big middle part of the bell curve of humanity represents the vast majority of the population who are technically neither heroes nor villains; Zimbardo calls them “reluctant heroes”. They often refuse the call to adventure and by not stepping in might even support evil activities to grow and expand.

Imagine we could move the bell curve just a tiny little bit to the ‘good side’. Imagine we could get more people into action and inspire them to be heroes.

No-one is born good or bad. We are all capable of doing anything. Given the right compassion, toolkit and circumstances we are all capable of doing heroic deeds.

We are all part of humanity and society and as Zimbardo says ‘Heroes circulate the life force of goodness in our veins. `

It gets time to take action against evil; we need more heroes.

Be one.