At a graduation party the other night, I ran into a friend who is a U.S. Airways pilot and asked him if he’d ever met the Hero of the Hudson, Captain "Sully" Sullenberger. “Of course,” he replied, “I’ve known him for years.” And when I asked if Sully was as special as he seems, my friend said, "Absolutely.  What you see is exactly what you get.”

This last year has been full of challenges we’d rather not have to face again, against a backdrop of widely varying political and economic views. Maybe because of this angst, we were all particularly receptive to the two special people who emerged during that time. One, of course, was Sully, and the other was a different kind of singing sensation, Susan Boyle, whose reprise performance this past weekend continued to amaze.  

What was it about Sully and Susan that captured our imagination and made us smile?  

First, they are ordinary people doing extraordinary things.  They have a passion for what they do.  They have practiced for years to be able to perform during that moment of truth.  They inspire us to be all that we can be.  They represent an energy source rather than an energy drain.  They are heroes, just as are all the men and women in uniform whom we honored on Memorial Day.

Even if we never get the same opportunity to be center-stage in an obvious under-fire situation, we have the power every day to influence those around us, simply by being that energy source, and by knowing our craft, practicing it, and performing on all cylinders every day.

Character, connection, and competence.  Sully and Susan have those traits in spades.  We can learn a lot from both of them.



Posted By: Pam O’Connor