How humility saved the day after Pearl Harbor – Honoring the greatest generation 80 years later

Imagine for a second that 80 years ago today (December 7, 1941) that the leaders and the citizens of the United States reacted differently to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Imagine that our collective mindset was one of arrogance, over-confidence and selfishness. What if we thought that the Japanese Imperial Navy was just lucky and completely inferior? Imagine that we felt the same way about the German war machine.

I shutter to go down that road. In the bloodiest, most ferocious conflict of all time, good triumphed over evil. And, it all started with #humility.

For the better part of my life, I have been fascinated by the response of the “greatest generation.” I bought Tom Brokaw's tribute to these men & women, read (and watched) Band of Brothers, sat through almost every documentary produced on the subject and even interviewed some of the brave men and women who made victory possible. The patterns that emerged were clear.

Modesty was pervasive throughout our society. War heroes seldom spoke about their experiences. They were more concerned with honoring their fallen brothers in arms than trying to prove how courageous they were in fighting the war. When running for President in 1988, George H.W. Bush had every opportunity to play up his heroism. Instead, he rarely discussed his exploits and often responded with his mother’s words of “Don’t brag.” When he was interviewed for Brokaw’s book, he asserted that he was not owed anything and said, “Serving in World War II, I was a tiny part of something noble.”

There was also a sense of selflessness in our culture. People donated pots and pans for aluminum, bought war bonds and even lied about age and physical issues to join the military. Shortly after the attack on the Hawaiian islands, Victory Gardens began to pop up across the nation. Some estimates suggest that around 20 million Americans put seeds in the ground and the backyard gardens came close to equaling the commercial output of vegetables at the time!

We were accurate of our assessment of the situation and our capabilities. The United States military was not ready to fight in 1941. The Japanese and German armies were greater in number, had more advanced tactics and were flying and driving equipment that put ours to shame. Our ability to make that assessment led to the production of more tanks, planes, guns and Jeeps than we ever thought possible. Leaders like George Marshall, Richard Winters and Omar Bradley knew their limitations and promoted talent to fill in their own holes, just as the government called upon automakers and other manufacturers to shift their production to assist the military efforts.

Prior to June 6, 1945, Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe, Dwight D. Eisenhower consulted with his top generals and aides in preparation for the invasion of Europe on the Normandy coast of France. The planning was meticulous, and Eisenhower continuously listened to his team. He allowed them to influence him so that the best decisions could be made. His now-famous letter of encouragement to the soldiers at the time was followed by a lesser-known, four-sentence letter of resignation that he tucked in his pocket in the event of failure. It ended with, “If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.”

As I conducted research on Re-Thinking Humility – Getting Back To An Essential Ingredient Of Great Leadership, it occurred to me that equating “humility” with “modesty” was not telling the whole story. The late Chris Peterson suggested a richer, more nuanced definition of this character strength that included modesty, putting others first, being accurate in assessing one’s abilities and being open to influence by others. And, as we honor a generation of men and women who saved our planet from tyranny, it might be helpful to pause and consider the role of humility as we tackle climate change, a changing workplace, a tricky virus and other existential crises.

Most importantly, perhaps, we may want to remember how humility brought us together. It is certainly not the cure-all for our ailments, today. It is, however, probably safe to say that we need to move away from the selfishness, arrogance, bragging and close-mindedness that seems so pervasive in many leaders and much of our society. And, maybe, I’m wrong…