How does one achieve professional greatness? If we look to history to see who is deemed “a great person,” it’s clear that those who earned that title were those who did significant things that made the world a better place. They created, invented, built, orchestrated and discovered. And, they didn’t just do something impactful. They did something impactful for the greater good. Clara Barton started the Red Cross. The Wright brothers invented a machine that could allow people to fly. Dr. Jonas Salk developed the first successful Polio vaccine that saved millions of lives. Thomas Edison invented not only the phonograph, but also a commercially-viable incandescent lightbulb — that was both long-lasting and highly efficient by not drawing too much energy to operate – which led to electricity in homes globally. These were great individuals and the measure of their greatness is found in their achievements. But those achievements – as with most achievements — were preceded by a multitude of mistakes, errors, miscalculations and failures.
In fact, failure is the essential key to success and has been used by virtually every person ever thought of as a “Great Man” or “Great Woman.” That’ because the true measure of greatness is achievement… and achievements don’t generally happen without trial and error. Achievements come at a price. The price is hard work, many failures and setbacks, and the drive to keep going even in the face of adversity.
People who have earned the label of “Great” have not been paralyzed by the obstacles life threw in their way. They tend to look at setbacks and failures as learning opportunities to do better. Thomas Edison, for example, once said that “I have not failed 10,000 times. I have not failed once. I have succeeded in proving that those 10,000 ways will not work. When I have eliminated the ways that will not work, I will find the way that will work.” He focused his energy more on the things and situations within his control. And he was committed to the goals he set for himself and the pursuit of his dreams. He achieved in spite of adversity. Truth be told, many of the greatest people have not only overcome adversity but actually used it as fuel for their achievements.
Case in point. U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt can be considered a great man, known for his political achievements. Besides being the first and only U.S. President to be elected four times, Roosevelt pulled the U.S. out of the Great Depression, led the country through the attack on Pearl Harbor, supported the development of the U.S.’s atomic weapons program, and provided the military support that helped defeat of the Axis powers in World War II. He was, arguably, one of the best U.S. Presidents ever.
But some may think Roosevelt had it easy. After all, Franklin Roosevelt was the fifth cousin of respected U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt. And Franklin Roosevelt’s wife, Eleanor, was Teddy Roosevelt’s niece. So Franklin Roosevelt came from political royalty, and it was no surprise that he was accepted into Harvard University and then later Columbia University Law School. Afterward he practiced law with a leading New York City law firm. It was a charmed life. In fact, thanks to his background and connections, when Roosevelt ran for his first political seat in the New York state senate in 1910, he won and served from 1911 until 1913. Then, from 1913 to 1921, Roosevelt was assistant to Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels. By 1920, at the age of 38, Roosevelt had won the Democratic nomination for Vice President on a ticket with presidential nominee James M. Cox.
Until that point, Roosevelt had not really faced any trials. But his life was about to change. First, Democrats lost in a landslide to the Republican ticket. Then, in 1921, Roosevelt was stricken with polio. He suffered intensely, and for some time he was almost completely paralyzed. He was so sick that he was unable to continue his political career and was urged by his family to retire, which he could have done considering his family’s great wealth. But Eleanor thought he should continue in government and made political appearances on his behalf to keep his name alive in Democratic circles for years. Eventually, he decided to run for Governor of New York. He traveled by automobile around the state, demonstrating that his illness had not destroyed his youthful resilience and vitality. He also showed voters that he had matured into a more serious person, with a keen appreciation for life’s hardships. On Election Day, Roosevelt was elected governor of New York, winning by 25,000 votes even as the state went Republican in the presidential election that year.
When the Great Depression began – with unemployment soaring and Hoovervilles popping up all over the nation – Roosevelt decided to run for President. He won despite the fact that he could not walk and could barely stand without assistance. He went on to implement a series of New Deal programs that eventually helped the country crawl out of the economic depression. But there was something else Roosevelt did — for which he got little recognition — that had an amazing impact globally.
In 1938, five years after entering the White House, Roosevelt helped to create the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, later renamed the March of Dimes Foundation. Its focus was to find a cure for Polio. At the time, Polio was the most feared disease of the 20th century. At its peak in the 1940s and 1950s, Polio would paralyze or kill over half a million people worldwide every year. It inspired such fear because it struck without warning and researchers were unsure of how it spread from person to person. In those years, polls found the only thing Americans feared more than Polio was nuclear war.
Employing “poster children” and enlisting the star power of celebrities, the March of Dimes — run by Roosevelt’s former Wall Street law partner, Basil O’Connor — raised over $20 million per year. This became the primary funding source for Dr. Jonas Salk’s Polio vaccine trials. This was among the largest and most publicized clinical trials ever undertaken. Across the U.S., 623 972 schoolchildren were injected with vaccine or placebo, and more than a million others participated as “observed” controls. The results, announced in 1955, showed good statistical evidence that Jonas Salk’s vaccine was 80-90% effective in preventing Polio. While it was Dr. Salk’s work that produced the vaccine, it was Roosevelt’s personal experience with Polio and his personal desire to find a cure that led to his forming the March of Dimes. And it was the March of Dimes that provided the funding instrumental in the development of Salk’s vaccine. So while Roosevelt did a great deal to heal the nation and help end World War II, it was his support for this cause which had a long-lasting impact on the world. And it was the adversity he faced and overcame which fueled his actions and produced a great achievement.
Author James Tobin, a former Detroit News reporter, wrote a psychologically acute account of how Roosevelt’s struggles to overcome his adversity forged a new, stronger, deeper person. His long and exhausting struggles — to literally learn how to stand and walk again — spurred him to pursue public office so that he could help find solutions to the nation’s problems.
In As You Like It, William Shakespeare wrote: “Sweet are the uses of adversity, which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head.” Roosevelt internalized his long struggle to cope with the terrible effects of Polio by realizing there were countless others who needed help. Enduring Polio ultimately resulted in a profound character change in Roosevelt that made him into the warm, popular figure known to millions. FDR became president less in spite of Polio than because of Polio — and how he was shaped by the disease.
Most “Great People” have endured setbacks and disappointments. They suffered and they failed… and they also got up again and didn’t throw in the proverbial towel. They didn’t call it quits or head for the ropes. They had goals and they pressed on even when they failed. Failures made them better. Failure not only improved their lives. It opened the door to achievements that improved the lives of many. It allowed them to reach new understandings and epiphanies on science, medicine, business, engineering, technology and so much more. And it was those achievements that earned them the label of “great.” So for those who aim to be great, focus on doing things that make the world a better place, even if it is hard. Those achievements are the surest measure of and path to greatness. And, as U.S. Track and Field Gold Medalist Wilma Rudolph once said, “Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. We are all the same in this notion: The potential for greatness lives within each of us.”
Quote of the Week
“Whoever renders service to many puts himself in line for greatness–great wealth, great return, great satisfaction, great reputation, and great joy.” Jim Rohn
© 2022, Keren Peters-Atkinson. All rights reserved.
