by Dr. Cecil Clements (30th October 2012)
Aditi was a first year student at Harvard Business School and she wasn’t looking forward to this particular lecture. As she sat in the classroom, heard the speaker being introduced, she struggled to maintain her composure. It was one of the most difficult lectures that she ever had to listen to or be a part of. The reason was this: the speaker was a man called Preet Bharara. He was the man who had prosecuted Rajat Gupta. The whole problem for Aditi was that Rajat Gupta was her father.
Most of you will have heard of the name Rajat Gupta by now. It’s a sad story. The former head of consultancy major, McKinsey and Company, was caught for insider trading. As a director on the board of Goldman Sachs, he was privy to information that Warren Buffet was set to pump in $5 billion into the investment bank before the news became public. But instead of keeping this information confidential, he leaked it to his good friend, the Sri Lankan born Rajaratnam, who promptly bought shares in the bank that he later sold at a huge profit.
The interesting thing in reading the different accounts of this whole episode of Rajat Gupta, is the number of people who have almost come out in support of him, asking for lenient sentencing by the judge; people like Rahul Bajaj, Bill Gates, Kofi Annan, Harsha Goenka, all of them asked for leniency. Behind all of this is the fact that he is a good man who has done incredible things for family and friends and the community around. In fact, the judge, Jed Rakoff, acknowledged this by saying, “The court can say without exaggeration, that it has never encountered a defendant whose prior history suggests such an extraordinary devotion, not only to humanity writ large, but also to individual human beings in their times of need.
What a statement! Then he goes on to say, “He’s a good man, but the history of this country and of the world is full of examples of good men who did bad things.”
The sad part is that not only what he did affected his immediate family, but affected so many people – his brothers, sisters, wife, 4 daughters. He himself says, “I mentored many young people and many more view me as a role model. I feel terrible. They’ve been burdened with totally undeserved negative attention. I apologize to them.”
What a sad end! It’s a real tragedy. If we look for a word that describes what happened, it would be ‘tragic’. The dictionary defines tragedy as a form of drama that depicts the suffering of a heroic individual who’s often overcome by the very obstacles he is struggling to remove.
The German philosopher Hegel said, “One is caught in a collision of equally justified ethical aims.” A piece of literary art where the hero has a tragic flaw. Just one tragic flaw is enough to bring a person down, is enough to bring any of us down.
I remember speaking at an event many years ago. There was a service officer there that was doing very well and had the potential to really come up. I was talking about character, principles and integrity and having a good moral base. I was walking back after the talk and he fell in step with me and said, “I agree with everything that you said. But I know myself. If I get that one chance to cut a corner and get ahead, I know I will take it.” I felt so sad. I looked at him. He didn’t need to do it. But he didn’t have any kind of mooring to hold onto. You have to have principles in life or you’ll fall for the circumstances.
I remember hearing about a man who walked into a hotel, saw a lady seated at a table. He walked over to her and said, “Lady, I’ll give you $100,000 if you’ll spend the night with me.” She looked at him, thought about it for a minute and then said, “Okay”. He then said, “I’ve changed my mind. I’ll only give you $100.” She got up and slapped him saying, “Who do you think I am? A whore?” He looked back at her and said, “Lady, who you are has already been established. What is left to negotiate is only the price.” You see, she didn’t have a principle in place.
I have a good friend whose father was a customs officer. He would tell me how they would visit all her father’s friends and see the wonderful things that were in their houses and they didn’t have any of that in their home. Her father stood for honesty and integrity all through his life. Today, you look at that family and you see the blessing that has come because of his honesty, his integrity and the principles that he lived by. Three children, married, doing well, serving the community; because he modeled character and integrity, they now do the same. Today, his gait, his stance is as upright as his integrity has been all through his life. He lived and continues to live by good moral and ethical principles.
Abraham Lincoln said, “Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
How sad it would be if at the end of our lives, there is regret – to wish that we had not done something. Because everything that we have done in life has been brought to naught because of that one tragic flaw that we didn’t take into account and overcome.
Michael Josephson says, “There are six pillars that are necessary in character.
Our Holy Book says, “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches and favor is better than silver and gold.” (Proverbs 22:1)
Friends, that is my prayer, not only for you, but for me as well, that we are able to see our areas of weakness and then say, “Almighty God, will you help that I never fall in this area, that I never have a regret later on?”
Let me pray for you. Almighty God. On all of us on this call, we pray that you would give us wisdom to be able to see those weaknesses in our lives and to be able to overcome them; not to fall; to build good character; to allow You to shape and mold us with good godly values. That we at the end of our lives know that we have lived lives of significance that have blessed people rather than turned people away from us. I pray that as a blessing on each one of us, Lord Jesus in Your name I pray. Amen.
Aditi was a first year student at Harvard Business School and she wasn’t looking forward to this particular lecture. As she sat in the classroom, heard the speaker being introduced, she struggled to maintain her composure. It was one of the most difficult lectures that she ever had to listen to or be a part of. The reason was this: the speaker was a man called Preet Bharara. He was the man who had prosecuted Rajat Gupta. The whole problem for Aditi was that Rajat Gupta was her father.
Most of you will have heard of the name Rajat Gupta by now. It’s a sad story. The former head of consultancy major, McKinsey and Company, was caught for insider trading. As a director on the board of Goldman Sachs, he was privy to information that Warren Buffet was set to pump in $5 billion into the investment bank before the news became public. But instead of keeping this information confidential, he leaked it to his good friend, the Sri Lankan born Rajaratnam, who promptly bought shares in the bank that he later sold at a huge profit.
The interesting thing in reading the different accounts of this whole episode of Rajat Gupta, is the number of people who have almost come out in support of him, asking for lenient sentencing by the judge; people like Rahul Bajaj, Bill Gates, Kofi Annan, Harsha Goenka, all of them asked for leniency. Behind all of this is the fact that he is a good man who has done incredible things for family and friends and the community around. In fact, the judge, Jed Rakoff, acknowledged this by saying, “The court can say without exaggeration, that it has never encountered a defendant whose prior history suggests such an extraordinary devotion, not only to humanity writ large, but also to individual human beings in their times of need.
What a statement! Then he goes on to say, “He’s a good man, but the history of this country and of the world is full of examples of good men who did bad things.”
The sad part is that not only what he did affected his immediate family, but affected so many people – his brothers, sisters, wife, 4 daughters. He himself says, “I mentored many young people and many more view me as a role model. I feel terrible. They’ve been burdened with totally undeserved negative attention. I apologize to them.”
What a sad end! It’s a real tragedy. If we look for a word that describes what happened, it would be ‘tragic’. The dictionary defines tragedy as a form of drama that depicts the suffering of a heroic individual who’s often overcome by the very obstacles he is struggling to remove.
The German philosopher Hegel said, “One is caught in a collision of equally justified ethical aims.” A piece of literary art where the hero has a tragic flaw. Just one tragic flaw is enough to bring a person down, is enough to bring any of us down.
I remember speaking at an event many years ago. There was a service officer there that was doing very well and had the potential to really come up. I was talking about character, principles and integrity and having a good moral base. I was walking back after the talk and he fell in step with me and said, “I agree with everything that you said. But I know myself. If I get that one chance to cut a corner and get ahead, I know I will take it.” I felt so sad. I looked at him. He didn’t need to do it. But he didn’t have any kind of mooring to hold onto. You have to have principles in life or you’ll fall for the circumstances.
I remember hearing about a man who walked into a hotel, saw a lady seated at a table. He walked over to her and said, “Lady, I’ll give you $100,000 if you’ll spend the night with me.” She looked at him, thought about it for a minute and then said, “Okay”. He then said, “I’ve changed my mind. I’ll only give you $100.” She got up and slapped him saying, “Who do you think I am? A whore?” He looked back at her and said, “Lady, who you are has already been established. What is left to negotiate is only the price.” You see, she didn’t have a principle in place.
I have a good friend whose father was a customs officer. He would tell me how they would visit all her father’s friends and see the wonderful things that were in their houses and they didn’t have any of that in their home. Her father stood for honesty and integrity all through his life. Today, you look at that family and you see the blessing that has come because of his honesty, his integrity and the principles that he lived by. Three children, married, doing well, serving the community; because he modeled character and integrity, they now do the same. Today, his gait, his stance is as upright as his integrity has been all through his life. He lived and continues to live by good moral and ethical principles.
Abraham Lincoln said, “Character is like a tree and reputation like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it; the tree is the real thing.”
How sad it would be if at the end of our lives, there is regret – to wish that we had not done something. Because everything that we have done in life has been brought to naught because of that one tragic flaw that we didn’t take into account and overcome.
Michael Josephson says, “There are six pillars that are necessary in character.
- Trustworthiness: to be honest; don’t cheat or steal; be reliable; stand by family, friends; build a good reputation.
- Respect: treat others with respect; be tolerant and accepting of differences, use good manners; don’t threaten, hit or hurt anyone.
- Responsibility: do what you are supposed to do; plan ahead; persevere; keep on trying; always do your best; use self-control.
- Fairness: play by the rules; take turns and share; be open-minded, listen to others; don’t take advantage of others.
- Caring: be kind; be compassionate and show you care; express gratitude; forgive others; help people in need.
- Citizenship: do your share to make your school, community and office a better place; cooperate; get involved in community affairs; stay informed; be a good neighbor; obey laws and respect authority.
Six pillars to build character! At the end of our lives what we don’t want is to have regrets.
Josephson wrote this poem:
Josephson wrote this poem:
What will matter is not what you bought but what you built, not what you got but what you gave.Choose to live a life that matters.
What will matter is not your success but your significance.
What will matter is not what you learned but what you taught.
What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion, courage, or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.
What will matter is not your competence but your character.
What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone.
What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you.
What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what.
Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident.
It’s not a matter of circumstance but of choice.
Our Holy Book says, “A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches and favor is better than silver and gold.” (Proverbs 22:1)
“A good name is better than precious ointment.” (Ecclesiastes 7:1)
Friends, that is my prayer, not only for you, but for me as well, that we are able to see our areas of weakness and then say, “Almighty God, will you help that I never fall in this area, that I never have a regret later on?”
Let me pray for you. Almighty God. On all of us on this call, we pray that you would give us wisdom to be able to see those weaknesses in our lives and to be able to overcome them; not to fall; to build good character; to allow You to shape and mold us with good godly values. That we at the end of our lives know that we have lived lives of significance that have blessed people rather than turned people away from us. I pray that as a blessing on each one of us, Lord Jesus in Your name I pray. Amen.
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