The innocent bystander

As you well know, one of the themes I wanted to address this year is authentic
leadership where I challenged each one of you to display leadership in what you do.
Today I want to address one of the hardest parts of leadership – going alone.

Part of my address was inspired by the actions of one of our boys who was part of an
event that held national headlines recently and which obtained hundreds of thousands
of hits on YouTube. I refer to the clip most of you have seen where a cyclist was almost
knocked over by a diplomatic car and the aftermath thereafter. One of our boys filmed
the event on his cell phone but, more importantly to me, was prepared to stand by what
he witnessed.

How many times have we seen something we know we should do something about and
haven’t? Yesterday, on my way to a meeting, the driver of the vehicle in front of me
finished his KFC meal and tossed the box out of his car window. I muttered to myself
about what a pig he was and how little respect he had for the environment and, feeling
justified that I had vented my frustration, drove on. I did nothing. Part of me wanted to
pick up the litter and throw it back onto his lap but I did nothing. You see it takes
courage from you and I to act when we see something wrong, courage we often lack.

Have you ever seen someone fall over when they are walking and walked past, either
chuckling with amusement of embarrassed to get involved?

I wanted to show you a movie clip today which