Humility

Even if you don’t like cricket or find it baffling, you can’t have escaped reporting of the Aussie ball-tampering saga.

In one sense, taking a piece of sandpaper onto the field of play to change the condition of the ball would appear to most to be a minor misdemeanour which hardly justifies one year bans or the mass gushing of tears on prime time television. Personally, I think the punishment is too severe and has no doubt been partly influenced by social media and its uncanny ability to whip up a storm from the most gentle of breezes. Nevertheless, those who support the severity would point to not only the arrogance of the initial deed (coupled with a huge dose of stupidity) but the failure to follow the basic rule of life taught from childhood, “If you have done something wrong, tell the truth!”

In my teenage years, I was fascinated by Watergate….fuelled by the excellent film, “All the President’s Men”. It wasn’t so much the discovery of the crime that drew me but the abject failure at every level of the White House to face up to the truth, once it became apparent that the hole in the dam found by Bernstein and Woodward had become an unstoppable torrent. It was as if the rule of law didn’t apply to you if you worked for…or were…the President. Lessons were then learned…..and were promptly forgotten when Clinton sat in the Oval Office.

Many have rejoiced in the suffering of the Australian cricket team and see their lying…and players lied on 3 separate occasions…as indicative of Australian arrogance and the way they have both abused their opponents and lauded themselves over many years. It seems that in some parts of the world, it is still considered that you have to be arrogant to succeed and graciousness, humility and honesty are seen as weak character traits.

You learn to be humble in retirement. You’re not as physically strong as you used to be, your brain is not as sharp, you’re often less important. I was fortunate in my working life that I had a position of authority. I could delegate and people were obliged to do as I asked. I had a Personal Assistant whose main task was to make sure I had everything I needed to carry out my role effectively. I had status and I was listened to.

I tried to always appreciate my position, to treat others with respect on the basis of their need rather than their position in the hierarchy, to be anything other than arrogant. I’m not sure I always succeeded so maybe it was appropriate that at a recent leaving do for a former colleague, I was acutely conscious that not only did I no longer have the lofty position, it was almost as if I’d never belonged. I was an ex-officer, an ex-employee….just an ex, really. One person, in particular, who I had considered both a friend and colleague for many years now looked past me, talked with politeness not intimacy, took the first opportunity to mix with someone else who isn’t yet an ex. I doubt he even recognised he was being aloof, arrogant perhaps but in making me feel small, he fulfilled that definition.

Whilst Smith, Bancroft and Warner serve their bans, they will have much time to reflect and if the tears were genuine, they’re already on the right path. They could do worse than realise that the two greatest political figures of the twentieth century (sorry, Winston) were Gandhi and Mandela…..figures not renowned for bombast and rancour but for gentleness, kindness and sincere interest in everyone, regardless of status.

Two more of my sporting heroes died this week, Eric Bristow and Ray Wilkins. The former has been fondly remembered for his “honesty” and his “candour”….qualities to be admired but which can offend. The latter has been remembered for being not only a world class footballer but as someone who always had time for others, for his “humanity”. Wilkins never cheated or insulted his opponent. He got sent off in the World Cup once – uncharacteristic petulance…..but he admitted his failing and never repeated it. One story has told how he arranged for the mother of a player to be brought to Manchester to see her boy’s debut because the family had no money and she couldn’t afford the fare. An unknown and unheralded act of kindness.

Arrogance can get you places – but often at the expense of others and making them feel small. Being humble may not be the quickest route to greatness but it can transform the lives of others as well as yourself and, as this week’s events prove, it will continue to define you in a positive way long after you’ve gone.