What does it take to be a hero? Startwith six basic character
traits
John F. Kennedy had it, Bill Clinton doesn't. John Wayne
personified it, but Sylvester Stallone comes up short. Martin Luther King
Jr.? Certainly. But Colin Powell remains a question mark.
We're talking about heroism. Greatness. That special something that
wins you admiration, adoration, and maybe even your face on a postage
stamp.
Heroes may seem passe in a cynical era where we seem to relish
tearing down icons more than we do creating new ones or cherishing the
ones we already have. Some folks, moreover, find the very idea of heroes
objectionable, arguing that there's something elitist about exalting
individuals who, after all, are nothing more than flesh and blood, just
like the rest of us.
But we sorely need heroes -- to teach us, to captivate us through
their words and deeds, to inspire us to greatness. And if late
20th-century America seems in short supply of them, the good news is that
the pool of potential heroes has never been greater. That's because every
one of us--ourselves, our friends, even our kids--has heroic potential.
And there is plenty we can do to develop that untapped greatness, to
ensure that the next generation gets the heroes it needs.
Portrait of a Hero
Though our personal heroes differ, we all share a common vision of
what a hero is--and isn't. Temple University psychologist Frank Farley,
Ph.D., has distilled this vision into what he calls his "5-D" model of
greatness. Together the five "D's" help explain what makes a hero, where
they come from, and why they're so important.
The first "D" is for determinants, six character traits Farley
believes define the essence of heroism. Not every hero has them all. But
the more you have, the better. So if you seek greatness, either in
yourself or your children, you would do well to nurture these aspects of
personality:
o Courage and strength. Whatever a hero is, he isn't a coward or
quitter. Heroes maintain their composure--and even thrive---under
adversity, whether it be the life-threatening sort that war heroes face
or the psychological and emotional strains that politicians and business
leaders must endure.
o Honesty. It's no coincidence that "Honest Abe" Lincoln and George
"I cannot tell a lie" Washington are among our nation's most cherished
figures. Deceit and deception violate our culture's conception of
heroism. "Ronald Reagan once said thai Oliver North was an American
hero," observes Farley. "But Ollie obviously founder on the honesty
standard."
o Kind, loving, generous. Great people may fight fiercely for what
they believe, but they are compassionate once the battle is over--toward
friend and foe alike. General George S. Patton was a brilliant military
man, but his hero status was impaired when he publicly slapped one of his
soldiers in the face. "The American public was revolted by that," notes
Farley. "He wasn't kind to his men." Though Patton is still regarded as a
hero by many, his popularity never recovered.
o Skill, expertise, intelligence. So far, our archetypical hero is
courageous, kind, honest--in other words, a lot like Forrest Gump. But
Forrest falls short on one measure: A hero's success should stem from his
talents and smarts, rather than from mere chance--although, for the sake
of modesty, a hero might well attribute his hard-earned achievements to
luck.
o Risk-taking. "Even though many people won't take risks in their
own life, they admire risk-taking in someone else," notes Farley, much of
whose research has focused on Type-T personalities--perpetual
thrill-seekers. No matter what their calling, heroes are willing to place
themselves in some sort of peril. FDR, for example, took enormous
political risks by defying the rank and file of his own party; Martin
Luther King Jr. laid his life on the line for his ideals.
o Objects of Affection. We might be impressed on an intellectual
level by somebody's deeds. But admiration is not enough--heroes must win
our hearts as well as our minds.
In addition to these six determinants, heroes also exhibit depth,
the second "D" in Farley's model. Depth is that timeless, mythical,
almost otherworldly quality that marks a hero. It's hard to articulate
exactly what this is, admits Farley, but we all know it when we see
it--it's what makes even physically diminutive heroes seem larger than
life.
"I think of depth as sorting out true heroes from celebrities, or
the passing hero from the timeless one," Farley says. Clint Eastwood for
example, often shows up on lists of today's heroes because of his rugged
individualism. But studies show that he lacks that mythical depth factor
that ensures long-standing heroic status.
Great Expectations
Heroes don't exist in a vacuum. They make specific contributions to
the culture. So the third "D" is domain, the field in which a hero makes
his mark. Although elected officials are currently held in roughly the
same regard as, say, carjackets, politics remains the number one source
of heroes. It may help, though, to be a dead politician, or at least a
former one: Sitting presidents don't do very well when people are
surveyed about their heroes. One reason, Farley thinks, is the intense
media scrutiny to which we subject national figures.
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what makes a hero
