Everyone Hates Conrad Black……Except Conrad Black
September 25th, 2008
Black is a Canadian media mogul now behind bars after his conviction on charges of mail and wire fraud by US courts.
To the world he is rich, imperious, unethical: a walking, talking symbol of greed in the raw.
And he may be just that. The media hates him, many former employees hate him, shareholders too, as well as the man and woman on the street. They all hate him…..and perhaps for good reason.
It’s a hate fest. Everyone, it seems, has piled on. Except, well, except Conrad Black.
I just read a jailhouse interview with “the devil” himself and I was stunned by it. I will paraphrase some of the highlights:
* Black says prison is quite civilized, he has adapted to it and met a number of interesting people.
* He proclaims his innocence but is not bitter, holds that he can take anything life throws at him and treat it as a learning experience.
* The accomodations are not what he was used to in the splendor of his pre-incarceration days, but it’s all just fine for now.
I don’t know the precise nature of Black’s crimes and given my faith in the legal system, I assume he belongs where he is. But there is an important subtext here. All of us are, at times, on the outside of mainstream thinking. Or we are viewed as being wrong or negligent or stupid or selfish. Black is viewed as worse, as a criminal and a Robber Baron, but the subtext remains the same:
You must always have faith in yourself.
You must always know how to adapt.
You must remain flexible in a life that constantly changes.
You must be tough enough to take the curve balls, without whining, and find a way to toss them back at the fates.
You must look at failure with naked eyes- bankruptcy, red ink, failed plans, loss of a job, death of a marriage, removal from an executive position - and like Black, right or wrong as he may have been in business, find a way to view it as a path to redemption. To future success.
We can never, ever abandon ourselves. It is true that no matter how much we are loved by others, we are born alone and we die alone. If we are to make major changes in business, politics, science, art - we will do it against the wind. Alone. Ask Van Gogh. Ask Copernicus. Ask Lincoln.
When Jonas Salk created his cure for polio, jealousy in the scientific community denied him of a Nobel prize. The man saved millions of children from lives of misery and he was treated like a villain. But he went on, presiding over the Salk Institute and working toward a cure for AIDS.
Salk and Black are in vastly different categories. Salk is a hero of mankind. Black is just another seeker of wealth. But both had to dip into that well of self confidence, that reservoir of personal faith, that failure to abandon themselves.
Next time you are in the cross hairs, remember you always have yourself. And that is your most powerful ally and most potent weapon.
Mark Stevens
CEO