Raising Heroes... and Just Good Kids

Isn’t it just the way life goes? All too often, doing good gets caught up in cultural and political disagreements. Then,  the degree to which some good act is celebrated by one group is proportional to the degree of complaint from another that the same act was woefully insufficient, or actually not good at all.

But there are notable exceptions.

US Airways Captain Chesley Sullenberger’s landing of Flight 1549 on the Hudson River on January 15 is one of those rare acts that everyone acknowledges to be both extraordinary and truly good. However, if all you know of the story is the video of the landing and Sullenberger’s consequent rise to celebrity status, then you are missing valuable pieces.

In a recent interview on KQED’s Forum program (click here to listen online; or click here to download the mp3 recording), Sullenberger talks about how everything in his life up to that point helped prepare him for 308 crucial seconds of flight.

You may not be surprised to hear Captain Sullenberger talk about the importance of good judgment. It’s not shocking that he talks about the development of a highly focused situational awareness, that ability to see the big picture while also being aware of the importance of particular details that need attention at any given moment.

But when you listen to him, you realize that he does not think that skills alone are the important thing, nor that judgment is purely a matter of intellectual aptitude. It is what he says about moral qualities–character, responsibility, commitment– that makes the interview far more interesting than just a replay of the landing.

Interesting, yes, and of lasting value.  

His moral perspective transforms this story into one that dovetails with what we do as parents as we try to instill goodness and care for others in our children.
Before getting to what he says explicitly about character, it is important to note how he views his own actions on the day of the flight. Sullenberger emphatically denies that he is a hero. For him, landing Flight 1549 safely was simply doing a difficult job well.  “Many people have called me and my crew heroes. But for me, someone who chooses to put himself or herself at risk to save another person is a real hero.”

Moreover, as the most of the media reports have painted him out as the solitary heroic leader, he has consistently tried to redirect the attention to the solid work of the entire flight crew.  Hence, when invited by President-elect Obama to the Presidential Inauguration, he insisted that his attendance would be predicated on invitations going out to the crew and their families.

This kind of humility grants him credibility as a voice on matters of character. When asked what really matters, he responded with what is also excellent guidance for raising children: “Finding one’s passion early; being curious, and having the diligence to continue to learn; to strive for excellence…”  

The goal here of developing one’s passion and expertise is not merely narrow personal fulfillment. It involves a sense of responsibility for others, something that clicked for Sullenberger as a 13 year-old, when he heard about the murder of Kitty Genovese in New York City and the failure of those around to get involved.

When you listen to Sullenberger, you might find yourself wishing society were a little different and that there were more leaders like him.   However, he doesn’t see cultural redemption as coming from better policies, political action, or sloganeering on one side or another of a culture war.   In fact his solution puts cultural change within the grasp of all parents:

“The changes we would like to see in society have to come at home. They have to come from parents—being there for their children, reading to their children, mentoring their children. I learned a long time ago that my kids are not going to pay attention to much of what I say, but they will occasionally pay attention to what I do.”

That is a quiet call for a powerful change, from someone who has earned the right to make it.

For more information, see his book, Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters.

With your family: Watch an animated reconstruction of UA flight 1549, including cockpit conversation and transcript -- attached below.

by MARK BASNAGE, an education innovator living in California.