Questions of Character
It wasn't looking good. They were behind for most of the bout, and were now trailing by 30 points with only six minutes left in the game. I thought the Milwaukee cause might be lost, and was beginning to worry about the car ride home the next day, driving three very disappointed and very likely hungover roller girls all the way home from St. Paul.
The book we have for you today is Joseph L. Badaracco, Jr.'s Questions of Character. Badaracco's approach is different than most in the business genre, in that the stories he uses to inform us aren't taken from research and real-life success stories, but pulled from the pages of great literature. "How does serious fiction help us understand leadership?" he asks. "It open doors to a world rarely seen ... It lets us watch leaders as they think, worry, hope, hesitate, commit, exult, regret, and reflect. We see their characters tested, reshaped, strengthened or weakened. These books draw us into leaders' worlds, put us in their shoes, and at times let us share their experiences."
"Serious fiction gives us a unique, inside view of leadership."
Questions of Character, Page 3
I'm in the balcony, hoping for a small miracle. Being the woman I love, I watch Kat Scratch Fever most closely as the blockers jostle for position. And, near the end of the jam, something happens. Kat puts a big block on Cleveland's jammer and, though she picks up a penalty on the hit, so does the jammer she put the block on—which sends her to the penalty box. Without an opposing jammer for the beginning of the next jam, Milwaukee's Brewcity Bruisers are able to pick up a few points, and though it's not much of an incursion on their lead, the Cleveland girls seem to be getting unsettled. Their next jammer, being a little overaggressive, picks up another penalty and Milwaukee's captain Carrie A. Hacksaw picks up 13 huge points while she's in the penalty box. That makes it 107-95 with 50 seconds left on the clock. Since Cleveland's jammer is still stuck in the box, Milwaukee's other captain, High D. Voltoge, gets to start the next (likely to be final) jam alone. The crowd rises in hysterics as she laps the pack quickly, three times, picking up 14 points. Looking up at the scoreboard as the clock hits zero, it's Milwaukee 109, Cleveland 107. It's an almost impossible comeback, and the crowd is screaming. I'm on my feet, yelling from the balcony, nearly teary-eyed in that moment, proud of the character the team had shown, and stunned by the dramatic comeback and emotion of the moment.
But then, the referee holds up two fingers to the stats table, indicating Cleveland's jammer was able to get out of the box and squeak out two points of her own before the jam ended. It's 109-109, and they're heading in to overtime.
Questions of Character was published by Harvard Business School Press, but it is not a typical book for them. HBSP titles tend to be more academic, dense and impersonal, whereas Badaracco writes very intimately, almost self-helpishly. As he puts it, "The Question of Character and the stories in each chapter offer ways to look inward—more clearly, more honestly, more insightfully— and to learn from tests and challenges." The fact that the book utilizes fiction to illuminate the topics at hand makes it accessible to those who don't often read business books in general, and HBSP titles specifically.
There are eight pieces of fiction in Questions of Character, used to explore the issues of character and leadership. They are:
- Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
- Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
- Blessed Assurance by Allen Gurganus
- The Love of the Last Tycoon by F. Scott Fitzgerald
- The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad
- I Come as a Thief by Louis Auchincloss
- A Man for All Seasons by Robert Bolt
- Antigone by Sophocles
There are around 450 roller derby leagues worldwide (even one in the United Arab Emirates). You probably wouldn't know the members if you passed them on the street during the day. They work in your accounting department, or teach your children during the day. They serve you brunch on weekends, and give your cat a shot of penicillin when you take it to the vet.
Last weekend was the North Central Regionals, and my girlfriend's team, the Brewcity Bruisers All Stars, went into overtime against Cleveland in their final bout. Carrie A. Hacksaw wore the jammer's star in that overtime for the Bruisers. As always, she skated powerfully, arms swinging and body heaving like an oil pump, tapping every last bit of energy available. She made it through the pack quickly, then lapped them twice for a quick 9 points while the opposing jammer was still struggling to make her first pass. And then, as if overtime itself isn't rare enough in Derby, Hacksaw took the star off her helmet and—utilizing a seldom used rule—handed it over to the pivot, Rhoda Ruin, who glided almost motionless for 8 more points to complete an unbelievable comeback with a storybook ending. The women of Milwaukee had won 126-116. It couldn't have been written any better, demonstrating again that reality (especially in sport) sometimes outdoes fiction in the department of the incredible.
Joseph L. Badaracco takes the opposite approach in Questions of Character, using fiction more effectively than most business authors use reality (usually rather dull case studies) to inform our lives at work. It is a creative and erudite approach to the issue of leadership, and Badaracco pulls it off brilliantly.
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