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Commentary
My most memorable class in high school was American History my junior year, not because of the subject but because of the teacher. He encouraged me to think. In college, I took only required history classes and I could not tell you anything about them today. History was not something that inspired me. I came from the generation that spouted such slogans as "Don't Trust anyone over 30."
I did not discover the value of history until I was in my early forties. I was taking a trip to Mexico with my family and decided to read something about the history of Mexico. I read the book, The Conquest of New Spain, by Bernal Diaz del Castillo. Diaz was a soldier with Hernan Cortez when he conquered the Aztecs and he wrote a first hand account years later. I was hooked. I was soon reading other books of history as well as biographies and memoirs.
History at its heart is about storytelling, not dates and names. And history like all good stories has many lessons to teach if we are paying attention. Nations and their leaders, unfortunately, have a tendency to repeat the mistakes of the past. We never seem to be able to learn from history. By the second or third generation after a key historical event, the lessons are being forgotten.
But history goes beyond nations and their leaders. Artistic disciplines also have a history. Beginning artists study past artists. Beginning writers study great writers. Beginning musicians study previous musicians. Failure to know the historical roots of one's artistic profession will often lead to mediocre artistic endeavors. As creative leaders we need to know from where we came.
The same is true in business. If business leaders do not know the history of their organization and their industry, they will make the same mistakes that their predecessors did. History has so much to teach. We need to pay attention.
And we also have personal histories. Where were you born? What was your childhood like? Do you know the history of your family? What mistakes did they make? Have you learned from their mistakes? Or have you repeated their mistakes again and again?
“I was an avid reader of history and particularly the lives of great men and women. I found that some were born to greatness, some attained it by accident, and some worked for it."
— Harry S. Truman, American President, Author, 1884 - 1972
As creative leaders we stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before. What do you know of the lives and works of these earlier artists, writers, musicians and storytellers? What were the challenges they faced and the difficulties they overcame? What creative ideas did they have that have made our work easier? What knowledge did they possess that has now been lost to the dustbins of time? Which painters, writers and musicians are your heroes? Whom do you dislike? Whose shoulders are you standing on?
Do you worship your heroes and put them on a pedestal? Or do you accept the fact that they are human and have flaws just like you and me? Too often we believe that our heroes are super human and better than those around them. And if we are unfortunate to get too close, we learn the truth and are disappointed.
All heroes have clay feet. No human is perfect. In fact, many of the great creative leaders have major flaws and weaknesses in other areas of their lives. They may be terrible husbands, wives, parents or lovers. They may hold serious biases and prejudices. They may not be able to manage money or are penny pinchers. They may drink too much or take drugs.
Most people are not born to greatness. They usually work hard to achieve what they desire, but in the end the fame they find is often by accident. So my advice to every creative leader is to work hard every day and enjoy what you do. Fame is often fleeting and unfulfilling. Fortunes come and go like the weather.
How you make the journey is much more important than when and where you arrive. Because in the end we all arrive at the same place — the cemetery. What we leave behind is our legacy. What legacy will you leave behind?
Years ago, I heard a speaker ask his audience: "Who was President when you were born?" Like most people in the audience, I had no idea, but I soon discovered that it was Harry S. Truman. I began reading books about Truman as well as books that he wrote. Harry S. Truman became one of my heroes. I like much of what the man did and said, but I also recognize that he had clay feet. Not everything he did was right. Do you know who was President when you were born?
Franklin D. Roosevelt (March 4, 1933 - April 12, 1945)
Harry S. Truman (April 12, 1945 - January 20, 1953)
Dwight D. Eisenhower (January 20, 1953 - January 20, 1961)
John F. Kennedy (January 20, 1961 - November 22, 1963)
Lyndon B. Johnson (November 22, 1963 - January 20, 1969)
Richard M. Nixon (January 20, 1969 - August 9, 1974)
Gerald R. Ford (August 9, 1974 - January 20, 1977)
Jimmy E. Carter (January 20, 1977 - January 20, 1981)
Ronald W. Reagan (January 20, 1981 - January 20, 1989)
George H. W. Bush (January 20, 1989 - January 20, 1993)
Bill J. Clinton (January 20, 1993 - January 20, 2001)
George W. Bush (January 20, 2001 - January 20, 2009)
Barack H. Obama (January 20, 2009 - January 20, 2017)
"If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten."
— Rudyard Kiplng, English Novelist and Poet, 1865 - 1936
Do you love history? Do you read history? Or could you care less about history? Do you incorporate history into your writing and paintings? I believe creative leaders need to study history? Artists should study art history and many do. Writers should study the lives of writers. English degrees tend to focus on the literature and studying the literature. Writing degrees tend to focus on the writing. But few writers study the history of writing, the history of writers, the history of words or the history of publishing. I have met many wanna-be poets who haven't even read other poets. They would never consider studying the history of poetry.
But understanding literature, art and theater requires more than studying the history of the arts. We need to study literature, art and theater in the context of the times they were created. We need to study the social, political and economic histories. We need to read biographies and memoirs.
Writers, artists and actors are people of their times. They creative works contain the same beliefs, hopes and biases that can be found in the rest of their society. Novels written in other times and places will teach you one perspective of that society. Their paintings are miniature history books.
So I encourage you to read a biography of a favorite writer, actor or artist. Immerse yourself in the history of another time and place. What was Paris like during the time of the Impressionists? What was New York like during the 1950's and the beats?
Recommended
Biographies
Cheever, A Life, Blake Bailey
Dreaming with His Eyes Open: A Life of Diego Rivera, Patrick Marnham
e.e. cummings, Christopher Sawyer-Laucanno
Frida: A Biography of Frida Kahlo, Hayden Herrera
Leonardo da Vinci, Walter Isaacson
Raymond Carver: A Writer’s Life, Carol Sklenicka
Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson
Truman, David McCullough
Memoirs
Angel’s Ashes, Frank McCourt
Creativity, Inc., Ed Catmull
Dean and Me: A Love Story, Jerry Lewis
Educated, Tara Westover
Hard Choices, Hillary Clinton
No Higher Honor, Condoleezza Rice
Shoe Dog, Phil Knight
Podcasts
The History of Literature, Jackie Wilson
Founders, David Senra
Remarkable People, Guy Kawasaki
I may seek it out.
1) Very many. Especially about behaving myself in public.
2) Media and literature history are my main areas of writing, but I read all types.