Issue No. 417 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting highlights a new book (and a documentary film) about Ronald Reagan and Pope John Paul II—and it will surprise and delight you! And this reminder: click here to download free resources from the 20 management buckets (core competencies) and check out this website for recent book reviews, including ECFA Tools and Templates for Effective Board Governance.
"We Win and They Lose!"
Thirty years ago this week, on Nov. 9, 1989, the fall of the Berlin Wall stunned the world. This week—on Nov. 6—you can experience the untold back story at selected theaters nationwide—but only for one night.
• Option 1: View the movie, The Divine Plan (Nov. 6 only in selected theaters)
• Option 2: Read the book, The Divine Plan: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Dramatic End of the Cold War, by Paul Kengor and Robert Orlando
• Option 3: View the DVD (coming soon!)
In 1978, more than a decade before Ronald Reagan served as the 40th president of the United States (1981-1989), the “Great Communicator” visited the Berlin Wall and saw firsthand the evil empire of Communism—and felt “disgust but also intent.” He told Dick Allen:
“Dick, my idea of American policy toward the Soviet Union is simple, and some would save simplistic. It is this: We win and they lose.”
“Allen was stunned—and thrilled. The word win just didn’t come up in discussions of the Cold War. ‘One had never heard such words from the lips of a major political figure… Until then, we had thought only in terms of “managing” the relationship with the Soviet Union. Reagan went right to the heart of the matter…. ”
Imagine! You’re a former governor of California. You’re not the U.S. president. But—you have this vision and you succinctly communicate it with just five simple words:
“We win and they lose.”
(Attention CEOs and senior leaders: how many words in your vision statement?)
Oh…did we mention that this “DP” (Divine Plan) was not actually Reagan’s idea? Did we mention the under-the-radar friendship that Pope John Paul II and President Reagan shared? Did you know these two extraordinary leaders had so, so much in common (both were actors, both took bullets from would-be assassins just six weeks apart, and much more)?
Detailed, yet with a flowing narrative, The Divine Plan reveals the hand of God in the life of two men—both believing they were selected by God to work together. Cardinal Timothy Dolan noted how their gifting as actors enhanced their calling:
“Reagan did that…in front of the Berlin Wall…. When John Paul II could stand in front of two million people at Warsaw on his last day of those [nine] days that changed the world in June of 1979, and when he, without mentioning, without using any political partisan vocabulary, without mentioning Russia, without mentioning Marx, without mentioning Communism, when he could bring two million people to chant for eleven minutes nonstop, ‘We want God,’ that’s an actor who is such a person of integrity that you are able to bring out what is best in your audience. And boy, they both did it with gusto.”
“The Confluence of Characters.” The authors deliver a well-documented and inspirational account with five acts. And they underscore the God-orchestrated “confluence of characters” that included Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbachev (whose mother was a Christian). They quote Cold War historian Stephen Kotkin:
“If would be hard, if you were writing a script, if you were sitting out there in Burbank around a table, having recently graduated with an MFA from Yale and you were quite imaginative and creative and you wanted to set the scene for the late ‘70s, early ‘80s, a dramatic moment in time, you would have been very hard-pressed to think up these four characters at the same time. The confluence was phenomenal.”
Why read this book?
• The Divine Plan will be a comforting balm for today’s news and impeachment clatter.
• The Divine Plan will elevate your aspirations for world leaders.
• The Divine Plan will remind you (and your grandkids) about evil empires and the dangers of communism, Marxism, and socialism.
• The Divine Plan will bring you back to foundational thinking: that freedom—without faith—will fail.
• The Divine Plan will give you dozens of quotable quotes to share with colleagues (fax machines, cappuccinos, Lenin on movies, “We win and they lose,” and more).
This book was a surprise and a delight. Much like Leaders: Myth and Reality, the “compare and contrast” descriptions are abundant and insightful. If you’re not a reader, see if the documentary film is screening near you or wait for the DVD and streaming options.
To order from Amazon, click on the title for The Divine Plan: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Dramatic End of the Cold War, by Paul Kengor and Robert Orlando. (And thanks to the authors for gifting me a signed copy. Wow!)
YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS:
1) The authors note that when growing up, President Reagan thought he would marry his high school girl friend and work at the Montgomery Ward department store in Dixon, Ill. But that was not God’s “Divine Plan” for him. How eager are you to know and live out God’s “DP” for your life?
2) As the threads of the Soviet Union began to unravel, the authors discuss the perils of being honest. When communism’s core lies were brought into the light, the system disintegrated. What’s in a slogan? Discuss Poland’s “We want God!” demonstration and Reagan’s “We win and they lose” aspiration.
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“Caesar Is Not!”
Insights from Mastering the Management Buckets Workbook
One of the big ideas in the Strategy Bucket, Chapter 3, in Mastering the Management Buckets declares: “We plan, believing the results are up to God. We energize our people and customers with a Big Holy Audacious Goal (BHAG).”
Ronald Reagan: “We win and they lose.”
The Divine Plan: “It was a truth the Communists had labored so long to suppress. John Paul II exhorted his people to acknowledge that Christ—not the state—was Lord. ‘If Jesus is Lord,’ says New Testament scholar N.T. Wright, ‘Caesar is not.’”
For more resources from the Strategy Bucket, click here.
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JASON PEARSON: UNEXPECTED CREATIVE. Are you leveraging the extraordinary power of visual media to inspire your members, clients, or customers? Check out the innovative work from Jason Pearson at Pearpod Media (branding, digital, print, and video). Question: Is your vision statement succinct and memorable? Call Pearpod Media.
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