One of my favorite misquotes is “All that’s necessary for the forces of evil to win in the world is for enough good men to do nothing.” This statement is often attributed to Edmund Burke, but in reality, he never said it. Regardless of who first coined this expression, I love it. It is an absolute truth. When people do evil things, good people can stop them. But they must chose to act and to get others to act with them. Great leaders have the ability to stimulate others to be good, to act in the face of evil. Sometimes it means convincing others to take huge risks and make real sacrifices. Other times, it is as easy as pointing out a problem and inviting others to help you solve it.
Last week, I had the honor to witness the latter. Several years ago, my cousin, Denise Hay, was the victim of fraud. Fortunately for her, she successfully resolved her civil complaint and recouped her loses. However, she knew that the law had been broken, and the criminal needed to be stopped. So she agreed to help the District Attorney by testifying in the criminal case. Denise owns and operates two businesses. She is committed to her family and community. She doesn’t have a great deal of free time to spare. It would have been easy for her to just let someone else take care of this problem. Despite her schedule, she has worked closely with the police and district attorney’s office to build their case.
Just days before the trial was set to begin, the defense attorney tried to delay the trial. He demanded verification that he had previously accepted as authentic. Given the short notice, this seemed to be an insurmountable obstacle. Denise knew that I had worked for the company whose documents need verification, so she asked if I could call my former employer for help. I was pessimistic that we could find anyone so quickly. By noon the day before the trial, it was clear that no one was available. Denise and the DA were undaunted. They asked me if I would testify to the document’s authenticity. My first reaction was, “Are you kidding? I am not qualified.” My next reaction was, “I don’t have time for this.” I never said either out loud, because I wanted to help Denise. But I had real misgivings about my ability to help. They quickly overcame my concerns, so at 6 a.m. Tuesday morning, I was on a train heading north.
When we arrived at the courthouse on Tuesday, the DA informed us that the defendant had pleaded guilty. The prosecutor had called the defense’s bluff. The DA apologized for seeming to waste my time – and that of the other witnesses scheduled to testify. He stated that he believed that it was our willingness to testify that compelled the defendant to plead guilty.
This criminal had broken the law and defrauded people of hundreds of thousands of dollars. She was guilty of evil. While she hadn’t robbed anyone at gunpoint or broken into their homes and stolen their property, her crimes had real victims. But some of these victims decided to band together and stop her. One of those good people, my cousin, enlisted others to help their cause. She convinced me to help. She got me to step up and join her fight. That is what leaders do. Doing the right thing is only the beginning for someone like Denise. Her leadership drove me to act.