to look at this is that he has a wife who is exactly the opposite. A
mirror image. The other day she was slumped in her chair, her
speech slurred because of pain medication. ‘How you doing,
Ruth?’ Her response: ‘I’m doing fine.’ The family jokes that remark
will be on her tombstone—‘I’m doing fine.’ But if you ask Billy in
private the same question, you’d get an extensive answer.”
“We’ve heard,” we interjected, “that Ruth described Lewis’s
‘Puddleglum,’ and therefore Billy, as having ‘the boundless capac-
ity for seeing the grim side of every situation.’ She tells the story of
how Billy cautioned her with an endless number of problems she
might face on her flight from Miami through Atlanta to Asheville.”
John nodded, with a smile. “It’s just that his natural mindset
is, What could go wrong?Remember, he was a kid of the Depres-
sion. His father, a farmer, worried like that, and his sister tells me
Billy’s always been that way.”
We’ve long been intrigued by this paradox. Can a natural pes-
simist be ultimately an optimist, even though it strains his nature?
Genetics, nature, and culture shape our personalities—we are
who we are. But must the leader transcend this? And if melan-
cholics are more highly represented in great leadership, does that
mean natural optimists must also make adjustments?
One thing is clear. Billy Graham has plenty of reasons to see
life’s downsides. As a perceptive human being, he feels his vul-
nerable position in the public eye, and he can foresee possible
backlashes from his decisions and actions. The pressures on him
affect him physically. But he has determined to live by his con-
victions and the gospel of hope, and to communicate that confi-
dence to others.
■ ■ ■Perhaps the greatest personification of this paradox is Mother
Teresa of Calcutta.
When we think of Mother Teresa, we remember pictures of
her radiating purpose. From her devotional life flowed a peace
and happiness and a sparkle in her eye.
The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham