Leadership can be born from turning difficulty and adversity into opportunity. Jordan Thomas, the athletic captain of his HS Golf Team, lost his leg in a boating accident. Fortunately, his family could afford good prosthetics. However, while in the hospital, Jordan discovered other children are not so fortunate. Since this accident in 2005, Jordan has created the Jordan Thomas Foundation and has raised over $400,000 to help children who need prosthetics.
Jordan's adversity has become his life changing work. The message we can learn here is leadership, influencing other people for good, can stem from turning tragedy into opportunities for good. For the full story, see http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/07/23/amputee.advocate/
What other examples come to mind that bring this same message?
What difficulty do you have in your life right now that you can turn into an opportunity to do good for other people?
Reading this story reminds me of reading about Oprah's story. She had many adversities while growing up, like living in an unsupportive home and continually being sexually assulted. But when her father stepped in, she got her life straightened out, and now she helps millions of people with struggles of their own. As for my own life, I can't really think of any adversity. I have a good and supportive family, great friends, and all my basic necessities. The only real adversary I can think of is internal. Like when I feel like not doing my homework or something. If that's considered adversary, then I guess that's it. But everybody has that. So I think I've got it pretty easy.
ReplyDeleteWhen i read this story it reminded me of johnny tremain (idk how his last name is spelled). he grew up during the revolutionary was and he got hurt working on the job and his hand got deformed. he helped out all that he could and he played a vital part in the war by doing little things. i havent had very much adversity thanks to the family that i have and the great community that i live in because if you ask for help you will receive help.
ReplyDeletewhen i read this story i as thinking what if that happened to me, would i be able to get through it? i'm not sure if i could. i believe it takes a strong person to make the best out of the bad, to lose your leg and still get up to help others takes alot of heart.
ReplyDeleteIn this situation Jordan had to decide if he was going to be upset and feel sorry for himself about the accident or if he was going to do something about it or not. He saw how other people are in worse situations then he is and decided to do something about it to help other people.
ReplyDeleteJust like Shantel said this reminds me of the story we read about Oprah. this is exactly what came to mind when i read this blog. She had so many hardships in her younger life and made things turn for the better. She took the bad things that ahppened to her and made sure things like this did not happen to others. If it did happen she would try to help them as much as she could. I would like to say i could do the same.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of Coach Thomas and the entire community of Parkersburg after the tornado hit. Coach Thomas talked a lot about overcoming adversity. He said that you become a stronger person when you overcome adversity. I face adversity of making the right decision. Sometimes its so tempting to do things to fit in and because other people are doing something. When I'm about to give in to those temptations I remind myself of the principles I want live by and remind myself of what the right thing to do is.
ReplyDeleteJordan is a good guy. He's thinking of others even when he's down and out. That is humility and people not only respect him for that, but the people love him too.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the guy that spoke at our student council retreat. He had one leg and he used his disability to become a public speaker and connect with people all around the country. He said that we all have our own "disabilities". He said they might not be as visibile as his disability, but we all have one. It could be something like self-confidence or maybe you struggle with school. We all have our strengths, but we all have weaknesses too. We need to learn how to take those weaknesses and turn them into an opportunity to do good for other people. I'm not really experiencing any difficulty in my life right now everything is going pretty well.
ReplyDeleteEven though Jordan's family had enough money for good prosthetics he showed a lot of empathy by helping the kids in his situation that didn't have the money for prosthetics. To me this shows that Jordan has great character by being unselfish and helping other families.
ReplyDeleteWhen this comes to mind i think of something like if someone got cancer and battled through it and got over all the cancer and then after opened up a clinic for cancer research. It people like that that really make a difference in many peoples lives and all for the right reasons. As of right now i am not having a difficulty in my life and i am very great full for that.
ReplyDeleteAs several others have said, my mind immediatly jumped to Oprah. She suffered an unstable home life, and she has so many difficulties occur to her that many would understand if she just wanted to feel sorry for herself, but she has looked past her bad experiences, realized so many other women and children have it worse off and used her experience and resources to benefit others who suffer similar backgrounds as her.
ReplyDeleteLike adam said, it reminds me of the guest speaker at student council. He used his disability in a positive way. He did not look at it as a disability, but as a way to connect with people. As for difficulties getting myself ready to go to college is one. I'm not really sure how i can help people change with this difficulty then.
ReplyDeleteI'm definitely not trying to be a copycat when I say that I instantly thought of Oprah's story while reading this. She overcame a tremendous amount of hardships and then used them to her advantage and is now helping millions of women and people around the world who are dealing with the same issues. I believe it says tons about her character and the kind of person she wants to be. I think many people can agree that it would be hard for them to take on a 'challenge' persay like this and handle it as Oprah or Jordan have. They turned it around so they could view it as a strength- not a weakness.
ReplyDeleteReading this story about Jordan makes me think of adversities that are more normal than loosing a leg. Some that come to my mind are: divorce, cancer, death of a loved one, etc. It's how you handle it that makes you who you are. You can make it be a good thing and it will benefit you, or you can feel sad and not do anything about it. If you make it a good thing you are also more likely to help others who are in the same position, because you know how it feels because you've been there before.
ReplyDeletenoah reminds me of that boy in the 1st chapter. and hats off to jordan getting over his problem was one thing but help kids by making that foundation showed true character. he is a great role model for this kids and he was only in high school just think if everyone was like this guy. classic case of good guy doing great things
ReplyDeleteLance Armstrong is the first person that comes to mind although there are many foundations that have been started, the reason Armstrong’s foundation Live Strong come to mind is because lance struggled cancer and he donated lots of money to the foundation from what he won in races and encouraged others to donate. Props to anyone that has ever started a Foundation or a Fundraiser for someone in need.
ReplyDeletethis just reminds me of anybody who chooses to make the best out of the situation they were given. one person that comes to mind is a speaker i heard when i was in washington d.c. he is blind and he climbs mountains. for him it was something that came gradually so he had known what it was like to have his vision. i think that everybody taking the leadership class can use that as thier opportunity to share something with ppl because there can never be enough leaders.
ReplyDeleteI think that this happens a lot when people go through something that they may have taken for granted and then had it taken away from them. They gain an appreciation of what they have and realize that others are not so lucky. This makes people want to do something to help those who need it. I think that everyone goes through this in life, even if it may not seem as big as raising $400,000. This story reminds me of a little girl who received an Operation Christmas Child box when she was a little girl and when she grew up she moved to the states and now works for Operation Christmas Child all year around.
ReplyDeleteI think this story is so amazing, becuase it would be so easy to just worry about yourself and not others in these situations. I know from personal experience that when i am sick, I am very selfish and don't want to worry about others. I think it is so cool that Jordan was able to use his weakness (his leg) to help others. What he has done will affect more people than he can think of. It is pretty amazing that he was able to help so many people and raise so much money. He was able to do this because he wasn't selfishly-motivated. Like adam and tyler, it reminds me of the speaker at student council. He was able to use his weakness to help and motivate others. Pretty cool..
ReplyDeleteI play golf, and if this happened to me i wouldn't now how I would handle it. Jordan was a superb example of a leader, being completely selfless in a time of adversity. It reminded me of the Oprah story, turning a bad situation good, by staying positive and focusing on others. Great story!
ReplyDeleteAnother example I can think of is the Lance Armstrong Foundation. He started a foundation for cancer because thats what was wrong with him. He did exactly what Jordan did when he had his leg taken away from him. Pretty great story..
ReplyDeleteOn a bigger scale, the act of turning a crisis into an opportunity is immense. Economically, this has made America the top player because the people always know how to handle themselves during tough times. This makes them resilient. In Chinese, the word "weiji" means both crisis AND opportunity. Personally, this way of making positive out of negative is very admirable because of its uplifting effect. Society needs more of these kinds of people because the world does indeed has many crises. With people who can flip it around, the world will not only be more properous but also more upbeat. In realistic terms today, we are in a deep financial crisis that needs leadership and conviction. This is a test of the United States and the world to come back stronger than ever!
ReplyDeleteThis really reminds me of Josh Sundquist who spoke to us at a student council retreat. He also lost his leg, but his was due to cancer. He somehow figured out how to still have a positive outlook on life and used his leg as an example of his adversity to encourage others in life. Also, this reminds me of Derek Jeter. He decided he wanted to start a foundation to help people who are drug and alcohol abusers. I think its really awesome when celebrities aren't actually the self-centered people we believe them to be.
ReplyDeleteUm great story. It shows that a positive attitude can change the outcome, of a bad or difficult situation, into something great that has a good affect on you and others that are around you.
ReplyDeleteIf this happened to me im not sure i could react the same way jordan did. He didnt feel sorry for himself and just saw that people are in worse situations than him, and kept fighting. I would try and motivate people and remind them that they could be in a worse situatuion.
ReplyDeleteI think it is admireable how Jordan acted. I would love to say I would act the exact same way, but it is hard to always do the right thing. I would try to be the most positive person I could be if put in the situation and try to remember I am still blessed.
ReplyDeleteThis story reminds me of the guest speaker we had at the student council retreat we went to. He lost his leg but battled through everything and became a motovations speaker just like he always wanted. The people that have the most impact are the ones who also go through the tough times.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this, i thought of Oprah and Matti from our leadership book. Matti went through a lot but still lived his life to the fullest. Oprah had a very rough life and went through many tough things when she was young and used that as a positive aspect of her life to help many other people.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to see that other people in the world still care about others and can show compassion. It is encouraging to hear about others doing good. It is also motivating because it makes you want to help others in need out too. It also makes you want reassess your priorities in life because obviously Jordon put others first and cared more about the well-being of others.
ReplyDeletethat's pretty cool. it reminds me of that one kid (can't remember his name) that could either be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life or lose his legs. he chose to lose his legs and get prosthetic ones. he then became a really good runner. sometimes it takes bad things in our lives to really bring out our full potential.
ReplyDeletepersonally, i should realize that even if i don't get "my way" i shouldn't get get all upset and stuff but try to be a good influence on others.
This is a true leader. He has dedicated his life to helping other people and childern who aren't as lucky to get prosthetics. He has taken the extra step and has made the effort in trying to help other people. This is a true example of leadership. Who in the world can look at these people and not think anything about it. These are people to and they deserve to be helped. He has shown help but also taken it father by starting a foundation in helping other people with thier problems but he can also say he knows what they are feeling.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this although what happend to this person is not fair at all, many people are learning from it which may be more worthwile in the long run than any golf tournament he could have won.
ReplyDeleteHe's a true leader. He helped people out who really needed it. He dedicated a lot of time to help these kids because he knows what they're going through.
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