Have you ever heard of the word chutzpah? It is an old Yiddish word that describes someone who is audacious or has a lot of gall. Perhaps the best way to define it is through an old Yiddish joke. There was a man who murdered both of his parents. At his trial, he pleaded for the mercy of the court because he was an orphan.
That’s chutzpah.
Larry King, the old radio and TV interviewer, wrote about a politician who had a lot of chutzpah. His name was Chuck Hall. Back in the 1960s, he was elected mayor of metropolitan Dade County, the Florida county containing the city of Miami. Chuck Hall was not very knowledgeable about the issues. However, he was handsome and knew how to make an entrance.
This was exemplified one day in 1965 when President Lyndon Johnson was to make a speech in Miami. Twenty-seven regional mayors were at the airport that afternoon, all lined up to receive and greet the president. Larry Hall was not among them. They all knew he would show up. The question was, how would Larry do so? He was, after all, a man with chutzpah.
Now, it so happened that President Johnson was to speak earlier in the day at Tampa. He would then fly to Miami for the afternoon speech. Knowing this, Chuck Hall traveled to Tampa before the president. During Johnson’s speech, Chuck Hall grabbed one of the president’s aides and told him, “I’m the mayor of Dade County, and I missed my flight out. I’m leading a delegation to greet the president at the airport. Could I please fly to Miami on Air Force One (the president’s plane)?”
The president’s aide said that the plane was full. Chuck answered, “That’s OK. I’ll sit on the John. No problem.”
Chuck got on the plane, commandeered the plane’s bathroom, and stayed there during the brief flight. The lavatory happened to be located immediately before the exit of the plane. When the president’s flight landed in Miami, twenty-seven mayors were lined up, waiting for President Johnson to exit. They sent a flower girl up to the airplane. The door opened, the stairs were rolled up, and the high school band played “Hail to the Chief.”
And the first one off the plane was—Chuck Hall.
Chuck immediately walked up to the microphone set up for President Johnson and said, “Ladies and gentlemen, my good friend, president of the United States, Lyndon Johnson.”
Lyndon Johnson had no idea who Chuck Hall was.
My point is not to endorse Chuck Hall’s plan or his chutzpah but rather to acknowledge the creativity that Chuck Hall demonstrated in solving a problem. In his case, he wanted to stand out among the twenty-seven other mayors.
I think you and I would do well to harness the energy generated by confidence, nerves, or even fear and allow that power to fuel us with creative or even ingenious solutions. Of course, our problem-solving needs to be legal, moral, and ethical.
So, the next time we face a great problem, let’s dial it down a notch or two from chutzpah to a level of high confidence. Let’s allow that strong confidence to drive us to conceive good solutions and to have the courage to implement them.
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