As I sit at my table and start to write this post, I am not thinking about Dennis Rodman, basketball diplomacy or Kenneth Bae at all, but of a man I shall call “Mike,” who had an upper, mid-level marketing management position with an international consumer product company based in New York City.
As I am blessed to speak to many groups around the country, I am often privileged to hear many stories of outstanding, unselfish acts and of unethical miscues and failures. I heard the following story second-hand, so please forgive me if it is not repeated with absolute accuracy but it is illustrative for the purposes of this discussion.
The entire marketing department of the multi-billion dollar organization went on a corporate retreat to the Pocono Mountains. I am told it was about 40 people of various ages and management levels. It was the first evening of the three day meeting and activities for the evening were unstructured. A group of 15 or so, at someone’s urging, decided to drive off of the hotel grounds as they heard there was a “funky, rustic bar” about five miles down the road.
The group needed no bar. From what I understand, the wine and beer had been flowing quite nicely at the welcoming dinner. Nevertheless, the group decided that the alcohol and driving laws did not apply to them, and they took off in three cars traveling the windy roads of the Pocono Mountains.
About Mike
Mike was a rising star in the company. I was told he was a “man with style” and people naturally gravitated toward him. He also drove a sports car; I know neither the make nor model. I do know that Mike was able to cram three other passengers into the vehicle.
No, this will not be (thank goodness) a story of great tragedy. Nevertheless, from what I understand, Mike took the lead and managed to push his sports car in excess of 100 mph along winding and unknown roads. I know of only two additional facts: his passengers reportedly urged him to slow down on the return trip, and he was terminated from the company about six months later for undisclosed reasons.
Alcohol in and of itself is not stupid but it can sure make people stupid. But we all know that. Mike played the big shot card and he played it loose and outside the rules. His career, his reputation and any good he may have done within the company, was lost that evening in the Pocono Mountains.
Dennis Rodman
I cannot possibly know what goes on inside of the twisted mind of North Korean “Supreme Leader” Kim Jong-un. He is brutal beyond imagination and he has become an international pariah, even to his closest ally, Communist China. If (and I intentionally repeat this) if, this dictator seems to have a weakness for anything American it is NBA basketball.
I need to again add the name Kenneth Bae, an American citizen and Christian missionary, who Kim Jong-un imprisoned in April 2013 because Kim Jong-un believes than Mr. Bae planned to topple the entire North Korean regime. Bae toils at hard labor.
For reasons unknown to anyone within or out of North Korea, Kim Jong-un idolizes Dennis Rodman. Maybe it’s Rodman’s green hair, or his interesting social life or his formerly great basketball skills, but Rodman and Kim Jong-un “like” each other.
In early January 2014, and directly following the “Supreme Leader’s” maniacal decision to execute his uncle and his uncle’s aides, Rodman brought a delegation of American basketball players to North Korea to participate in a friendship match against North Korean players and to celebrate the Supreme Leader’s birthday.
The Worm
When Dennis Rodman was in his prime as a basketball player, he earned the nick-name “The Worm” for his defensive skills. To me, his latest actions imply something else.
Opinion angrily turned against Dennis Rodman for his visit and for his courting a madman. For example, people wondered that if he was able to get so “close” to Kim Jong-un, could he not plead for Kenneth Bae? Could he not talk about better cooperation or finding greater mutual ground other than basketball?
Dennis Rodman brought up “basketball diplomacy” over and over again. Except no one knows what that meant. As world pressure mounted on Rodman to do or say anything, he granted an interview from Korea with CNN.
Surrounded by the team of retired NBA players Rodman brought with him (many of whom wanted out), Rodman angrily jousted with Chris Cuomo ofCNN. He was no diplomat he drunkenly insisted; he was caught in the middle.
When Rodman returned to the U.S., he apologized for his rant and admitted to being drunk. He tried to portray himself as the victim. It didn’t work. He came across as a man who drove his sports car, while under the influence, putting the lives of others in danger, on a winding unfamiliar road in the Pocono Mountains.
Rodman may be eccentric but he is not at all stupid. He has shown himself to be a bright man. Somewhere, somehow he must have realized his actions might have had a larger, more positive influence on the world stage. I truly don’t know if he could have done anything to help Kenneth Bae, but launching into a drunk tirade helped no cause at all; not peace, not compassion, not mercy. He had an ethical chance to make a difference. The chance has come and gone.
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