“Me Do It!”

George Koukis Speaks Personally on
Inherent Greatness in Courageous Initiative

I was working at Qantas, the Australian national airline, in 1973 when one day, the director of finance called everyone into a group meeting. There was an important task that needed to be done and so far no one had volunteered to do it. The department needed to be computerized, and the deadline was quickly approaching.

We knew this was a feat that would require a great deal of technical skill at a time when computers were almost unheard of, and an even greater commitment of time and energy at a time when I worked for Qantas during the day, was going to university at night, and then had a second job waiting tables after I left class. (I did my homework after getting home from the restaurant job—usually after 1 in the morning.)

Though I was a relatively low-level accountant in the office with no computer or programming experience—by any stretch of the imagination unequipped for the job—I felt my hand rising higher and higher in the air when the director asked for volunteers. And from my lips came the proclamation—“Me do it!”— in my broken English.

So the real question is how did the project turn out? Well, I was an accountant, so with a math background the syntax of the coding language—in this case Fortran— was logical and made sense to me. I had bought a book to teach myself and I learned the basics of Fortran in a few hours—in 2 days I’d completed my first tiny project.

In 21 days I had a working prototype of what the director wanted. Within 6 months the people I worked with would say “God has arrived” when I’d show up because they were amazed—it was 1973 and they thought what I did was magic. That led to a promotion at Qantas and more money—I was able to quit my second job.

So “Me do it!”—which to me symbolized not being threatened by what was new and unknown—was really the start of many amazing opportunities and became my personal rallying cry when seemingly insurmountable feats were required in my career.

 Practical Application for Ethical Leadership

Realizing Unimagined Success—Embracing the 'Me Do It!' Mindset

While there may be power in numbers, the incredible potential of one person—especially a leader—is impossible to dismiss. Around the world and throughout the ages entire movements can be traced to one individual with the courage, determination, and persistence to pursue greatness against all odds. From Christopher Columbus to Shakespeare to Albert Einstein, history is rich with examples of cultural, spiritual, and political change and enlightenment owed entirely to a single hand raised in the air, and—often against the prevailing wisdom—a single voice answering “yes.”

Yet, for all their talents and abilities, these leaders are not, in their makeup, extraordinary. They’re all human—a mix of oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus—just like the rest of us. All have felt inadequate, under-qualified, or even a little terrified of what lies ahead. What, then, propels them onward and makes them capable of greatness and success?

The answer is relatively straightforward: Courageous leaders believe in themselves more than they fear failure. The reality is simple—the leash that keeps us tethered to the mundane and status quo is our fear of possible failure. This is especially true for anyone reaching for a goal outside of his or her skill set or area of expertise—the potential for embarrassment, disappointment, and setback that lies on the border of the comfort zone often turns even the most gallant adventurer away, which is a shame—because the greatest ideas are often lurking in unexpected places, and people.

In classrooms and boardrooms around the country, there are people ready, willing, and fully capable of taking the “Me do it!” leap, though some may not yet even realize it. Even when they do, many won’t act for fear of rejection or failure. So the question for tomorrow’s business leaders becomes: how can we nurture and cultivate the dynamic and seemingly fearless attitude that encourages the transformation from internal aspiration to external action?

The transformation begins when we redefine failure as an opportunity.

As business leaders, it means we must embrace with every fiber of our being that for individual motivation to champion over fear of inadequacy, we must create environments that embrace individuals who demonstrate the courage to step up to opportunity—to stand up and publicly state, “Me do it!”—whether what results is immediate success, or a temporary setback that others may see as failure.

Above all, we must stop waiting to evaluate the end result of those “stepping up” to challenges before deciding whether to punish or reward, embrace or shun. When we discover that rewarding the very act of stepping forward incentivizes what we want to achieve, we will succeed in cultivating—and becoming ourselves—bolder, more daring, and higher-impact individuals.

The common theme? Greatness lies just beyond what we consider rational.

Courageous leaders are sharpened, not shaped, by others. But sometimes, deciding to follow your path, idea, or dream regardless of the cost means making decisions others won’t agree with or understand—and sometimes decisions they feel threatened by. That’s where courage comes in—having the perseverance and character to do what you know to be right, even when that means disrupting the status quo or bucking standard organizational behavior.

Courageous leaders also aren’t hindered by the impossible. There’s a time and a place for order and logic—such forces are required to keep enterprises afloat. Yet, equally important is creating environments that encourage and reward endeavors that push the limits of ability and drive. As aspiring leaders it is our duty to transform “baseline” into boldness capable of great impact by redefining each individual’s duty as limitless possibility.