“Wind River” is an excellent movie — one of the best I have ever seen. The location of the movie is on the Wind River Indian Reservation in southern Wyoming. The photography is outstanding, the acting is great and the script was crafted by a sage.
There is one scene in the movie that really got my attention. A young Native American is sitting in the snow, handcuffed, when a wise hunter named Cory Lambert, played by Jeremy Renner, reminds the youth: “You know, you had a choice. You could have left the reservation and joined the Army or gone to college.”
The choice that Lambert gave the youth would have required personal responsibility. Instead, the youth was in police custody, facing prison time.
Now it’s up to you and me to accept the responsibility of taking care of the youth.
The very serious problem that is now facing Utahns is: Who is going to take responsibility for the homeless and who is going to pay for their upkeep? I personally will accept the responsibility for my share of those who are truly in need. I will not accept the responsibility for a bunch of freeloaders who just want an easy way to exist and buy drugs.
The Harvard Business Review, in an Aug. 30, 2012, article, “Take Ownership of your Actions by Taking Responsibility,” details three excellent examples of people who took personal responsibility:
“Honda CEO Takanobu Ito demonstrated taking personal responsibility in real time with his recent actions after the release of the new Honda Civic quickly fell short of expectations. Sales dropped 15 percent. Ito took decisive action, publicly assuming full responsibility for the model’s reception. The origination of the failed concept — his or not — did not matter. All that mattered was claiming ownership of the issue and charting a path forward.”
The Harvard piece continued: “Abraham Lincoln is credited with saying, ‘Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.’” All of us can think of many times when the leaders we admire declined to wait for help and instead pioneered solutions.
Again, from the Harvard article: “The story of [Starbucks] founder, Shari Leidich is a great example of this concept. In 2004, Leidich was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Rather than sitting home pining, Shari assume the responsibility helping others live a healthy life. Leidich saw that there was not a good solution for someone looking for a healthy, appetizing, raw food snack, so she took responsibility for making one.” By 2006, Leidich was making products for sale, and in 2010, Two Moms in the Raw had revenues of more than $1 million.
For the past two years I have been mulling over starting a business that might be a winner. The mission of the business will be to get small-business employees to assume the personal responsibility for their healthcare. The core principle of the business is for small-business employees to follow Harry Truman’s wise advice: “The buck stops here.”
In 2015, I read an article in Forbes called “Taking Responsibility is the Highest Mark of Great Leaders” that provides the road map for my project. The solution is based on behavioral economics and psychology:
1. Think like a negotiator.
2. Use the right words.
3. Don’t dwell on problems.
4. Active surveillance.
5. Empower the small-business employee.
So, let me conclude with a final pitch to go see “Wind River.” At times, director Taylor Sheridan has his characters spell out a little too clearly what they are thinking and feeling. That’s often the case in exchanges between characters Lambert and Martin. But the words are so beautiful and come from such a place of deep truth, it’s hard not to be moved. They give “Wind River” a simultaneous sense of timeliness and immediacy.
Robert Pembroke is chairman of Pembroke’s Inc. and fancies himself on a permanent sabbatical. He can be reached at pembroke894@gmail.com.