Global Leader Insights: Jerry White (Nobel Peace Prize Winner)

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Insights From Global Leaders: Jerry White, Nobel Peace Prize Winner

23 Mar 2021
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Trudging back through memory lane, Mr. Anil Sachdev, Founder & Chairman, SOIL, recalled how he met Mr. Jerry White, Humanitarian activist, for the first time at an event named Gandhi 3.0, a unique gathering in itself where people gathered with the sole purpose to serve. Mr. White is a Professor at the University of Virginia and President of JW Impact Strategies, LLC. He is known for co-leading high-impact campaigns, including the historic International Campaign to Ban Landmines, earning him the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize as a co-recipient. The webinar unfolded into a series of question and answers.

In the opening question, Mr. Sachdev asked Jerry that out of all the things that he had done so far in his life, when was he at his happiest best. Jerry replied that the sheer sight of birth of all his 4 children had been the happiest moment in his life. Drawing a similar analogy, he further replied that he experiences similar happiness every time at the birth of an organisation which meets a cause in this world. Being creative and witnessing his creation take life makes him most ecstatic.

In the next question, when being asked how he learnt that he had a higher purpose in life, Jerry went on to recall his childhood memories. He shared how he grew up as the fifth child in a Catholic family of six siblings. His family was a typical fourth generation Irish immigrant family. His dad was a businessman, but it was his mom who put him on the path of compassion. She always taught him to be concerned about the ones who were below in the ladder and not worry much about the ones a rung above. He shared how his mom would ask him to stay in touch with nature, an ethos he still believes in.

Years later, as a teenager, he realised how spiritual he was as a person. He always looked up to the universe in search of answers, believing that the universe has answers to all his questions. When he turned 18 and went to college, he was mesmerized at the sight of all the smart kids around him. So, he followed them around and decided to pursue Judaic studies. In fact, he was the first non-Jew to graduate in Judaic Studies.

His quest did not end there, and he decided to go to Jerusalem and study Hebrew. On one fine sunny day, when he was hiking with his friends, he stepped on an active landmine and it exploded. He and his friends hadn’t known that they were hiking inside a minefield, with landmines leftover from the 1967 war. Due to this explosion, he had his right leg blown off. He felt as if death had doomed upon him. But that is when he heard a voice, a voice he reckons a strange one, as if somebody asked him to shut up and stop yelling. Upon hearing that intuitive voice, he found silence. The voice told him that there is no way he would die here on a landmine in a foreign land and that he was going to get out of this alive. So, he gathered all his strength and managed to crawl through the field, crawling over a barb wire and got out safe. It took him almost six months in the hospital to recuperate from his injuries where he learnt how to walk with a prosthetic leg.

Mr. Sachdev further asked Jerry how he managed to come to terms with the dreaded incident. To this he replied that it was the excruciating pain that dampened his spirits, and how in the morning everyday he would have nurses with tweezers pulling out shrapnel from his body. The pain was unbearable, but somehow, he knew how to make peace with the pain. His philosophy that every day is different, every moment is different and that this misery too shall pass gave him endurance to bear the pain.

Upon being asked how the journey post this life changing incident had been, Jerry replied that after recuperating from this accident, he went back to the USA. He became inspired to be a global citizen. So, he decided to move to California and began his studies on aspects pertaining to weapons of mass destruction like the Nuclear Non-proliferation treaty, ballistic missiles etc. and how he struggled understanding these concepts. That is when he met Ken. Ken too had prosthetic limbs, after a similar kind of a landmine accident in Somalia.

Ken brought Jerry to terms how landmines were a bigger threat to people, causing more casualties than any other weapon of mass destruction. That is when light bulb went off inside Jerry’s mind and he developed more passion in educating everyone about the big landmines menace are to humanity. This led him and his team to work towards and then seal the 1997 landmine ban treaty.

Mr. Sachdev then further went on to ask Jerry about the time he worked with the late Diana, Princess of Wales. Jerry answered with utter delight that Princess Diana was strikingly beautiful and intelligent and had a persona more transcendental than anyone he had ever seen before. She had a colossal gift of compassion, never to be seen in a celebrity before. Jerry recalled the time when she met the landmine survivors in some of the darker places of the world like Bosnia. It was almost fascinating and heart wrenching at the same time for Jerry as to how Princess Diana managed to collect the inner sufferings of everyone around her. Her compassion towards the landmine survivors was laudable, as if she took some of the miseries of those survivors and walked out the door.

Mr. Sachdev expressed his concerns over the current COVID crisis, and asked Jerry as to how he was reading the whole scenario, and if he had some insights on how to prepare for the future. To this Jerry replied with all perspicacity that one must look for wisdom at this time of crisis rather than searching for answers. Citing all the uncertainties prevalent right now, Jerry said that it was time to press the reset button and to look for new answers.

Jerry drew comparisons to the crisis an amputees faces, something he had a first-hand experience of. According to him, wisdom of survivorship is paramount in such situations and that one should not get stuck in victimhood. Dwelling in the past can be detrimental for this survivor spirit. So, Jerry proposed a sequence of 5 steps which can be beneficial in dealing with this crisis, which I took to heart –

1. One needs to face the harsh facts, no matter how much you hate them. We must keep reminding ourselves that life won’t be the same again, so best be prepared for the changes.

2. Choose life – He asks people to have a purpose in life. Add meaning to life. It might be stormy, but it cannot rain forever.

3. Reach out to people, never fall for an illusion that you are alone. People might be separated, but they are never alone. Even in times of isolation and social distancing, using apps like Zoom can help a great deal.

4. Get moving!

5. And last and the most important, give back. Jerry believes that altruism can be a binding factor in these difficult times. He urges people to do even minimalistic things like smiling back or dropping a text!

Wrapping up another wonderful session of this leadership series, Jerry White, a landmine survivor, taught us not to become a victim of the situation one is currently dwelling in. Pessimistic mindset can dampen one’s spirits and rather than cursing the miseries and waiting for the impending doom, he urged everyone to lift their spirits and fight all odds like a warrior.

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Jerry White is a Nobel Peace Prize Winner of 1997. He worked closely with the late Diana, Princess of Wales and Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan. A Senior Ashoka Fellow, he is a crusader against land-mines.

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About the Webinar Series: SOIL Founder & Chairman, Sh. Anil Sachdev gets into insightful conversations with Global Leaders every Thursday, 6:30 PM – 7:30 PM (IST). Every session will focus on:
- Insights from global leaders on how to become the best version of yourself
- How to leverage your unique talents and strengths to contribute your best to society & your work
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Key Takeaways & Learning by:
Udit Bhalla
PGPM – Business Leadership, Class of 2021

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