TEDTalk – Barry Schwartz Reminds Us To Have Moral Heroes

Barry Schwartz is awesome. He urges all of us to “celebrate moral exemplars.” Who is a moral hero that inspires you?

I could say Gandhi, Einstein or Nelson Mandela are moral heroes (and they are). But they are easy choices. Here’s one you may not have heard of: J.P. Hayes.

Hayes is a golfer who won a chance to join the PGA Tour in November 2008 and then disqualified himself because he realized he had played two shots on one hole with a ball that was not approved for competition.

He broke the rules and turned himself in because it was the right thing to do.

If you think he overreacted because no one would have cared and he should have kept his mouth shut, have a look at the damage on your last retirement account statement and ask yourself where we all would be as a country (heck, as a world) if the jokers in our financial system had that kind of inner clarity and integrity.