No one knows how JFK would handle the Russia-Ukraine war. But everyone can and should learn from his … More
“Every thoughtful citizen who despairs of war and wishes to bring peace, should begin by looking inward,” President John F. Kennedy (JFK) said in his 1963 commencement speech, also known as his ‘peace speech.’
But looking inward is not what American and European leaders are primarily doing in the Russia-Ukraine war. Instead they blame Russian President Vladimir Putin – and each other – for not doing what it takes to end the war.
So let’s revisit the peace speech. Can JFK’s call to look inward shed new light on the conversations President Trump has with Putin and Zelensky? And what are the lessons about cross-cultural communication that leaders – political as well as corporate – can and should take away from JFK’s call to look inward?
1. Examine Your Own Attitude
JFK says it loud and clear: Successful communication and negotiation depend not only on how well you understand your counterpart. It also, and above all, depends on how willing you are to examine – and challenge – your own attitude. In his words from 1963:
“Some say that it is useless to speak of peace or world law or world disarmament — and that it will be useless until the leaders of the Soviet Union adopt a more enlightened attitude. I hope they do. I believe we can help them do it. But I also believe that we must reexamine our own attitude — as individuals and as a Nation — for our attitude is as essential as theirs.”
Like JFK, leaders must break down their self-examination into three areas: their attitude toward the goal they strive to achieve; their attitude toward their counterpart; and their attitude toward the common interests of all parties.
2. Examine Your Attitude Towards Your Goal
JFK had the same goal during the Cold War as political leaders have today: World peace. But according to JFK, many Western leaders and citizens have a problematic attitude towards peace. In his speech, he said:
“Too many of us think [peace] is impossible. Too many think it is unreal. But that is a dangerous, defeatist belief. It leads to the conclusion that war is inevitable, that mankind is doomed, that we are gripped by forces we cannot control.”
JFK refused to go down that road. Instead he said: “We need not accept that view. Our problems are manmade. Therefore, they can be solved by man. (…) No problem of human destiny is beyond human beings. Man’s reason and spirit have often solved the seemingly unsolvable and we believe they can do it again.”
At a time when humanity is struggling with wars, climate change, health crises, and the unpredictability of digital technology, JFK’s deep trust in our ability to find solutions is uplifting. And so is his down-to-earth reminder that,
“World peace, like community peace, does not require that each man love his neighbour, it requires only that they live together in mutual tolerance, submitting their disputes to a just and peaceful settlement.”
“Our problems are manmade. Therefore, they can be solved by man,” U.S. President John F. Kennedy … More
The solution to our manmade problems is not to ask our neighbours – be they political or corporate colleagues – to change their attitude. Nor is it to build technology that forces change upon everyone. Instead, JFK said, it is to learn from history:
“And history teaches us that enmities between nations, as between individuals, do not last forever. However fixed our likes and dislikes may seem, the tide of time and events will often bring surprising changes in the relations between nations and neighbours.” And so our attitude towards our goal should be: to persevere.
3. Examine Your Attitude Towards Your Counterpart
“It is discouraging to think that their leaders may actually believe that their propaganda is right,” JFK said before sharing some of the discouraging claims coming from the Soviet authorities. But, he continued, it is also a warning:
“A warning to the American people not to fall into the same trap as the Soviets. Not to see only a distorted and desperate view of the other side. Not to see conflict as inevitable, accommodation as impossible, and communication as nothing more than an exchange of threats.”
This may very well be the most important and difficult lesson for all leaders and all people across nations, cultures, generations, political observations, etc.: not to fall into the trap of seeing “only a distorted and desperate view of the other side.” But JFK insisted that “no government or social system is so evil that its people must be considered as lacking in virtue.” And to emphasize the importance of distinguishing between ‘the social system’ on the one hand and ‘its people’ on the other, he said:
“As Americans, we find communism profoundly repugnant as a negation of personal freedom and dignity. But we can still hail the Russian people for their many achievements in science, in space, in economic and industrial growth, in culture, in acts of courage.”
The attitude leaders have towards their counterpart not only affects their own conversations and relationships, it also affects the conversations and relationships of their people – be it citizens or employees. And so JFK’s call to “hail the Russian people for their many achievements” may not just be a reminder to European politicians to distinguish between the Russian authorities on the one hand and Europe’s 145 million Russian neighbours on the other. It may also be a reminder to political and corporate leaders to reconsider how they think and talk about their competitors.
4. Examine Your Attitude Towards Your Common Link
The final lesson, leaders can and should take away from JFK’s speech is that the answer to Sting’s 1985 Cold War song, “Russian”, is yes. The lyrics reads, “We share the same biology, regardless of ideology. What might save us, me and you, is if the Russians love their children too.” But according to JFK, there is no ‘if’. Of course, the Russians love their children. He said it like this:
“So, let us not be blind to our differences, but let us also direct attention to our common interests and the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal.”
That’s it. The final lesson from looking inward with JFK: none of us decides if or when we will die. But we all decide what attitude we will have towards life. Our own and that of others.
