The strange ways of father 

In 1983, when I was about 16 years old, our family moved back to Greece after fifteen years of exile in Montreal. On his return, my father was appointed General Manager of the General Bank of Greece. Then I noticed him do strange things. 

He refused to accept a salary that was more than ten times the salary of cleaners in the bank. 

“Why?” I asked. 

“Each person is important and necessary in an organization; from the cleaner to the president, we are all equal in value. Huge differences should not exist between wages. If there are profits, they should be more equally distributed amongst the workers of that company. It is a matter of social and economic justice,” he explained. 

Even though he was the boss, he was often the first one to enter the bank in the mornings and also the last to leave, after all the cleaners had gone home. 

“Why,” I asked. 

“Dear daughter, with power comes responsibility,” he explained. 

When driven to work by a chauffeur to the bank every morning, he sat by the chauffeur rather than sitting comfortably on the back seat. 

“Why,” I asked. 

“Out of camaraderie (mutual trust and friendship)” he explained. 

Me? Not impressed! 

Was I impressed? No! I was rather embarrassed. Here I was going to a prestigious international school in Athens where many of my classmates arrived with their own chauffeur in Bentleys and Mercedes-Benzes. The parents of my classmates were mainly CEOs of multinationals, shipowners and even royalty and they had very different ideas than my father. My father’s ideas seemed out-of-place and sometimes I was even ashamed of him. 

Social justice 

Years went by. Then my father discovered a network of corruption in the bank. Many of the former executives, who were army officers, had managed to help themselves and their close family members with not one, but several pensions. These were draining the bank of funds and resources. Unbelievable as it may seem, it is a very common practice in Greece, and it has been one of the main reasons that the Greek state has become bankrupt. When he discovered this racket, he spent over a decade of his life taking people to court, for justice to be served. Most of this he did in his personal time and at great personal risk to life because the perpetrators were powerful former army generals and top military brass. They could have easily staged an “accident” at any time. Thankfully, after many years, the court ruled that the perpetrators had to return the funds and some even were sent to jail. 

Justice at home and at work 

I gradually began to realize that my father risked his life for justice. He was a man like Ikea's late founder Ingvar Kamprad, who, despite being one of the world's wealthiest men, lived a simple life of empathy and with a sense of social justice. I recalled how my father treated all his subordinates with respect at work and helped me and my sister to solve our differences peacefully in a fair manner at home. 

And that’s how I learned from my father the second cardinal virtue, justice (dikaiosunê). I also learned from my father that you have to take action to make justice happen. 

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Alkistis Agio MA, PhD is an Executive coach & Trainer on confidence and leadership based in Athens, Greece.

 

 

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