It’s unusual, but it’s true. Anne Bonny was sentenced to execution by hanging in Jamaica. Her husband, James Bonny, blew the whistle on her and her friends to the Island Governor to collect a reward. She features in a 1724 book by Daniel Defoe headlined “The Robberies and murders of the Most Notorious Pirates”.
Yet 300 years later Anne Bonny is featured as a role model by a current travelling theatre, an audible book by Amazon, and a statue in Lewes Football Club. Anne now represents the qualities of female entrepreneurship and breaking the glass ceiling in a male-dominated world. She achieved gender pay parity which Lewes Football Club now applies with fairness, the first in the football club in the world to do so.
I provide personnel background vetting services and found my family story while undertaking a background check on my own family. The moral of the story is to prompt the question How often do we judge a book by its cover, or a person on our own impressions and bias? Busy people make fast judgments all the time, especially about other people, without knowing context. People behaviour is often influenced by sudden temporary circumstances and may not reflect their core values.
Current times are tough for many. Let’s give people more slack to weather the storm. Let’s allow more time to reflect if our own judgements and decisions about people are fair. Let’s create more time to get to know people and who they really are by asking more questions. A helpful start can be to undertake a brief free online analysis of our own personal traits. That’s helped me greatly. My family story ends with Anne being pardoned by the Governor to have a child and become a good mother. By helping others we help ourselves.
Clive is trained by UK Gov in Background Personnel Vetting and prevents IP piracy
From Strategic Management Partners Clive Bonny Clive@consult-smp.com