What Dief the Chief Said to Sean O’Sullivan– and Why it Matters

Sean O’Sullivan was nothing if not a boy wonder, being elected to Parliament at age 20, at that time the youngest ever to sit in the House of Commons. Even at that tender age he was politically experienced, having already served as assistant to John Diefenbaker, and tagged for greater things.

But just as his political star shone brightest and he was in his ascendancy, O’Sullivan threw it all aside and entered the priesthood, where he assumed important roles and performed them well. Little did he know that within the decade he would succumb to leukemia, a promise cut short.

But today’s story is about a simple yet profound piece of advice that Diefenbaker, the old warrior, had for his protege.

It’s said that one day after O’Sullivan had risen in Parliament brilliantly to castigate government waste to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, Dief the Chief took his young protege aside and told him this, “Son, the voters have no idea what a hundred million dollars look like. But they do know what a hundred dollars look like, and they know how hard they work to get it. You need to remind Canadians how the government spends a hundred dollars to buy a wrench you can buy at the hardware store for ten.”

Of course, The Chief was right. The old trial lawyer knew the importance of simple, clear, understandable lessons drawn from everyday experience. If you want to capture the attention of the crowd and move them to action, you need to speak in terms of their everyday experience.

All great speakers and teachers understand this. Martin Luther King, in his “I Have a Dream” speech, spoke of the future of his own little children. Churchill spoke not of high ideals, but simply that “We will fight them on the beaches, and we shall fight them in the fields, and we shall never surrender!” In the recent US mid-terms, both Donald Trump and Beto O’Rourke galvanized their supporters with simple, clear and emotion-laden talk about simple things that excited the passion of their followers.

There is a time for the million dollar story, but more often than not it’s the story of the hundred dollar wrench which has the greatest impact.