Going Big! with Kevin Gentry

Episode: President Lech Wałęsa on Faith, Courage, and Going Big for Democracy
Air date: September 15, 2025

Overview

This episode features a powerful conversation with Lech Wałęsa, legendary leader of the Solidarity movement, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and former President of Poland. Host Kevin Gentry guides listeners through Wałęsa’s extraordinary journey from shipyard worker under oppressive regimes to global democracy icon. Wałęsa reflects on the courage, faith, and vision required for world-changing leadership—past, present, and future—offering urgent advice for a world still struggling to reinvent itself.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Courage to "Go Big" Against Communism

[03:48]

• Wałęsa recounts the context for resistance: observing that communism was exhausted even as the world moved beyond it.
• He describes shifting from theoretical ("it'll take World War III to change anything") to practical ("let's do the work") thinking among those at the Gdansk shipyard.

Notable Quote:
"Theoreticians said that it would take World War Three to change anything. But the practitioners such as me said we need to find reasons, reasoning which would help us. And so we got to work."
—Lech Wałęsa [03:48]

2. Inspiration from Childhood & Family

[05:16]

• Wałęsa recalls being a child in 1953, overhearing adults' hatred for communism and Soviet control, and dreaming (at 10 years old) of ending their rule.
• He didn't act on this ambition until years later when chosen to be a strike leader at the shipyard, but the early idea reawakened and sustained his confidence to persevere.

Notable Quote:
"I thought to myself, I'm gonna study and do everything that I can. So to get rid of them. Of course that was unrealistic for a 10 year old. I actually forgot about this for years ... and I started putting it into practice."
—Lech Wałęsa [05:16]

3. Diagnosing and Healing Democracy

[07:37]

• Wałęsa emphasizes the world hasn't yet built a secure new order after the fall of communism.
• He identifies a "seesaw situation" in global politics: people’s mistrust, bad decisions, and the obsolescence of old institutions (even democracy as structured post-WWII).
• Calls for redefining democracy and helping superpowers, especially the U.S., play a decisive but persuasive role.

Notable Quote:
"All the organizations, political parties, even democracy itself from that old era is obsolete. We need to amend everything. We need to redefine what it is all about. We need to see why people don't believe in democracy anymore, why they don't defend democracy."
—Lech Wałęsa [07:37]

4. What Does Peace Mean Today?

[11:24]

• Wałęsa insists that ending communism was just a step; real peace comes from achieving a new, stable equilibrium globally.
• He credits U.S. support for Eastern Europe’s NATO accession, especially Bill Clinton’s decisive actions, as pivotal for consolidating the freedom won by Solidarity.
• Advocates strongly for Clinton as a Nobel Peace Prize nominee for these contributions.

Notable Quote:
"My strikes, my Solidarity, that was beautiful. It destroyed the old order, but didn't put us back into a certain equilibrium. That's why I would like to go on record that you support me in supporting the nomination of Bill Clinton for the Nobel Peace Prize because it was his decision [that] led to the consolidation of our victory."
—Lech Wałęsa [11:24]

5. Overcoming Fear—Through Faith

[16:15]

• Wałęsa reflects on personal sources of courage: a sense of mortality and religious faith.
• He draws on faith in God, humorously comparing God ("like a latest generation computer") and being "a bit afraid of my wife" as primary motivators.

Notable Quote:
"My faith helped me. My faith in God, of course. My God is like a latest generation computer and I need him a lot. The world needs him a lot. He needs the presidents, plural. Presidents needed him a lot. And God heals us from fear. I was always afraid of God, and I was a bit afraid of my wife as well."
—Lech Wałęsa [16:15]

6. Global Leadership Beyond Nation States

[17:59]

• Argues that today’s challenges (technological, organizational) surpass what nation states can manage.
• Calls for global or continental solutions led by the U.S. and, for Europe, by its largest countries.
• Warns of repeating past civilizations' mistakes if structures don’t modernize.

Notable Quote:
"Nation states are too small to deal with our problems. Today, the entire problem of the world is because we are not keeping up structure wise and organizationally with what is going on."
—Lech Wałęsa [17:59]

7. The Prescription for Leadership Today

[22:47]

• Wałęsa urges today’s leaders to seek honest diagnoses of global problems, allowing for mistakes as part of progress.
• Emphasizes the need for dialogue, community wisdom, and separating good ideas ("wheat") from harmful ones ("chaff").
• Reiterates his role as a catalyst for discussion and encourages young leaders to boldly identify and solve today’s challenges.

Notable Quotes:
"You need leaders for that, so that we can enter the third millennium with good solutions. This is the task for today. So we need to talk, we need to meet. We should arrive at the proper diagnoses, just like in medicine."
—Lech Wałęsa [23:48]

"I'm just a catalyst for discussion and people will see what needs to be done themselves. That's my role and that's the role I see for myself. All right. And too old for any other sort of leadership. ... I want to inspire young, talented people through my means and also to diagnose the problems we've got."
—Lech Wałęsa [25:44, 26:16]

Memorable Moments

• Wałęsa’s humor and humility in discussing fear:
  "I was always afraid of God, and I was a bit afraid of my wife as well." [16:15]
• His robust insistence on the unfinished work of democracy:
  "To build a new world order ... we need to amend everything. We need to redefine what it is all about." [07:37]
• Candid acknowledgment of limits and legacy:
  "I'm too old for any other sort of leadership. ... I want to inspire young, talented people ..." [26:16]

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------| | 03:48 | Challenging communism and the courage to start | | 05:16 | Family background, childhood dreams | | 07:37 | Diagnosing the “seesaw” of democracy, redefining leadership | | 11:24 | Peace, NATO, and Clinton’s role | | 16:15 | Overcoming fear with faith and humor | | 17:59 | Outgrowing nation states—global and continental solutions | | 22:47 | Advice for today's leaders, “proper diagnosis” and collective wisdom | | 25:44 | Wałęsa’s catalyst role, call to young leaders |

Takeaway Message

Lech Wałęsa’s story is about finding courage through faith, never ceasing to challenge the status quo, and recognizing when the structures of the past no longer serve the future. His greatest advice: honest diagnosis of problems, discussing them openly, and inspiring new leaders to “go big” for the common good. Above all, Wałęsa reminds us that, together, communities can achieve world-changing progress.