She was smeared by right-wing media, condemned by the NAACP, and canned by the Obama administration. It wasn't pretty, what was done this week to Shirley Sherrod.

And maybe something good can come of it. The thought occurred to me after reading her now-famous speech, which is about the power of grace and the possibility of redemption.

Here's a way to get some good. This September, when school begins, we should make the speech required viewing in the nation's high schools. It packs quite a lesson within quite a story.

At the Wall Street Journal Peggy Noonan draws a powerful lesson from the Shirley Sherrod's speech. Not much politics here, just wisdom. Let's hope we all learn from this incident.

The book Wisdom of Crowds delves into this. Groups of people make more accurate decisions than individuals, for example.  In other words, asking for help is scientifically proven to enhance the quality of the decisions we make.

Simon Sinek recounts what he learned when he realized that he couldn't do everything by himself. The revelations that got him to a moment that made it possible for him to learn are recognizable to us all:

1. I learned I wasn't good at everything

2. I didn't have the energy to do everything

3. I failed

I guess I learned these lessons the hard way, too. The challenge now is to continue asking for help when I need it and to help people I work with be more effective and make better decisions, too.

Q. What was the lesson for you?

A. Every time you take on a new role, building credibility is incredibly important. I don’t think you do it by being smarter than everybody else or knowing more necessarily than everybody else. I think you do it by rolling up your sleeves, by showing commitment, by proving that you’re willing to learn, by asking for help.

All those things earn you credibility, especially if the people who work for you feel like you’re not going to sit back and take credit for what they do, and if they get a sense that you’re going to support them, help them grow.

Dawn Lepore's interview in today's New York Times contains this gem. I wish I worked for more people who believe this; I hope I show commitment to the people I work with.

Garr Reynolds called attention to this video at Presentation Zen. He winds up his comments simply "Her message and delivery were wonderful," and the TED tagline for all its videos is "ideas worth spreading." They're both right.