Malala Yousafzai is 16 years old. If you haven’t seen her on the news yet, you will soon. She’s been nominated for a Nobel prize. After having been critically wounded by the Taliban, she’s gone on to find her voice. She carries a message that the education of women is a critical step in achieving freedom in her home country of Pakistan.

Rick Rescorla worked security at Morgan-Stanley/Dean-Witter, in New York at the World Trade Center. He was fervent about preparation, performing safety drills over and over, which every one else did NOT always love. But on September 11, 2001, his ability to remain calm and deliberately perform his duties saved lives. He safely evacuated over 2,700 people and was last seen on the tenth floor, ascending the stairs to evacuate people from other companies on higher floors.

In another time and place these two people wouldn’t be recognized for having similar purposes. But we can see that they do. One uniquely advocates for education, the other was just doing his job. Both Reversed the Flow and put the needs of others above their own.