Discover the Unknown

The Amazon Rainforest is perhaps the most remarkable place on planet earth. It consitutes 54% of the earth’s total rainforest. It covers 2.5 million square miles, nine countries and produces 20% of earth’s oxygen. There are riches in the amazon, most of which await discovery.

- One third of the planet’s bird species reside here.

- Half of all plant species, some ten million, can be found here.

- Over 3,000 different edible fruits are here in the forest.

- Yet only about 200 of them are well known to the western world.

- It is estimated that there are approximately fifty undiscovered tribes within this lush, mysterious place.

Every tributary, every trail leads to new discoveries and a wealth of new information. It is the most undiscovered resource on the planet and as leaders, we would do well to learn from her.

When was the last time you explored your people as you would the Amazon? Whether you are aware of it or not, they are your greatest asset.

What talents, what wisdom, what new insights lie deep within them?

What treasures can you uncover to transform your organization in new ways?

You will never know the depths of your people without intentional, adventurous inquiry. Sit with them, begin to explore... The treasures that you will uncover will blow your mind and transform your leadership awareness as never before. Tap into the wealth, start the journey.

Trickle to a Force

High up in the Andes of Arequipa Peru, near a simple trickle marked with a white cross, is a melting snowflake. If that snowflake melts and drips to the West, it ends up in the Pacific Ocean. If it drips to the East, it begins a 4000 mile journey to the Atlantic, known as the Amazon River.

It’s an amazing thought that a melting snowflake on the cliff of a mountain called Nevado Mismi eventually becomes the world’s largest river. As the water joins with other waters is steadily grows to become a force. Until, at last, 219,000 Cubic Meters per second rush into the Atlantic ocean on the eastern coast of Brazil.

As leaders, we should remember that each little spark of an idea has the potential to become a transformational force in our organizations. We must constantly scan the horizon, asking; “What other ideas can I bring together with this one to create something bigger, something almost uncontrollable.” Truly transformational leaders possess the innate ability to see the bigger picture and assimilate data while on the journey. Just like the amazon, as you combine, connect, and let thoughts incubate, the sum of those thoughts become greater than their parts.

The next time you have that small, lateral thought, STOP! Throw it out to your team or your direct reports. See if the streams of thought come together as something larger, and continue to let it grow, turning your Trickle into a Force.

Refresh and Renew

The Malecon 2000 is an amazing sight. A completely redesigned, vibrant place to which travellers from the world over come to walk, shop, mingle and be seen. Located in Guayaquil Ecuador this riverside boardwalk has become the country’s safest, most frequented site for both tourists and locals. However, this was not always the case. Like so many Urban Renewal Projects, the riverfront was transformed because someone had a vision of what it could be. For years, the crime rose, the building became dilapidated, and finally someone said “Enough!” Because someone had vision, people were mobilized and monies generated.

As a leader, when was the last time you looked at your organization with eyes from the outside.

When was the last time you asked yourself:

• How does my organization look to the outsider?

• What do others see that I do not see?

• When will I finally say “Enough!?”

First impressions rule the day and the sad truth is that many of us have lost individuals because of that first impression. Whether it be something as small as a product or as large as an organization, you have a very small window of time to leave your mark.

It has been said that any prospect makes their decision in the first minute of the encounter and the remainder of that precious time justifying why, or why not, your product or service is for them.

If necessary, bring an outsider in, to speak frankly to your deficiencies. Eyes from the outside can see things that you never will. They can tell you what you don’t know.

If your organization is to be all that it can be, always remember to “Refresh and Renew.”

Missing the Mark

Mitad del MundoIn 1736 French explorers set out on an expedition ordered by the King to prove or disprove the prevailing theory of the day, that the earth was not perfectly round but oval in shape, with the circumference at the equator being smaller than if measured through the earth's poles. Two teams were dispatched, one to the north pole, the other to the north of Quito Ecuador. Triangulation was done in the Andes along the tops of Ecuador's many volcanos, measurements were made, and the exact middle of the earth was marked. Today we call it the equator, and those French explorers marked the very spot at San Antonio de Pinchincha approximately half the distance between Quito and Ecuador's northern border with Colombia. Much effort went into these measurements and the marking of the earth's center was heralded as the greatest human accomplishment of it's day.

In 1978 a huge monument was constructed at the very spot where these explorers had marked. Several Interpretive Centers and Museums surround the great granite monument and it is today one of the major tourist attractions for those visiting Quito. Thousands come each year to straddle the line, one foot in the Northern Hemisphere, the other in the Southern. The tragedy, unbeknownst to these thousands of tourists...

The monument is in the wrong spot!

All that work, thousands of visitors who never actually accomplished their goal of straddling the equator, the cost of constructing the monument, all for naught! Problematic mapping datum and current GPS technologies have shown that the actual equator is 240 meters to the north. Thousand of tourists, coming from Quito have failed in their endeavor because of faulty information.

As leaders we must remember to acquire all available data before making a decision. To check and double check the facts. We must intimately know our current reality and embark upon our quest with adequate tools and resources to accomplish the task with excellence. If we fail to commit to these foundational actions we also run the risk of...

Building the Monument while Missing the Mark.

Afterthought:

So what now? How does Ecuador solve the problem? They don't! They propagate the lie. Thousands still come. They pay for this adventure and are not even aware they have been deceived. You see, the monument is too costly to relocate or to move. It makes for nice pictures!

Ask yourself...

How vested are you in a lie?

Is it time to do the right thing?

What happens when they find out the truth?

We must be leaders of integrity.

SEE MY VIDEO TITLED "MISSING THE MARK" FILMED ON LOCATION AT THE MITAD DEL MUNDO MONUMENT IN QUITO ECUADOR. THERE ARE TWO VERSIONS, ONE FOR LEADERS AND ANOTHER FOR CHURCH PLANTERS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FYYn-QJ9To

OTHER VIDEOS

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rickbcurtis&aq=f

Identity... Being who I was created to be

I reread Orwell’s Animal Farm tonight and was reminded of the corruption deep within the heart of man – or pig – should you be familiar with the satire. The story goes something like this: Mr. Jones, the farmer, runs his farm in the normal fashion, that is, until his farm runs him off in a quite abnormal set of circumstances. After years of living under dictator Jones, Old Major the boar, the wisest of the farm animals, sows the seeds of revolution, inspiring a revolt which places the farm in the hands of the animals. Farmer Jones’ Manor Farm is renamed Animal Farm and the animals actually manage the farm better than Jones.

You see, the pigs had wisdom and they stepped up to the role of strategists and ran the farm with the core truth of the equality of all animals. They recognized that one gift is no better than another, they are simply different. Each gift was used in a way that benefited the society as opposed to the individual. Communism at its finest. Ahem...

But the real problem was, after the death of Old Major the boar, there were two power pigs left to guide the farm, Snowball and Napoleon. Two pigs, two visions. Therein lies the problem. While Snowball ran the farm the farm ran well. He was inventive and always thinking of the farm. Napoleon however, had self interest and was tired of Snowball’s ingenuity. In a coup of epic proportions Napoleon uses his soldiers, the dogs, to run Snowball off of the farm. He forcibly takes control. What results is inhuman animalistic behavior perfectly typical of the fallen human animal. History of the farm is rewritten, laws subtly changed to mean something different, and Snowball is systematically vilified until his memory is a symbol of evil. Napoleon, the Hitler-pig sets himself as the supreme ruler of the farm. But that’s not all…

Evil has a way of taking hold and turning one into something unrestrained. Napoleon does not simply rule with an iron hoof but begins a campaign of genocide to intimidate and prevent questioning, and by way of admiration does the most evil of deeds... He begins to act human.

The animals--at one time--had a mantra, a summation of their core beliefs, it stated; “Four legs good, two legs bad.” It was the foundational belief that helped to free them from the oppression of man. However, over time, man is exactly what Napoleon aspired to be. He learned to read, to bargain, to speak and to write. He even learned to drink alcohol and eventually walk on two legs. He changed the mantra to; “Four legs good, two legs better!” He became the object that inspired revolution in his previous master, Old Major. He became evil through self interest. He exalted self and forgot about others. In fact, the book ends with the animals peering in on a conversation between their leader, Napoleon the pig, and their enemy, the humans. They glance back and forth from pig to human and from human to pig, and in the final words of the book, it was impossible to say which was which.

Jesus called us light in darkness, light that cannot be hidden. The ones peering into the windows of our lives should be able to readily tell if we are darkness or light. They should not be pushing their noses to the window and trying to discern whether we are pig or human, sheep or goat. This world is an animal farm for sure, and I choose to be a sheep, I choose to hear “Well done good and faithful servant!”

I will be who I was created to be. I will be as good to my neighbor as to myself. I willseek humility not authority. Authority is given by God. Created a sheep, I will remain a sheep, and be the best sheep I am able to be.

When It Rains It Pours

[Note: Written a few years]

The beauty behind storms of adversity is that they tend to reveal who you truly are. For me it means focus and a sharpening of mind and action. But it also means a hint of calculated, emotional removal from the circumstances. Down to business. Hear Father. Do as instructed. I do not know whether this is a good or bad, healthy or harmful. I will leave that to the reader. However, after a week like this one, I thank Father for the ability to focus in the downpour. Life is grand and full of tragedy at the same time and I am often reminded that without the knowledge and covering of Father’s sovereignty it would at times be too difficult to bear. May I share?

The funny thing about storms is that--many times--they come out-of-nowhere. Skies are clear and then, “Crack!” Lightning splits the sky. Saturday was such a day. The skies were clear and the weatherman had given the “Thumbs Up!” On the sidewalk before me I saw the first drop of water darken the concrete. Little did I know it would be a violent and vicious storm.

Crack!

My elderly grandmother, who had always been both physically and mentally strong, suffered a massive stroke. Grabbing the umbrella, I braved the weather and made my way to her side. Praying into her--I believe--understanding ear, I shared Father’s spiritual and physical healing abilities so that she would have hope. It gave me hope as well. He and only He could speak through the noise of the rain and clear her storm.

Crack!

The next wave of the storm came in the form of a hostile dialog with an individual with whom I had to stand my ground for what was morally right! Without getting into it, Father was being portrayed as evil in a storm of hostility and I had no choice but to stand for Him. So again, I grabbed my umbrella. You see, I love Him--He gives me breath--and I had to make a stand on the side of righteousness. It brought harder rain, but I chose to ignore the downpour and do what was right.

Crack!

The storm had now grown to the height of its intensity. A call from the Sheriff’s Department… “Chaplain, we need you right now! We’ve got a dead baby! The guys are having some trouble handling the scene. We need you here.” So I grabbed the umbrella again, and flying to the scene I ministered in the storm.

It seems that the eleven-year-old babysitter decided she would give the one-year-old baby boy a bath. She was distracted and left the room. It was raining so hard by now that the child was left floating in one of the enemy’s puddles.

The baby was without a heartbeat for more than ten minutes and when I left the chopper was preparing to transport the child to Children’s Hospital. What did I do? I placed my umbrella over the child. I laid hands on him and prayed to Father. As the child was being prepped for flight, he opened his eyes and began to have a seizure. Is he alive today? I may never know. I did my part. I covered him with my umbrella. I protected him from the rain. It was all that I could do. That was all I was meant to do.

Clear Skies…

Right now, as I write, the umbrella is closed and in my hand. I have peace. The umbrella of Father’s sovereignty gives me that peace. The storm lasted four days. The sky still has clouds in it, they have not fully rolled away. Grandma is still in the hospital with little improvement, the hostilities from my moral stance are unsettled and I still have no idea about the child. However, the umbrella is right here in my hand, and I will open it again when the first drop of water appears on the road before me.

Hesitation Remorse

Michael Jackson - Oscar - CasanovaThe backdrop is the Sahara with the tops of the great pyramids in the distance slightly obscured by the sand and dust filled sky. The characters are my son Bryan upon a camel named Michael Jackson, my brother Robert upon a second named Oscar, and me upon the third named Casanova. The journey is a desert trek to the great pyramids of Giza. The lesson: Embrace moments in the unknown.

I had feared the moment and now suffer from hesitation remorse.

When you caravan across the Sahara the camels are necessarily tied to each other, each one with a rope firmly affixed to the saddle of the camel ahead (think of all those Christmas cards with the three wise men silhouetted at the top of a sand dune). This keeps these magnificent (albeit ugly) beasts in line as they have learned in their domestication that they cannot break free.

Toward the end of our journey we were situated on the crest of a dune with a great view of Giza. I asked the guide, using hand signals and broken English, if he would take a picture of the three of us, shoulder to shoulder, on our camels. "Yes, yes!" came the reply and he quickly began to untie each of our camels from the other. With switch in hand he smacked, yelled, and aligned all three camels so that he could step back and frame the scene. It was a beautiful picture, a Facebook favorite.

Having taken a couple of frames, the guide stepped forward and began to tie Michael Jackson to the saddle of Oscar. Much to my surprise, Casanova, noticing the guide had turned his back, realized that if he would ever be free from the switch of his taskmaster, that was the moment! In what became a futile attempt at freedom, he bolted!

With a voice that surprised me, sounding not unlike my morning voice, I pathetically whimpered, "Uh..." and quickly realized that I would need to do better than that. I ratcheted it up a notch with a nervous, "I'm leaving, Hello..." When that didn't work I cried out with conviction, "Hello!" Finally, the guide came running at us, switch in hand, screaming words of Arabic in what sounded like a Jihad moment of anger and subdued Casanova with a few good smacks of the switch and a tug or two of the rope. After a bit of commotion and a few deep breaths, I found myself once again leading the caravan as both Oscar and Michaelwere tied behind Casanova and the journey to the pyramids played itself out in all it's splendor.

Looking back on that moment, I ask myself why I did not immediately cry, "Help!"

After much thought, I have become convinced that some deep inner desire, which I refused to let surface, yearned for the adventure that the circumstance had presented. However, that deep longing for adventure was subdued by my fear.

In fact, I now wish that I had shut my mouth, overcome the fear, and held on tight for a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I can see myself bolting across the Sahara, bouncing like a golf ball in a blender on the back of that camel! Our guide would have found me... Eventually! Besides, a camel can go ten days without water. I had let my anxiety ruin an unbelievable life experience. I am not saying that the experience-to that point-had not been glorious, it had been. However, what fun it would have been galloping across the Sahara on the back of a camel running for his freedom from a tyrannical taskmaster. I had missed a life moment. One that others would have talked about for a lifetime.

I am typing this later in life and I realize that leadership is very much like that day. Every once in a while you are going to have the privilege of just holding on. There will be moments that at first seem out of your control, but as you tighten your grip, learn to steer, you will find that you possess the ability to navigate a grand adventure. Let it happen! Be pensive, resolved and keep your wits but do not forget to enjoy the ride. Today, I tell my own leaders that vision is good, but achieving the vision is not where the excitement is. The excitement is in the progressive, sometimes out of control, journey of getting there. This admonition reminds me of a bumper sticker that I recently saw on the back of a souped up, red, 1965 mustang. It read; "Get in, buckle up, hold on, and enjoy the ride!"

As leaders, if we learn to enter the territory of apprehension, unfamiliarity, and fear, it may just lead to our break-out moment. If it does, we will be remembered for that ride into the unknown. However, if we back out when faced with that fear, we will continue in the status quo and that break-out moment will be lost forever.

I will never be able to recreate that moment on the back of Casanova. It is, regrettably, gone forever.