Can you Deliver the massage to GarciaIwant
youtobetheRowanoftheorganizationreadytoDeliveryour
messagetoGarciawasan instruction given to me by a Superior
officermany years agoI did notunderstand what he meant till I read
the true story of realLieutenant Andrew SummersRowan by one !riter
"ubbard in #$%%& 'fter () years I *now I can deliver the
messageto GarciaYou may think that's arrogance on my part, but it's
not.It's confidence. I knowthat if my seniorhanded me a letter and
said, "Get this to Garcia." I could get it there. and thenext time
I see them I am told, "I'm finished with that.What do you want me
to do next,but that inspirational story that inspired me years bac*
and how it is useful in todaycorporate world I wish to share
"ubbard+s story told of an obscure but important event surrounding
the #$%$ Spanish,'merican!ar&
!ithtensionsmountingbetweenthe-nitedStatesandSpain.whichruled Cuba
at the time/When war broke out between Spain & the
UnitedStates,0resident
1c2inleysawstrategicvalueinestablishingrapport withCubanrebels
should war with Spain ensue&Communication needed to be
established posthastewithCubanleader General Garciatohelp
'merica&itwasverynecessarytocommunicatequicklywiththeleader of
theInsurgents.Just beforedeclaring war, President McKinley was
meeting with Colonel Arthur Wagner, head of the Bureauof Military
ntelligence for the !nited States" #Where#, as$ed President
McKinley, #canfind aman who will carry a message to %arcia
Co'o(eration between the rebel forces in Cuba andthe !nited States
was essential to the success of the cam(aign" t was )ital to
*uic$lycommunicatewiththeleader of therebels, %eneral
Cali+to%arcia, aCuban'bornCreole"%eneral %arcia was somewhere in
the mountains of Cuba leading the rebel troo(s in their fightfor
inde(endence" ,e was ahunted man by the S(anish army" -o one$newhis
e+actwhereabouts" Garcia was somewhere in the mountain vastness of
uba!no one knew where" #o mail nor telegraph message could reach
him"$he %resident must secure his cooperation, and quickly" What to
do&Colonel Wagner did not hesitate in his answer to the
President" # ha)e a man ' a young officer,Lieutenant Andrew Summers
.owan" f anybody can get a message to %arcia, .owancan"#3ieutenant
'ndrewRowanwas recommendedfor thetas*4 5Rowanwill findGarcia for
you if anybody can&'nd so the Commander,in,Chief of the
mostpowerfulnation handed this army officer a letter with
instruction for it to be delivered to Garcia&Anhour later, Col"
WagnerstoodbeforeLieutenant .owan" #/oungman,#
saidthesu(eriorofficer,#youmust carryamessageto%eneral %arcia,
whowill befoundsomewhereintheeastern (art of Cuba"""/ou must (lan
and act for yourself" 0he tas$ is yours and yours only"# Col"Wagner
then shoo$ .owan1s hand and re(eated, #%et that message to %arcia"#
Without as$ingone *uestion, .owan left to find %arcia"'ow (the
fellow by the name of )owan* took the letter, sealed it up inan
oil!skin pouch,strapped itover his heart,in four days landed
bynight o+ the coast of uba from an open boat, disappeared into
the,ungle, &inthreeweekscameoutontheothersideof
theIsland,having traversed a hostile country on foot, and delivered
his letter toGarcia, are things I have no special desire now to
tell in detail".owan deli)ered the message to %arcia and the
res(onse got bac$ to McKinley without .owane)er as$ing, #Where is
he& What does he loo$ li$e& Who are his contacts& ,ow
doget there,e sim(ly too$ the orders and did what he was as$ed to
do" s there a .owan among us& sthere somebody who can get a
message to %arcia without ha)ing to do an interrogation of
hisseniorofficerfirst&stheresomeonewhocanget the2obdonewithout
needingtoha)ehisem(loyer hold his hand until the tas$ is
com(leted& f not, the boss might as well do it himseBottom
line: Rowan delivered the letter against all odds and did not ask
Where ishe at?It is not boo*,learning young men need "ubbard
e6horted nor instruction about thisor that but a stiffening of the
vertebrae which will cause them to be loyal to a trust to
actpromptly concentrate their energies7 8to9 do the thing : ;carry
a message to GarciaD?3I@?R AB-R 1?SS'G? =B G'RCI'&Cow as*
yourself're you the Rowan of your companyD#, 're you available for
assignments any assignment without hesitationand adaptableto
whatever tas* is at hand given by your boss(&'re your
reliable& If your boss as*s you to get something done in a
timely mannerhave it done by that deadline&Bften other
deadlines must be met down the line so do notbe the wea*
lin*&E&Can you figure out how to get it done on your
own&=his is a fine line to wal* but themore you can do on your
own the more burden you relieve from your superior& =hemore
burden you relieve the more grateful your superior will
be&F&Can you ta*e action&So often people get bogged
down in the details that they becomeapoplectic and unable to even
start a proGect& Bften times procrastination prevents eventhe
first step from being ta*en which is most often the hardest step to
ta*e& &H& 're you diligent& it will show your
employer that you do not need constant hand,holding or someone
loo*ing over your shoulder to ma*e sure that you are getting
yourwor* doneI 're you a whinier always laying blames on others
sidetrac*ing issues and raising minorissue Jdelays to big issues to
cover your own faults or are you above that and Gust goabout
completing a tas* in hand amidst all uncomfortable noise around
you
