PERSEVERANCE is MAGIC

Perseverance = the reality of magic

The world around us is always in a state of change and moving in a direction, and it is up to us to select what direction one wants his or her world to move in.  Recently, I had the honor of speaking at my Toastmasters Club, Dawn Patrol, I gave a speech entitled “The Reality of Magic.”  The central theme of my speech was that perseverance is the reality of magic.  It is through the day - in and day - out grind that produces the magic that we all want.  Temple Grandin said it well when she said, “People are always looking for the single magic bullet that will totally change everything.  There is no single magic bullet,” I assert instead that there are numerous bullets that create magically states of being that we all want.  Having grown up in a Housing Project community in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I have come to realize that the success I have experienced to date has its magic originating from numerous wizards, mentors, guides and events in my life.  Two of my greatest wizards have been my mother, Roise Lee Hill – Watson and my Headmaster and English teacher, John A Pidgeon.  What these two wizards revealed to me was that I have the capacity for greatest, and that I am the greatest representation of Curtis Lee Hill Jr., moreover with this understanding of self, I was able to understand the magic within Nelson Mandala’s and Bishop Desmond Tutu’s conceptualization of UBUNTU, “if I am to be great, you are to be great.”  No one man or women holds the truth for all, and if one reality seeks and desire real success, it is obtained by daring self to reach out to others and learn, love and be inspired to find your personal best, and those mentors, wizards and guides that receive the call from an apprentice are offering you an opportunity for greatest by giving you a chance for immortality, because your advice, magic chants and counsel is enshrined in the works of that apprentice.  And, you are changing the world in a positive manner by creating a state of being where energy is shared and enabled to move around the world in the creation of a magical state of existence.  The grind is still a grind, but it is transformed into a journey of joy that gives birth to happiness.  Perseverance then becomes the magic that an apprentice uses to sharpen his or her tools.  

And to follow the words of the band Magic!

"Don't kill the magic"

https://youtu.be/_R4qb6_RPUc

This has been a roar from the Lion of the East,” whose words bring comfort and understanding 

Steps in Making a Purpose Real

Now how will I live out this purpose?

My way or route to living out my purpose is wrapped up in three endeavors, obtainment of my doctorate in business administration with a focus on project management, membership in the Toastmasters and the National Speakers Bureau where I can hone my skills as a public speaker/orator who can command a speaking fee of $5,000.00 or more.  The third part of my path is transforming my physical body which stand as my proof of accomplishment of the creation of a deeper and boarder understanding of the science of taking an idea from an abstract concept to a concrete process or defined object that one can be touch and felt.  And, the physical transformation my body is proof and a testament to me that I can have a great impact upon my world.   I start from a weight of 214 and approximately a month membership with Golds Gym and support of a trainer; I now weight 207, with a a defined aim of weighing 180 or less.  Moreover, as I pursue the above path I will live out the mantra of bring value to self, family, and community.  I can no longer keep putting family first when elements or individuals in that family are devaluing self and sucking the value from me.  So, space has to be achieved between me and that family member or members.  Space for me is defined as a mental perspective, which will manifest into a physical state of existence.  Come this April, I will take the steps that lead to my DBA with Capella, which include starting my classes and buying my plane ticket to Atlanta, Ga to attend my residency.  Additionally, I can start the movement towards that goal with the creation of a saving account though PayPal.  Another step that I have taken is finding a possible topic for my dissertation, which is as follows:

Ironman: A model of an Agile Project Manager (a qualitative case study)

Additionally, I will pursue the transformation of my body and mind with the discipline of a five day workout at Gold’s Gym and participating in the Gold’s Gym Challenge, which will aid me in the achievement of goal of a targeted weight of 180 or less with a tone and health body, mind and spirt.  Moreover in accepting the Gold’s Gym Challenge, I am seeking definite results that will cause the world to take notice, but the only opinion that will count is mine and the input of trusted advisers.

My purpose is set, the mode of achieving the purpose changes, but the North Star of the purpose will remain.  I seek to bring value to self, family and community by becoming and being Dr. Curtis Lee Hill Jr., a Lion from the East, whose roar brings understanding and comfort.

The time has come that I now plant my flag and claim my future.  Moreover, I must stop allowing other from taking from and not joining with me in the creation of a better future.  So, I have now decided to pursue my purpose and stand committed to its fulfillment.  

Thomas Edison once said, “Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.”

I have gotten tired of not doing and doing for someone else.  In trying to be the Uncle that I wish I had, and brother that has been an enabler of  ill responsibility.  I have lessen the impact of my talents and skills as a public speaker.  Moreover, I have watched time move pass me and the life that I want to live has turned into a green light off in the distance that is not getting closer, but instead is turning into a hazy image that is crying out to me for action.   Although time is marching forward, I still have time to realize my purpose and live a life of meaning.  In seeking to find purpose in my life I look to my name, Curtis, which in the French language means curtsies.  The meaning of my name Curtis is derived from the Old French curteis (Modern French courteous) which means "polite, courteous, or well-bred.  And, from these words: polite, courteous, or well-bred, I see and understand my purpose as one of service to others.  In all the jobs that I have enjoyed, it has been those endeavors where I have given service or served as a bridge between misunderstanding and understanding.  And, as I look at project management, which has been characterized as herding cats, I find my ship of opportunity. I have adopted a new mantra with my nephews and nieces, which has three parts, one’s aim should be to bring value to self, family and community (Cuncta valet ad se, familia et communitas).  Moreover I have come to see that my purpose is wrapped up and defined in the above mantra of bring value to self, family and community (Cuncta valet ad se, familia et communitas) because without that tirade of focus, one will spin out of control, waste time, effort and resources just in surviving and trying to fill in time with any endeavor that moves one down the road.  And, I have become tired of just moving down the road.  My value is derived and manifested in my ability of taking complex ideas, processes and observations and translating them to a broader audience through the means of public speaking, customer service, and being a trust adviser.  As that trusted adviser, I am not seeking to be the end authority or the creator of a meta – narrative, instead I am adding another perspective and understanding to a situation that allows for understanding to occupy a space where doubt and fear exist.  Moreover, I have come to see that fear is nothing more than False Evidence Appearing as Reality.

I will endeavor top create a reality the bring value  and understanding, so I will commit and discipline myself to a weekly blog. Within, this blog will be my personal exploration of leadership, development of personal content for speeches and the sharing of my story of transformation.  So hold on let's began the journey of understanding and development.

LEADERSHIP & COLLABORATION 

Leadership, what is it?  One of the greatest aspects of leadership is engagement, which can lead to collaboration.  A quote that pertains to collaboration is the following quote from Robert Penn Warren from his book, All the Kings Men, (1946):

The creation of man whom God in His foreknowledge knew doomed to sin was the awful index of God's omnipotence. For it would have been a thing of trifling and contemptible ease for Perfection to create mere perfection. To do so would, to speak truth, be not creation but extension. Separateness is identity and the only way for God to create, truly create, man was to make him separate from God Himself, and to be separate from God is to be sinful. The creation of evil is therefore the index of God's glory and His power. That had to be so that the creation of good might be the index of man's glory and power. But by God's help. By His help and in His wisdom (437).

Warren offers an admonishment to those interested in leadership to realize that one can have an effect but that effect and affect will strengthen, and broaden with the addition of others, an organization. Collaboration is seen as acting or working together with the success of others and self as a central goal where a win – win operational state is possible and achieved (Maital & Seshadri, 2007).

Procter and Gamble’s (P&G) in its drive to achieve improved innovation rates used collaboration.  P&G had to find a way to amass, analysis, and direct the use of volumes of information and have the external and internal communities communicate and create new modes of operation. P&G determined that it needed an open marketplace where the internal and external would compete, and external ideas would receive the same hearing as internal ideas within the organizational culture (Drake, Sakkab & Jonash 2006).  .  With this new perspective, P&G created a culture that started embracing innovative ideas found elsewhere, and in the end P&G doubled share price, cash flow, profits with a success rate of innovation reaching a level of 75% (Drake, Sakkab & Jonash 2006).  Dell Computer’s collaboration with FedEx, UPS and DHL enabled Dell to set standards in customer service by morphing a mass production model of computer manufacturing into a mass customization model of production with low overhead cost (Maital & Seshadri, 2007).  The above models of collaboration are proof positive of the saying that many heads are better than one.

Thus, two heads or multiply hands focused upon a define task can have an impact on the value of an organization and individual leadership.

References:

Drake, M.P., Sakkab, N., and Jonash, R.,  (2006, Nov/Dec) Maximizing Return on Innovation Investment.  Research Technology Management. 49 (6), 32-41 and 10.

Maital, S., & Seshadri, D. V. R. (2007). Innovation management: Strategies, concepts and tools for growth and profit.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Response Books.

Warren, R. P. (1946). All the kings men.  Orlando, Fla.: Harcourt Brace.