DO YOU GET IT DONE?

“One person with a commitment is worth more than a hundred who only have an interest.” — Mary Crowley

My son, a Lt. Colonel in the United States Army, was so impressed with the book, “A Message to Garcia” that when he was a Captain he gave a copy of the book to all his lieutenants to read. When presenting them the book, he would tell them, “There are some people who deliver the goods.  They are the people who get it done! That’s what the Army and I expect of you.”

The inspiring story of A Message to Garcia is the story about Colonel Andrew Summers Rowan, who, when the Spanish-American War broke out, was a young lieutenant in the United States Army. Rowan was chosen to deliver a message from President McKinley to General Calixto Garcia the leader of the revolutionary forces. Author Elbert Hubbard set the stage for the drama that followed by writing in his 1899 essay, “Garcia was somewhere in the mountain vastness of Cuba — no one knows where. No mail or telegraph message could reach him. The President must secure his cooperation, and quickly.”

Lieutenant Rowan held the lowest commission rank in the Army. By having his name suggested to the President, Lieutenant Rowan received the ultimate commendation, “If anybody can find Garcia, it is Rowan.”

After receiving his instructions to deliver the message to Garcia, Lieutenant Rowan shook his commander’s hand.  And without asking one question, he sailed to Cuba with no other help and no other directions than to deliver the President’s message. With only the assistance of native guides provided by Cuban patriots, Rowan made his way into the mountains of the interior and delivered the President’s message to Garcia. The lieutenant faced many obstacles. As the author of this essay, Elbert Hubbard writes, “It was the sheer courage and indomitable spirit of the young lieutenant that were at the heart of the accomplishment of his mission.”

Elbert Hubbard penned A Message to Garcia over 100 years ago. Over 40-million copies have been sold, and it has been translated into 37 languages making it one of the highest selling books in history. Maybe the message of this “old” essay is a new message that I deliver. It’s clear that you should read the book. Download it, have it shipped overnight, or just go to a bookstore and purchase it. You want to own this book; don’t check it out of the library. I support libraries, but they frown on underlining and highlighting in their books.

 

Google suggests that there are 129,864,880 out there in the world. You can’t read them all. I don’t believe many of them are worth reading. This book deserves a prominent spot on your bookshelf after you have read it.

If you are a Lieutenant Rowan, don’t try to hide. The Government, businesses, the military, religious institutions, organizations (for profit and non-profit), sporting teams, hospitals, schools, and universities search for people who accept responsibility, are courageous and have and indomitable spirit.

If I set out to write this article using only four sentences, I would use the words Elbert Hubbard used, “Civilization is one long, anxious search for just such individuals (Rowans). Anything such a man asks shall be granted. He is wanted in every city, town and village — in every office, shop, store and factory. The world cries out for such; he is needed and needed badly — the man who can.”

There is no way, I can know all the readers of this article but I don’t think it rude to ask, “Are you a Rowan? When asked to accomplish a task, do you deliver?”