The Rarest Skill of All

This week our lesson material centered on leadership and execution. The reading that hit home for me was “A Message to Garcia” from the Acton Guide. In it they tell the story of a man named Rowan who was a “go to” person in a dire time of need. He was able to accomplish an important task without detailed instruction or a team of people. He simply just got it done. The following quote describes the type of person Rowan was and how rare someone like him is:

“People like Rowan—who accomplish missions quickly and efficiently, with minimum oversight—are as rare today as they were 100 years ago when publisher Elbert Hubbard wrote ‘A Message to Garcia’.”

When I was employed full time I was asked by one of our executives to put together a financial report that included our sales by category compared to those of our competitors. This task really wasn’t difficult; it was just a matter of building the report and then populating it as soon as all of our competitors reported their sales. I did just that and began to submit the report each month. The second time I completed this task I received an email thanking me for outstanding work and dependability in accomplishing this task. My boss was copied and I was again recognized simply for doing what I was asked to do. Since then my advice to family or friends who are out in the workforce is: “If you want to stand out, simply get the job done”. Now that I have read “A Letter to Garcia” I have learned more and can expound on execution. I will certainly be referencing this for years to come.