Invictus…

The Latin word “invictus” translates to the English word unconquerable. This is good. Nelson Mandela’s favorite poem bore this title. He memorized this poem and recited it to himself countless times from his prison cell on Robben Island where he was forced to live for 27 years. He left the prison cell and became the President. Few go from prison to presidency. Few.

Today, in practice 169, we learned how most of us act like we’re in a prison even though we reside in the land of the free; home of the brave, not so much. Today we learned the young durp has more in common with Mandela than most. He is learning the high cost of leading anything and attempting to unite his team by trusting them even in the face of sabotage and betrayal. He is becoming a bit less soft as he matures before my eyes. You see, I kick his ASS everyday and am hard on him for a reason – I believe in him. He is proving to be worthy of my belief. He is making quality decisions and he’s making them with rapidiity. He used to think too much. ACT a bit too little.

Today, Heels caught the melody line and stepped up in the process. She highlighted ideas most missed or, like Hopper, simply assumed weren’t his to highlight. You see, at BTL, we watch movies not merely for entertainment. We watch Walk the Line so we can and we watch Invictus so we cannot – be conquered that is. We watch kman and durp, not so we can marvel at their clarity. We watch these leaders so we can go and do likewise. Today, in a couple crazy different but eerily similar practices a couple teams got caught up in the essence of Nelson’s favorite poem…

“It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.”

No wonder Nelson’s identity was that of a President even when his reality was that of a prisoner. What, my friend, is your identity? What are your principles? And, how do your bolted on beliefs guide you through your current storms, calm waters, or anything in between? Thanks, kman and durp for modeling the way. At least a few seem to be taking notice. Focus on the few.

Good…