Richard Tyson
Recently, at the end of a long day, I was searching for a movie to unwind to. I came upon a recent release called “A Million Miles Away.” I was tired, so I figured that even if this flick proved to be less than entertaining, it would lull me to sleep.
As its story unfolded, it became clear that the main characters were a family of migrant farm workers, Mexican nationals, who each year came north to pick the crops that end up on America’s dining room tables. Not more than a few minutes into the film, a young son in the family, Jose Hernandez, tripped and fell face-first into a muddy patch in the field where his family was working. Leaping to his feet, he screamed out in anger about being consigned to the life of a picker. He protested that he was sick of it, that he was tired.
His father responded by asking Jose, “Don’t you think that your mother and I are tired?”
This brought Jose to ask, “How do you do it? You say you are tired, but I don’t see you tired.”
To this, his father replied, “It’s because I have a recipe, mijo.” At this point his dad had Jose’s full attention — and mine as well.
Here is the recipe that the senior Hernandez shared:
Ingredient No. 1: The first thing is that you have to know what you want. You have to clearly define your goal.
Ingredient No. 2: Look where you are standing right now; recognize how far you are from your goal.
Ingredient No. 3: You have to think how you’re going to get from where you are to where you want to be. You have to draw a road map that leads to your desired destination.
Ingredient No. 4: If you don’t know how to proceed on the path defined in Ingredient No. 3, you have to dedicate yourself to learning. You can’t shortcut this step; it is essential.
Ingredient No. 5: When you think you’ve made it, you’ll probably have to work even harder to finally reach your goal.
This little boy, Jose Hernandez, took the wisdom of his father and turned it into reality. He had a little boy dream that many found ludicrous — he wanted to become an astronaut. It filled his imagination and provided his life goal, his Ingredient No. 1. As he grew older, he said, “I think about it every day, every hour. I can’t stop thinking about it!”
Jose was blessed to have a grade school teacher who encouraged him. She discerned his native intelligence and his drive. While others scoffed, she said, “You are a force of nature. Nothing will stop you! Remember that!”
As he came to understand the road map to becoming an astronaut, he recognized the requirements were daunting, to say the least. However, he was undeterred. Over the next three decades, he developed an impressive resume. Even so, he applied, and was rejected by NASA 11 times before finally being accepted into their astronaut training program.
Jose then remembered Ingredient No. 5. He recognized that while he felt he had “made it,” he still needed to prove himself ready to actually go into space. Two years of rigorous training were required before he was offered the opportunity to serve as mission specialist on the Space Shuttle Discovery.
On Aug. 28, 2009, the shuttle was launched to the International Space Station. Jose Hernandez became the first migrant farm worker to go into space. This young man was, indeed, a force of nature. He had worked his father’s recipe to the fulfillment of his little boy dream.
There is much to be learned from the story of Jose Hernandez. His father’s wisdom provides a simple recipe for success. In my career as a business leader and coach, I have developed and used a similar recipe:
Plan: Clearly define your purpose, as well as what will be required to achieve it. Develop a process (a roadmap, if you will) for how to get there. Define the who, what, where, when and how each element of the plan is to be accomplished.
Act: Go to work! Put the plan into action.
Control: Track your progress against your plan. Where are the variances between what you’ve planned and what you’ve actually done?
Evaluate: Recognize where you have fallen short, and what you need to learn — and do — to improve. Be accountable to the standards set in your plan.
Revise: Make appropriate changes to your plan, your actions, or both. Don’t lose sight of your overall purpose. Persevere, but don’t be afraid to pivot to new and better ways to achieve your goal.
Our greatest opportunity as leaders is to facilitate the success of those with whom we work and lead. Providing them with a recipe for success, and then encouraging them to high achievement are among our most important roles.
Richard Tyson is the founder, principal owner and president of CEObuilder, which provides forums for consulting and coaching to executives in small businesses.