The Temerity Law

Only the one devoted body and soul to an idea and who acts immediately in order to put it in practice can maximize the achievement.

Some people, whose unique feature is seeing themselves at a higher level, can inspire themselves and voluntarily, rarely on others' suggestions, all the necessary steps in order to achieve their goals. They manage to better themselves because they are permanently driven by that inner impulse which encourages them to accomplish great goals.

Leadership: Do you have the courage to break free from the past to win your validity from the point of view of the maximum cost of connecting to the consequences of an illusion?

"For more than 10 years, he served his king, his country, down the line and in all circumstances: by sea and land, in every season and in every sea coast, under the baking sun and in the cold blast. On the eve of his 36th anniversary, after King Manuel rejected his proposal to keep serving Portugal, Fernando Magellan took a radical decision: he had served enough; he had sacrificed enough for foreign interests, for the glory of others. Like every man with creative powers, he felt a deep craving for self-accomplishment."

For a man who wants to come into notice by all means, the chance rises from where he least expects. Studying the secret archives of the King of Portugal, the records with the captains' annotations, the charts and the seafaring maps, Magellan suddenly found an older page written in German and named „Copia der Newe Zeytung aus Presillg Landt".

This page was actually a report which clearly declared that the two oceans, the Atlantic and the Pacific, intercommunicated with one another through a channel. And since Magellan had got hold of an imprecise chart belonging to the famous cosmographer Martin Behaim, which indicated the location of the channel, as of that moment, he decided to achieve the impossible. What Columbus, Cortez, Cortereal, Cabot, Vespuci or Juan de Solis had attempted and with no success, he would certainly achieve.

The most interesting part of leadership is to take a path that has as a point of departure the finding of a "strait" that bears your name.

For Magellan, on the side of success that congratulates leadership of values and purpose, the strait was the point of passage between the moment before the onset of mysterious madness and the moment that changed the outlook on the world.

That map, the localization of the channel and the report which confirmed its existence, were Magellan's true secret. So, his project was far from being original. Although, relying on the chart and the report, at short notice, he drew up a plan of rounding the Earth.

But, amazingly ! Magellan fell victim to a striking confusion. He had been deceived; the data found on that chart and that report were totally wrong, whimsical. Therefore, he dedicated himself body and soul to a transitory illusion. He started looking for a chimera. The channel was under no circumstances where he imagined it would be. But if there were no clouds, we would not enjoy the sun. If he hadn't willingly assumed and accepted an error, Magellan would never have dared rushing into the waves of the great ocean, leading an expedition round the world and finally discovering the true "paso", the true strait, which still bares his name.

Leadership: Can you lift yourself from the anonymity of your existence by acting as a determinant of affirmation in a causal loop of an endless series of failures?

Ad impossibilia nemo obligatur. Nobody is required to achieve the impossible. Nobody can force a man to undertake a journey the odds of which are very low, to make more enemies, to often put his health and life in danger just to fulfill a personal desire, am I right?

Past all doubt, what determines a man to undertake risky and dangerous actions is his unyielding will, issued from a strong inner urge to devote himself to a remarkable and viable idea. Only madmen embark on journeys like remote-controlled robots, without judging their actions, putting their life at stake, or those who decide to achieve something monumental, having a clear idea about the place where they should land and which they are certain they will find.

The servant became an exceptional leader. Magellan, a simple "sobresaliente" , grew into an exceptional leader because he embraced change and knew how to use leadership in a brilliant way. Nobody pushed him from behind, nobody encouraged him, nobody kept his side and he encountered the biggest and most difficult impediments. However, deep inside, he felt he could be more, he could achieve the impossible and, overtopped by a strong inspiration, he alone got up steam in order to achieve his goal. He faced the world. And he won. He hardly managed to organize a fleet, against the King's will, and he fronted to the riots of his crew.

Leadership: By confronting the long duration of a journey, do you benefit from an essentialization favorable to an overall understanding, of which it does not lack the specific contributions to a consciousness of personal value?

Those who were born in the lap of luxury, those who never wanted anything from life, those will never be able to fulfill a miracle. The one who doesn't entertain a great ambition that's really mind-consuming, who would physically arm him for his future attempts, will remain a commoner, an incomplete traveller, admired and observed by nobody.

Magellan is known to be one of the greatest conquistadors of history and a leader endowed with native leadership abilities. He felt he had a destiny to fulfill and, in a fast tempo, he mobilized into the right direction, in spite all the difficulties. Nobody and nothing could hold him back from fulfilling his desire – the one of finding a strait between the Atlantic Ocean and the Southern Sea.

The writer Stefan Sweig has noticed well: "Magellan proved us that a single man, with his brief and transitory life, could turn into reality and into an unfading truth what has initially been a simple desire, a simple dream for hundreds of generations."

Temerity is the test you propose yourself to pass when you understand that what makes it difficult to continue the journey is the shadow of a dream that moves away as you approach the changing point of the walking direction.

P.S. Leaders are action-oriented. When they find a good idea, they immediately proceed in order to put it in practice. Using their reason, their competence and power, always trying new things, they always succeed in advancing towards their goals. They reach their full potential by taking chances and believing in themselves all through, because they are adventurers.

* Note: Stefan Zweig - Magellan , Youth Publishing House, 1955.