Thud! It’s Time For Puerto Rico Leaders To Really Lead The Island’s crisis requires revitalized leadership to create the next Puerto Rico. By Manuel R. De Juan vW. 20-January-2017 Puerto Rico’s situation after hurricanes Irma and Maria reminds me of the movie Cast Away. A FedEx plane goes down in a terrible storm. All the passengers perish except the main character, played by the inimitable Tom Hanks. He is marooned on a small deserted island. After struggling to survive, the castaway falls asleep only to be awakened by intermittent sounds in the middle of the night: thuds. Minutes go by. Thud. He fears there is someone else on the tiny island, and anxiously yells “Who’s there?!” The sound of waves and wind are the only answer. Minutes later, thud. Later, a coconut falls next to him. Thud! Events in Puerto Rico since September 2017 are deafening thuds. Today, nearly 40% of the Puerto Rico Power Authority’s clients don’t have power. Thud. The Whitefish scandal. Thud. Hundreds of schools and businesses without power since September 2017. Thud. A massive exodus of Island residents relocating stateside. Thud. And possibly the biggest thud of all: the intensifying activity of a fiscal oversight board mandated by law by the United States Congress, much like a tutor is imposed on a wayward adult child. Recovery progress is happening, but the Island’s grand challenges remain intact. Leaders of Puerto Rico: how many more thuds will it take to spring you into action for bold collectively- engineered initiatives? Cast Away is a movie about survival, confronting fear, and fundamental life choices. The castaway has two stark options. Either try to survive or wait to die. Either to live his remaining years alone talking to himself, or to cast off into the open sea to regain his whole self. Either to hang on to misery, or to risk everything for a real life. The year 2018 confronts Puerto Rico’s leaders with such monumental choices. Only together, through true multi-sector collaboration can we overcome this test, endure, and progress. Puerto Rico leaders must lead! Otherwise, much like the movie’s castaway, we will remain alone, merely surviving, and talking to a volleyball painted with the blood of the people of Puerto Rico; a fantasy face to keep us company, while pretending we are not alone in the abyss. NO! Puerto Rico’s magnificent people deserve much, much more. A recent edition of Knowledge@Wharton, the Wharton School’s e-publication has a piece on leadership titled “Why Leaders are Made, Not Born” (http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/forged-in-crisis/). The people of Puerto Rico need leaders who really lead. We need courageous individuals who answer the late Israeli president Shimon Peres’ call to allow no room for small dreams. Leaders who are allergic to mediocrity and intolerant of corruption. Leaders who understand best-in-class benchmarking and bold strategic actions for true progress. Humble leaders who respect and listen before they speak; and even while speaking continue to listen with their ears and eyes. Leaders who doubt because they know they don’t know it all. Leaders who feel that their greatest duty is to inspire and enable the actions of others, and to ensure a pipeline of future leaders. Leaders who give up power so that others may lead. Leaders of Puerto Rico, it’s time to REALLY lead. Are leaders made or born? One answer can be found at the end of another movie in which Tom Hanks is also the protagonist: Forrest Gump. In a scene for the Thespian ages, he says: “I don't know if we each have a destiny, or if we're all just floating around accidental- like on a breeze. But I think maybe it's both. Maybe both is happening at the same time.” (See it at the 8:30 mark on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFvASiMTDz0 ) Anyone who puts one step in front of another ---physically or intellectually--- can be a leader. Enterprising, even if just to walk, is self-leadership. Some are called on to take a step forward to confront great difficulty. Others are called on to forge paths on which their followers can walk towards their own destinies. Let’s be frank. In recent decades, many in Puerto Rico who could have led with devotion and valor opted to shy away. The commonly-accepted rationale for the dearth of activism was fear of the toxic methods of some among the powerful. Now the crisis is deep, and stakes are too high. Timidity now guarantees disaster soon. Those who can contribute are called upon to act. To whom much has been given --- be it intellect, education, profession, talent, or other wherewithal --- much is morally required. To those who would stand in the way, now is the time to step aside. To the privileged, if you find yourself constrained from leading, perhaps you could consider engaging in true philanthropy. Life in Puerto Rico changed forever between the 6th and 20th of September, 2017. It’s time to adjust. As a society, we cannot pretend otherwise. The New York Times’ editorial laid it out bare: “Puerto Rico Is American. We Can’t Ignore It Now.” That should start with Puerto Rico’s professional tier. Perhaps during the next eighteen months, you could cut back on travel & entertainment and devote the savings to help others. To do otherwise while people are suffering in Puerto Rico is, at best, unseemly. In the movie Gladiator, the aging emperor Marcus Aurelius says to his trusted general Maximus: “There was once a dream that was Rome. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish... it was so fragile. And I fear that it will not survive the winter.” Having given his all to duty, honor, and the glory of Rome, Maximus prevails. His last lines in the movie are: “There was a dream that was Rome. It shall be realized. These are the wishes of Marcus Aurelius.” We could use such thoughts, devotion, and valor in Puerto Rico today. Or are these only the stuff of fiction? Are we to be less than at our finest in face of so many new bolsillos of socio-economic despair, reminiscent of those in the 1894 novel La Charca which depicted the harsh life in Puerto Rico’s mountain towns? Make haste, leaders of Puerto Rico. Fulfill your duty. Together, make us believe in the dream that was once Puerto Rico. To those who have lost faith, remember Mark 11:24: “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Some might translate this into contemporary parlance as “then fake it ‘till you make it”; or “just do it!” There may be storms that can’t be weathered, but we can overcome this crisis and prevail. We now know that we can survive Nature’s wrath. We are stronger. Now is the time to cast-off our fears, and boldly go forward collaborating on strategic initiatives born of big dreams. Nothing is as potent as the thrust of sheer willpower. For the sake of our children and their offspring, let’s band together to create the next Puerto Rico. To get there, a modest proposal: every day let’s ask ourselves “what have I done today to help the people of Puerto Rico.” It’s time to lead, follow, or get out of the way. Now. After all, Anthony Bourdain was absolutely right when he stated: ”Puerto Rico is, of course, so easy to love.” Manuel R. De Juan vW. Startup CEO, WELCOMING PUERTO RICO E. [email protected] .