Mark Michaux Brown - Outward Bound Lessons to Live a Life of Leadership: To Serve, to Strive, and Not to Yield

To Serve, to Strive, and Not to Yield

by Mark Michaux Brown

Foreword by Richard Leider

Outward Bound Lessons to Live a Life of Leadership

Copyright 2019 by Mark Michaux Brown
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First Edition

Paperback print edition ISBN 978-1-5230-9830-9

PDF e-book ISBN 978-1-5230-9831-6

IDPF e-book ISBN 978-1-5230-9832-3

Digital audio ISBN 978-1-5230-9834-7

2019-1

Book producer and text designer: Leigh McLellan Design
Cover designer: Rob Johnson, Toprotype, Inc.
Cover image Outward Bound

FOREWORD
The Expeditionary Leader, by Richard Leider

INTRODUCTION
The Modern World Needs a New Model for Change

CONCLUSION
What Do These Keys Unlock?

Just two words capture what I would like to say to introduce the book that follows: Rx: To Serve. The Outward Bound motto To Serve, to Strive, and Not to Yieldhas always struck a deep chord within me. And, if there is one great secret to becoming an Expeditionary Leader, it is to never give up on givingto serve.

Life has a way of bringing you back to places that you thought that you had left for good. And I keep coming back to Outward Bound. But my relationship with Outward Bound is a proxy one. I dont claim to have ever been a student on a program (and part of me wishes I really had). But my connection, nevertheless, is deep.

I have served three terms on the Voyageur Outward Bound board of trustees. It was a trustee trek to climb Mount Kilimanjaro that opened up my deep forty-year relationships in Tanzania. And it was after that experience that I was inspired to create Voyageur Outward Bounds inaugural adult courseLife Career Renewal.

The lives of both of my children, Greta and Andrew, have been shaped by their Outward Bound experiences. In fact, Andrew served as the associate program director for Outward Bound in Montana and today continues to consult with Outward Bound leadership.

When I attend Outward Bound gatherings, I gain a renewed sense of the shared affection and connection that alumni feel. And it gets me reflecting on how their experience could have such an impact, often fifty years later.

My theory for that feeling is expeditionary leaders. Enter Mark Brown. As he reflects in the book: I have so many memories of that experience, but what stood out most of all to me was the demeanor and presence of my leaders.... I didnt know what it was they had. I only knew that I wanted it. The end of that first course was the beginning of his lifelong questthe journey to discover what they had.

Mark starts honorably with his own story and challenges. Then he shares the stories of others who are mirrors of serving, striving, and not yielding. This book is a call to discover these possibilities in ourselves to set our own sails outward bound.

Courage is the gateway to freedom, to fulfilling your lifes work, and to answering the call to lead. Courage is the choice to do something that frightens you and that stretches your capability and capacity to grow and give. Courage is the constant companion in Outward Bound and in Marks writing. Without it, youll not take the first step toward your calling. Finding courage is a daily practice. What do you need the companionship of courage for? Read this book as your companion to truly up your courage factor.

Richard Leider
Bestselling author, The Power of Purpose

If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.

Lao-Tzu

Rapid change defines our modern culture and lives. Technological advances occur at a lightning pace, rendering much of what we learn obsolete nearly as quickly as we learn it. We struggle to keep up with the ever-changing landscape, often leaving us in a state of disequilibrium. Some scientists have proposed that our activity has actually issued in a new geologic epoch called the Anthropocene, the time of humans. Our success as a species is altering the very landscape in which we live.