Redefining Resilience and Leadership

In “Return to Gorongosa,” Scott Pelley of 60 Minutes, interviews philanthropist and entrepreneur, Greg Carr.

Greg is passionate about rebuilding and repopulating Mozambique’s Gorongosa National Park which was devastated by years of war that wiped out a million people and 95% of the wildlife.

What emerges is a profile of remarkable resilience.

After undertaking the challenge, Greg encountered enormous roadblocks — a civil war that lasted 6 years and a cyclone that leveled 100,000 homes.

When asked: “Was there ever a time you ever thought, ‘I did my best but this isn’t humanly possible?”

Greg replied: “Not for a second! Not for one second. I just think, every time something like that happens it makes you more determined not less determined. And when you’ve got people suffering in a war who need help… or people suffering in a cyclone who need help, you’re more committed.”

The implications of Greg’s commitment are huge for both the wildlife and the people of Mozambique.

“In the local communities, Gorongosa enhances the education of 40,000 children in 89 schools, helps the Mozambican Ministry of Health to provide healthcare to more than 100,000 people per year, and provides agricultural extension services to thousands of farm families.”

Young 13 and 14-year old girls from poor families who, historically, would have been married off now have access to education and the expectation of a career as a teacher, a nurse or a conservation park ranger. After-school clubs, attended by 3,000 girls, provide the resources and support to get into high school.

Greg’s non-profit gives coffee trees to the 868 farming families who plant them and repopulate the forest. Greg also built the farmers a roasting plant and buys the beans above market rate.

Pelley concludes Greg Carr is “an entrepreneur with the empathy to see, the humility to listen, and the optimism to act.”

In Greg Carr’s case, leadership is the expression of his humanity, optimism and strong will which fuel his remarkable resilience and his commitment to his purpose.  It’s no surprise his hero is Nelson Mandela.

At a moment in time when it’s normal to see leaders worldwide driven by self-interest and smallness, it can help to recognize leaders who hold themselves to a much higher standard of ethics and integrity. And while most of us aren’t billionaires, we can take inspiration from Greg for the way he role-models resilience.

Before Greg Carr intervened, there were only 5 or 6 lions in a million acres of park. As of this interview there were likely 200 lions in the park. Sadly,  Scott Pelley notes:”Since 1950, Africa’s lion population has fallen from a half million to 20,000 due to habitat loss and hunting.”