In this picture, Terry is standing in the orange coveralls (during a helicopter safety briefing) moments before we flew deep into the marshes of the Chinchauga River (I’ve crossed that river numerous times with him in a small boat, trekking the pipelined miles between wells, heavy equipment slung over our shoulders).

Throughout his 45+ year career, Terry has logged hundreds of hours in helicopters all over Western Canada; his office is the wilderness! That morning in the helicopter, as we circled over a large airstrip and huge gas plant, Terry spoke into our headsets, “I put that airstrip in 25 years ago. When it was completed, I was the first one to land on it to make sure it was safe for others.” That’s always been Terry’s way, first man in, last man out, no one gets hurt, everyone survives, solid planning, adequate measures, fearless leadership.

Now that I’m back in the office with Terry, I could get bogged down by accounts payable, share structures, investor situations, team restructuring, legal processes, and fund raising strategies. Yes, leadership is often about solving problems before setting goals. But, the core of leadership is righteousness and when the timing is right, supernatural pace!

I’ve been rereading C.S. Lewis’ The Voyage of the Dawn Treader to the kids,

Two of Caspian’s men stepped through the postern and after some struggling with bars and bolts (for everything was rusty) flung both wings of the gate wide open. Then the King and his followers strode into the courtyard. Here a number of the governor’s guards were lounging about and several more (they were mostly wiping their mouths) came tumbling out of various doorways. Though their armor was in a disgraceful condition, these were fellows who might have fought if they had been led or had known what was happening; so this was the dangerous moment. Caspian gave them no time to think.

Armed with the proclamation of Clairvaux Manifesto,  and stepping back into the potential of Woodthorpe Petroleum, I open more books.

From Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s The Social Contract,

I must warn the reader that this chapter should be read with care, for I have not the skill to make myself clear to those who do not wish to concentrate their attention. Every free action has two causes which concur to produce it, one moral – the will which determines the act, the other physical – the strength which executes it.

From Soren Kierkegaard’s Fear and Trembling,

In all this he lives simultaneously in the infinite and the finite; in everything he does, he is making the movements of infinity. I am furious with him, for no other reason than I am envious. He has shown infinite resignation, infinite acceptance of life as it is; and in this way he has drained the profound sadness from life. He knows the bliss of the infinite…

He has renounced everything, and also possesses everything. He constantly makes the movements of infinity, but does so with such precision and assurance that he lives fully in the finite.

From Proverbs 28:1-11,

The wicked are edgy with guilt, ready to run off even when no one’s after them;
Honest people are relaxed and confident, bold as lions.

When the country is in chaos, everybody has a plan to fix it—
But it takes a leader of real understanding to straighten things out.

The wicked who oppress the poor
are like a hailstorm that beats down the harvest.

If you desert God’s law, you’re free to embrace depravity;
if you love God’s law, you fight for it tooth and nail.

Justice makes no sense to the evil minded;
those who seek God know it inside and out.

It’s better to be poor and direct than rich and crooked.

Practice God’s law—get a reputation for wisdom;
hang out with a loose crowd—embarrass your family.

Get as rich as you want through cheating and extortion,
But eventually some friend of the poor is going to give it all back to them.

God has no use for the prayers of the people who won’t listen to him.

Lead good people down a wrong path and you’ll come to a bad end;
do good and you’ll be rewarded for it.

The rich think they know it all, but the poor can see right through them.

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