English

We have right to dream

Last week while in Cuba, I bought a small piece of art from a local painter that I will hang in my office. It was relatively inexpensive, yet contains a powerful message for me as it captured my experience in Cuba and my interaction with the people living in the country they love.

My intention is in no way to be political in the art or my comments, so stay with me a moment.

“We have right to dream”

I love it when others share what their dreams are with me. Over the years I have had several close friends sit at my desk and say “Larry- this is what I dream of doing with my life…” and then they proceed to lay out their dream. Many times I have had the privilege to help them work toward seeing their dreams fulfilled.

In the painting I am reminded that:

Dreams:

• Speak all languages
• Are clothed in all colors of skin
• Are ageless
• Need no passports
• Care not for your social, political, or economic position

We are each impregnated with a dream. Your dreams lie within you longing to be nourished, cared for, and given birth. Your dream awaits you, and you truly have… the right to dream.

 

Like Bent Nails

Last week I was in Cuba working as a carpenter on a construction job at a local church in the interior of the country. I worked alongside a tremendous carpenter named Ernesto. I am sure that Ernesto looked at me a couple of times and thought more than once… “Why do they give me the new guy? He doesn’t even know how to hammer right.”

 Ernesto took his time with me and taught me how to be a “little carpenter” and without knowing it, he taught me a lot about life. One of the 1^st days we went up to the roof to take down the forms that had been used to frame out a wall. As we were taking it all down he instructed me to remove all the nails from the wood.

As I was removing the nails I noticed that the majority of the nails were bent and twisted. So I asked Ernesto where he wanted me to throw these away. And with a perplexed look he answered “Throw them away? Here we fix the nails and we use them again.”

I started to think about the nails and how it compares with the lives of people.

• How many times do we toss people aside who have made wrong decisions resulting in their lives looking all twisted and distorted?
• Or perhaps we feel that because of past choices in our own lives we are twisted and bent out of shape to the point that we can no longer be used.

The reality is, that placed in the hands of the great Carpenter, lives that are twisted and bent can be straightened out and used once again.

If you find yourself bent from your past, there is hope my friend. Get ready to be used once again – you still have much to give.

 

Quick tips for business travelers who want to save time.

Over the last several weeks and the next several weeks I will have logged nearly 50,000 miles flying. Not what you want to do every day, but there are times where you absolutely need to travel. For me this just all happened to build on itself. So I do the best I can to stay sane while on the road and to save time.

This last week I was asked for a list of quick tips for the business man on the road to save time. Here is a list of practical tips.

• Take the 1^st flight out in the morning to your destination. This will usually give you fewer delays waiting for flights to arrive.
• Take the last flight of the day back to your home. This gives you maximum time to work where you are.
• Don’t check any luggage. You will save at least 30 minutes on each end of the flight.
• International travelers should get the Global Entry Trusted Traveler Program. This will save you an additional amount of time upon reentry to the United States.
• Fill out your immigration forms on the plane and ask questions if you are not sure how to fill it out.
• At Security Gates:
• • Don’t choose the shorter line that has a family with young kids (I can say this – I have 5).
  • Don’t choose the line the flight crew uses- this can get crowded quickly.
  • Do use slip on shoes.
  • If you have a doubt of whether it will sound off the alarm or not- just remove it.
• Carry some protein snack bars with you. I carry Granola Bars with me. It’s enough to hold you over when you are in a hurry.

Following these simple steps can save you multiple hours of time at the airport.

Happy travels.

The art of a good lunch

Whenever I travel, and if you have read me or follow me on Twitter or FB you know I travel quite a bit, I always try to arrange for a supper or lunch with someone that will allow me to expand my view on what is possible. Many times I already know these persons, and at other times they are from outside of the publishing world as well. The meal could consist of a simple sandwich or cheese and bread. Other times we have dined full course meals late at night. 

The point is that the meal is important, but what we are having for the meal is not. The key is setting time aside to get to understand the other person and where they are coming from. But I like to go
  deeper than that. In Spanish I call it the secret to the 3 “A”’s of dining with a friend, a colleague, a competitor, a peer, but at the end of the meal- a friend.

There is an old Jewish proverb that says “…as iron sharpens iron, so are the words of a friend…” I enjoy getting together with people who will challenge me to greater things. I in turn always try to challenge them as well. The following, when I am given the privilege of someone’s time allowing me to share the table with them, is what happens during the meal.  Let me quickly give you three points.

• Learn from one another. Ask questions about them, their business, their family, their passions and dreams. Take notes both mentally and on paper. Turn the cell off. This is their time.
• Encourage one another. Listen and encourage a broken spirit. Encourage a tired friend. Pour out.
• Help one another. Offer to help in an area where the friend is in need. You have talents that come easy to you. You will find that the day will come for you to receive as well.

I find it simply amazing when I get up from a table after a great time of putting these three in practice. I am renewed, challenged, indebted, and even humbled. Let me encourage you the next time you travel or simply go to lunch with someone to invest in someone else’s life, learn from them (and be ready to teach), encourage them (and be encouraged), help them (and be helped). It’s in the doing that you receive.

Best to you my friend.

Where is Larry headed now?

As I start to write this the snow is still falling and the temperature outside has finally bottomed out and begun its slow crawl up the slippery gage. Right now it reads somewhere around 15⁰ (f) and looks to be thinking about moving to 16⁰. But I am about to leave all of this and head to South America for about 17 days.  

I will be making a whirlwind trip through several countries touching base with our key customers. Over the last two years most of my travel has been in Spain, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina. While our sales team meets regularly with our customers internationally, admittedly with some of our South American customers it will be the 1^st time that I have met in their offices, in their cities and countries for about 2 or 3 years. I opted for this trip because I really need to get back in touch South America, with our customers, their needs, and the local market.

My travels will take me to the following seven countries; Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela. (Yes- it is summer there) I want to invite you along to follow some of the
posts and tweets that I will be doing form each of the countries as we travel through them- I will share some of what I am learning, hearing and seeing about the local industry as well as what we can do to help the industry and our market position.

To make the most of the trip I have set out both general and specific goals for my trip. Here are my general goals that I want to accomplish in each country:

• Listen and learn from the local publishers, leaders, distributors, and booksellers in each country.
• Listen to what our partner’s plans are for the year and understand how we can help them accomplish their goals.
• Share our Grupo Nelson Publishing priorities and goals for the year ahead.
• Assist our sales team in hand selling a few key products including our new Study Bible from Dr. Charles Stanley.

Here is what I am looking forward to:

• The people and friendships we will renew
• The speaking opportunities
• The shared meals
• The great ideas that will come from being on the road

What I am not looking forward to:

• The more than a dozen flights
• The constant change of hotels

It’s just a ticket for one, but you can follow along if you want to learn about travel, countries, or the Spanish industry on Twitter or just look for my daily posts here on the English site.

Max Lucado - a picture is worth a thousand words.

Here is a quick link to several pictures from our trip so far with Max Lucado in Brazil. You can also follow us on Twitter at #MaxBrazil or #Fearless or @MaxLucado or as a last resort @LarryADowns. I say a picture is worth a thousand words- and that is good- because the blog below is in Portuguese.

Link to Pictures of Max in Brazil.

Follow Max Lucado and team as we travel through Brazil

Today, Friday, Max and team (Denalyn Lucado, Steve Green, and Cheryl Green) just landed in Brazil. This will be the start of a 10 day tour through the main cities of Brazil, speaking at over 16 live events. This is all being done through our publishing group Thomas Nelson Brazil under the leadership of Carlo Carenho.

I will fly down Sunday and join them there in Sao Paolo and travel with them through Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro. I am very excited about the opportunity to see Max and team love on the folks there.

We are going to try and cover this trip just a little different. Let's call it an experiment. We are going to Twitter the tour. English, Portuguese, and Spanish. (if you use Tweetdeck - try the auto translate tool).

Max and I will be Twittering back as well as Carlo and the rest of the Thomas Nelson Brazil team. We will try and share thoughts, pictures, and videos as much as we can to allow those not traveling with us to share in the excitement of the trip.

You can follow us at any of the following: #MaxBrazil #fearless #maxlucado #larryadowns #lucadonobrasil

Below is a video that Max posted to YouTube via Twitter as he was ready to leave Dallas.

Why I take quick trips

Here I sit once again at 30,000 feet. I am returning home again after a whirlwind run to California for a 4 hour meeting only finding myself turning right back to the airport. In fact this time I almost missed my flight out because I was running over at the meeting and was 45 miles from the airport and had about 90 minutes until my flight left. I was driving a bit fast to get back to the airport, talking with Carlo Carrenho from Thomas Nelson Brazil, missed the rental return, had to turn around and pulled in to a frustrated line of Hertz renters who were watching one lady check everyone back in. She was calling the front desk asking for fresh batteries because her machine was running slow. I couldn’t wait for her so I simply left the keys on the car seat and told her to send me the bill (note – if you are a Hertz Gold Member you can take advantage of this). And then I sat down just as they closed the doors- not a bad day’s work.

 If you have followed me enough you know that I have made a practice of flying in, doing my work, and flying out. I love it. I really do.  I have learned that wasted time really is just that- wasted. Not so much from a business point of view anymore because of all the technology to help keep you informed and in full communication. I am speaking from a personal point of view. You know; the life we all have outside of work.

An Update on the Max Lucado Honduras trip April 23 – 25, 2009

This week I returned from a time invested with Max Lucado in Honduras. What a wonderful experience it was with an equally wonderful result. If you will remember, we stated earlier that our goal this year was to get away from trade shows as much as possible and invest that money in key authors travel as well as marketing in various countries. Our desire is to make an impact in a city or country that will in turn have an effect on the consumers of that region for years to come.

 

Max was a joy to travel with. He took the time to greet people, hug on readers, sign a few books, and to hear the heartbeat of the country from the hearts of men and women. Max held several conferences, amongst them was a “Key to Success” conference held at the largest private university in Honduras, UTH (Universidad Technologico de Honduras), a Pastor and Leader’s conference both Friday and Saturday which was held at the Iglesia La Cosecha. But the main event was just that- the main event. He spoke at the Fiesta Catracha on Friday and Saturday evening. This was also televised via the Enlace (TBN) network throughout Honduras and Latin America. On Friday night we had some 65,000 people there, and Saturday was close to 100,000 who packed the field to listen and enjoy the great music as well. It was truly a sight to behold and an evening that I will not soon forget.

 

So there you have our first trip using our new strategy – local impact. I think we are off to a strong start.