Elbert Hubbard Quote If you work for a man, in heaven’s name work for him, speak well of him, and stand by the institution he represents. Remember, an ounce of loyalty is worth a pound of cleverness.

1). Hubbard describes Rowan’s actions as the exemplar of the perfect follower, saying that he carried his message to Garcia, without asking questions, without needing help, and on his own. world cries out for such; he is needed, and needed badly — the man who can carry a message to Garcia” (p. 2).

To show initiative in undertaking important or requisite tasks in the face of difficulties and/or without requiring specific instructions on how to do so.

Rowan
Just 31 years ago on April 24, Andrew summers [sic] Rowan, a native of Union, Monroe county, West Virginia, landed in Cuba carrying his famous message to Garcia.

The rarest skill of all: the ability to execute People like Rowan—who accomplish missions quickly and efficiently, with minimum oversight—are as rare today as they were 100 years ago when publisher Elbert Hubbard wrote “A Message to Garcia.”

On February 22, 1899, in one hour after dinner, American publisher and writer Elbert Hubbard wrote a 1500-word essay titled “A Message to Garcia.” A true story of initiative and responsibility, the essay went on to be printed more than 40 million times.

1898
A Message to Garcia was written in 1898 by Elbert Hubbard originally as an essay in a periodical he published.

Long a staple of military professional reading lists, “A Message to Garcia,” written by Elbert Hubbard continues to be considered among the most important literary works on leadership—and followership. In fact, the style of leadership and decision-making it espouses is downright dangerous for today’s military leaders.

Elbert Green Hubbard (June 19, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American writer, publisher, artist, and philosopher. Hubbard is known best as the founder of the Roycroft artisan community in East Aurora, New York, an influential exponent of the Arts and Crafts movement.

If he pays you wages that supply you your bread and butter, work for him—speak well of him, think well of him, stand by him and stand by the institution he represents. Not that you will injure the institution—not that—but when you disparage the concern of which you are a part, you disparage yourself.

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A Message to Garcia/Page count

“A Message to Garcia” is widely available on the Internet. A 2012 printed edition also contains additional essays by the author; the ebook version of that edition’s essay is the basis for this study guide. Hubbard, a salesman-turned-publisher, produced the essay at his artist colony, Roycroft, in upstate New York.

Note: “A Message to Garcia” is a classic essay about initiative published by Elbert Hubbard in 1899 in The Philistine . The essay created such a sensation that Hubbard republished it as a booklet with additional background and commentary. The text of that booklet appears below.

The essay opens with America’s President McKinley, who, during the war between the US and Spain, needs to get a message to freedom fighter Garcia, who is hidden deep within the jungles of Cuba (then a colony of Spain). An advisor to the President suggests, “There is a fellow by the name of Rowan will find Garcia for you, if anybody can” (1).

And it concerns an American soldier, Andrew S. Rowan, who was supposed to carry a message from then U.S. President William McKinley to Gen. Calixto García. And it was a fairly important task, because the outcome of the Spanish-American war depended upon its success.