American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and daredevil Greg Miller took the stage Thursday to share his experience co-leading a 58,196-mile global excursion, resulting in a world record as the first to drive the same vehicle in all seven continents of the world.
It was the adventure of a lifetime, but for Greg it was transformative and one of the most insightful experiences of his life. “When I got home at the end of the expedition, I read my journal… and identified 33 lessons that fall under 1 of 5 categories.” Miller shared five of those lessons with the UVU audience as a Presidential Lecture Series presenter to demonstrate the correlation between land cruising and the work in a business boardroom.
The five lessons were the power of delegation, being open to always learning, being a force for peace, making a difference for good wherever you are, and surrounding yourself with the best people you can.
On the importance of delegating, Miller said, “The process of organizing what needs to be done, prioritizing what matters most, going to work to get it done, and then the accountability to make sure it’s up to standard, when it all came to play through that process delegation, made the trip stay on course and on time.”
With that same conviction, he invited the audience to become responsible not only for their own knowledge, but also to share it with others and always be teachable. “The challenge is to be humble enough and perceptive enough to see those learning opportunities when they present themselves. One of the biggest lessons I learned on the seven was how much I didn’t know and how much I still had to learn.”
He credits the success of the excursion to the team that, even when confronted with harsh, almost impossible weather conditions, continued to work together with respect and a positive attitude. He said that even in the most stressful circumstances, they did not turn against one another. “Because every one of those guys stayed calm and [were] just more concerned about the other guys than they were about themselves… and just the way they handled themselves and the peaceful influence they brought to that stressful and dangerous situation really made an impact on me, and I hope that as I go through the rest of my life, I can have that power of peace on the people I interact with.”
Greg finished by sharing the story of when his daughter gave up her new pair of Converse shoes to a young boy while the team was driving through South America during the Expeditions 7 excursion. “That was such a great example to me of being able to improve somebody’s life in a random situation, total stranger, totally unplanned, but an opportunity to learn what service looks like and how to be a force for good.” He then urged the audience to surround themselves with quality people, not just on the outside but also on the inside. “You have to surround yourself with great people who are not only good at what they do, but they’re good people at heart, and they focus on the greater good.”
Greg Miller hopes to continue to share the many other lessons with the public through a documentary film based on their journey through the crusade across Greenland and through the Landcruiser Heritage Museum, located in Salt Lake City.
Miller’s speech at UVU was part of the Presidential Lecture Series, an initiative to enhance the academic exchange on campus by bringing the best scholars and experts to UVU’s faculty, staff, and students.
The challenge is to be humble enough and perceptive enough to see those learning opportunities when they present themselves.
— Greg Miller
