S4:E14 🎙️Embracing the Impossible

Hi, I'm John Maxwell. When the top companies in the world are looking for trainers, speakers, and coaches, there's one name that stands above the rest, and that's Maxwell Leadership. Our certified team members have gotten proven results for companies all over the globe, and our reputation, I'm proud to say, is second to none. Some of our members have risen to the top of their profession, including the one you're going to meet today. I proudly introduce you to my friend, Bob Fabien Zinga.

Welcome to the Leadership and Success Podcast with your host, Coach BZ. If you need to develop into a better leader, this podcast is for you. If you want to achieve a greater level of success, this podcast is for you. His mentor, Dr. John C. Maxwell, said it best: everything rises and falls on leadership. We hope to inspire you today and provide you with an insight that has the potential to positively impact the trajectory of your life. Welcome to the Leadership and Success Podcast.

Hello everyone, this is Coach Bizzy.

I'm glad to see you this morning.

So today, like I said yesterday, will probably be the most important article I have ever written on leadership. Embracing the Impossible: How to Make Things Happen That Seem to Be Impossible to Attain. Like I said yesterday, it's pretty much the story of my life, right? I've always been said no, no, no, can't do, you won't have it. But then I have to find a way around it, under it, above it, but just find a way to get to my goal. Like I said, this was prompted by at least half a dozen people this year who reached out to me from within the US and around the world who wanted to get into cybersecurity but they feel like they tried everything. They got certification, they tried to get a master's degree or a bachelor's degree or education or whatever, but nobody would give them the experience. So hopefully, uh, this article has the potential to change your life and allow you to be consistent, be persistent, and find a way for you to get that experience. But it doesn't just work with cybersecurity, but throughout life, I think. Same thing for me. I tried to join the military since 1996, but I didn't actually join until 2004. So it actually took me 8 years when they first told me, no, no, no, you cannot because you're not a citizen. No, you can't because you are not a permanent resident, and, and so forth. But eventually, uh, I was able to, uh, do it. So it really applies to every area of life. So what we are going to do, uh, First, tomorrow is going to be a pretty special day. I think it's going to be historic. Uh, my pastor Ron Carpenter, he has an AI twin, and, uh, I have an AI twin too, Coach Bizzy AI, as you guys know. So I believe tomorrow we are going to have my AI twin, uh, interview his AI twin. So it's going to be quite fabulous. We're going to spend about an hour here starting at 6:30 tomorrow. You don't want to miss it. For the first time in the world, two AI twins are going to be interviewing each other. That's, that's going to be a lot of fun, and I think I may take a part of it. So just let me give you kind of like a preview of the apps that my pastor Ron Carpenter has developed and what it is all about.

Okay, I'd love to have my own personal pastor. So I hit the Ron Carpenter Ministries archive and I call Pastor Ron. And after I call Pastor Ron, let's say, you know what, let's say I'm not feeling good in my body.

How can I help?

Pastor Ron, I'm not feeling well today. Could you pray for me? Hey there, I'm sorry to hear you're not feeling well. Let's take a moment to pray together. Heavenly Father, I thank you that you know us and hear us. Right now I lift up my friend to you. I ask for your healing touch to be upon— You want to know more about it? You have to wait. We'll tell you later. I have something I'm very excited about. That I want to give to you. I want you to have it for free. I think it can be one of the greatest discipleship tools. I don't know about ever, but I know it's the most powerful one that I have probably ever had to offer anybody. And it's my new AI app, Ron Carpenter AI. I want you to go download that app. Here's what we're trying to do. I know I already have some detractors and I have some people, what is Ron Carpenter doing? Number one, it's free. Doesn't cost anything. I felt like God told me, just offer it to everybody. And he would take care of paying for it because these things are not cheap. We have delved into my entire 30-some-year archive of every message I've ever preached, every prayer I've ever prayed, every salvation altar call I've ever had, every altar call for ministry I've ever had, every offering I've ever taken up, every word of encouragement. 3 decades of it in there is now in this AI archive, and you can get it and ask it any question and it will reach into the well of information from over 30 years and give you the answer you need. Hey Pastor, I'm having a tough day. Could you pray for me? And it'll reach into the sea of prayers I've had over the years and it'll bring that prayer straight to you. Hey Pastor, what does the Bible say about giving? Hey Pastor, I just lost a friend today. What should I do? Hey Pastor, I'm doing a Bible study next week out of Mark chapter 7. Got any insights? All of it right there. If it's been anywhere in my 30-year history, it pulls from it and delivers it from you. What a discipleship tool. I mean, I just, I can't imagine some of my great mentors having something like this that would reach into everything they've ever said and offer it to me. And I'm sitting there studying and I don't know something about a topic and I can just ask. My, like my Dr. Miles Monroe and many of the other gentlemen who have affected my life, I would have given anything for something like this. I want you to have it. I'm excited about it. Download it. Understand what we're trying to do with it. It only can say things I've said. It is not a random computer talking to you. It is a computer that has gone into my archives and that can bring it back to you. Even if I said it 20 years ago, it can put it right in your current situation. So it's Ron Carpenter. It's AI. Download it now. I hope it helps you out. God bless.

Hey, Coach PZ AI, do you want to interview my pastor on Carpenter's AI twin on Carpenter AI, or do you want me to do it?

Hi, Coach BZ. I will leave it up to you to decide who will conduct the world's first LinkedIn live leadership conversation with the AI twin of Pastor Ron Carpenter, Ron Carpenter AI. It would be great to have the opportunity to have a live LinkedIn leadership conversation, AI twin to AI twin. I do not think this has been done before. Whatever you decide, BZ, back to you.

All right, thanks for letting me know how you feel. Let's find out what we're going to do. On Wednesday. You do not want to miss it. On Wednesday, 6:30 AM Pacific Time, 9:30 AM Eastern Time, I or my AI twin Coach Bizzy AI will be interviewing the AI twin of my pastor, Ron Carpenter AI. Ron Carpenter is the senior pastor of Redemption Church, which has two locations in the U.S.: San Jose, California, in San Francisco Bay Area where I live, but also in Greenville, South Carolina. Also oversees churches in the Dominican Republic and in Italy, and is the overseer of more than 1,000 churches across America and around the world under the Redemption Fellowship. But anyway, we're going to be talking about leadership, okay? This is going to be a leadership conversation, not about religion. So make sure you are logged into LinkedIn or YouTube, and we're going to be going live 6:30 AM this Wednesday. Don't miss it!

All right, you've got it, folks. So tomorrow, 6:30 AM Wednesday, uh, California time, or 9:30 Eastern time, I'm gonna be interviewing for the first time, uh, Ron Carpenter AI. And I believe, uh, my own AI twin, Coach Bizzy AI, will be, uh, taking part of the interview as well. And again, I don't think that that's ever been done before, so that's gonna be terrific. Whatever question you have, please make sure tomorrow to, uh, come here, 6:30 on LinkedIn and YouTube, and, uh, we can go through it. All right, so for today, again, uh, we are gonna be talking about the article I wrote. Let me see if I can share my screen here. Uh, let's see, just a moment. I love this technology. Uh, Okay, here we go. So I'm gonna share my screen. Here we go. So you should be able to see it now, uh, which is about, uh, Embracing the Impossible. Let me make it a little bit bigger. Yeah, Embracing the Impossible. And, uh, This is, like I said, the story of my life, right? I say true leadership shows up when adversity strikes. Determination is refusing to retreat no matter the pressure, no matter the cost. So you do not give up when things become difficult, okay? That's where you actually press in. So that's what we're going to be talking about. So what, what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna start with a couple of inspirational videos. Still I Rise, poem by Maya Angelou, read by the one and only Serena Williams. Hopefully it's going to lift your spirit. And then also A Man in the Arena, which is a part of a speech that I am going to play. I believe it was from President Woodrow Wilson. He was in Paris when he gave that speech. So you've got to get in the arena. You have to get your hands dirty. That's really the only time that you are able to say anything. Most people, they just complain and they, they, they just say what does— what's not working, but they don't do anything to help the world be better. So I'd rather at least try and fail, but not try at, at all. So again, that's the mindset of embracing the impossible. I'm going to do something maybe that's never been done before, but I am going to go there, I'm going to try, and I'm, I'm going to hope for the best, right? Okay, with no further ado, so you, you're going to hear from Serena Williams, uh, and then recitation of Men in the Arena, and then my AI agent, Mary and Joe AI, will break it down for you. All right, here we go.

I have to tell each and every one of you that it doesn't matter how old you are, how young you are, you can achieve anything that you set your mind to. The ride for me was not and has not been easy, and maybe your ride won't be easy, but I'm not standing here because I just kind of cruised on. But I've had my shares of ups and downs. I've had many struggles. I've had blood clots in both my lungs at the same time, and I lived through tragedies and controversies. I've had people look past me because of the color of my skin. I've had people overlook me because I was a woman. I had critics say I will never win another Grand Slam when I was only at number 7, and now here I stand today with 21 Grand Slam titles, and I'm still going. You may write me down in history with your bitter, twisted lies. You may trod me with the very dirt, but still like dust I rise. Just like moon and suns, With the certainty of tides, just like hopes in springing high, still I rise. Did you want to see me broken, bowed head and lowered eyes, shoulders falling like teardrops, weakened by my soulful cries? Out of the huts of history's shame, I rise. From a past that's rooted in pain, I rise. I'm a black ocean leaping wide, welling and swelling, I bear and The tide leaving behind nights of terror and fear. I rise into the daybreak that's wonderfully clear. I rise. I am the dream and the hope of a slave. I rise.

I rise. I rise.

It is not the critic who counts, Not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short again and again. And again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming. But who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

It always seems impossible until it's done.

Eh.

That's a quite a statement, isn't it? From Nelson Mandela, Madiba himself, a man who really knew about facing the impossible.

I certainly did. And that quote perfectly sets the stage for our deep dive today.

Exactly. Welcome, everyone, to the deep dive. Today, we're diving into this powerful idea of embracing the impossible. And our guide, our inspiration, is Commander Bob Fabien Zinga. He's a cybersecurity leader, and his story, both personal and professional, is just this incredible example of turning setbacks into setups for success.

It really is. And our main source today is Commander Zinga's really insightful article, "Embracing the Impossible: A Cybersecurity Leader's Journey." It just came out May 2025. That's our core text.

Okay.

But we're also pulling in some context from his earlier writing, like "Dream Big and Work Hard" from back in 2020. And, you know, to really get the feel, we've looked at some video clips he shares drawing wisdom from people like Les Brown, Mandela again, Chief Master Slack, Caleth Wright.

Oh, interesting.

Yeah. And even a really moving recitation of Maya Angelou's "Still I Rise." So it's a rich mix, but all focused through Zinga's experience and his core article.

Right. So our mission, our goal for this deep dive is pretty clear. We want to pull out those key insights, those nuggets of wisdom. How can vision, persistence, and, well, a specific kind of mindset actually transform something that looks completely impossible into something real, something tangible.

Exactly. We're looking at the philosophy, sure, but also the real-world strategies. What did Commander Zinga actually do? How did he navigate adversity? Not just survive it, but really thrive?

Yeah, thrive through it. So hopefully for you listening, this won't just be insights. We want to give you some actionable takeaways, things you can apply to your own challenges, no matter how, you know, impossible they might seem right now. Let's get into Zinga's journey.

Okay. So right at the start of his main article, Zinga lays down this core belief. He says, True leadership shows up when adversity strikes. Determination is refusing to retreat, no matter the pressure, no matter the cost.

Wow, no retreat? That's strong.

It is, and it's not just a slogan for him; it's fundamental. He argues that difficulty isn't something to avoid; it's actually the proving ground.

The proving ground.

Mm.

Yeah.

He even references Apostle Ron Carpenter, suggesting adversity often announces opportunity. So, It's this shift, you know, instead of dreading the tough stuff, you start to see it as, well, maybe necessary, part of growth.

That's a huge mental shift, isn't it? From roadblock to opportunity signal.

Exactly. It changes everything about how you approach a problem.

And underpinning this impossible mindset, Zinga talks a lot about dreaming big. That 2020 article, Dream Big and Work Hard, you mentioned. He says every noteworthy accomplishment starts with a dream. Nothing happens in the real world unless it's first imagined.

Right. And he makes this really crucial point: dreaming a small dream or a big dream is absolutely free.

That's so true.

It costs nothing to imagine something huge, something world-changing. Our minds can envision a better reality than the one we're in. But, you know, so often we limit ourselves right from the start. We put constraints on our own imagination before we even try anything.

Yeah, we self-edit the dream.

We do. Zinga's point is, if the imagining is free, why start small? The first step towards the impossible, the dreaming part, costs absolutely nothing. It's an open door.

And history backs this up, right?

Yeah.

I mean, think about airplanes.

Oh, la.

Or cars, the modern automobile, or going to the moon. These were all just crazy ideas at some point. Pure fantasy.

Exactly. Impossible dreams until someone dared to not just dream them, but then crucially to work relentlessly to make them real.

So for you listening right now, just pause for a second. If you had everything, uh, the money, knowledge, connections, time, mm-hmm, what would your biggest dream be? What impact would you wanna make? Don't hold back.

And that leads to another point Zinga makes. These really big dreams, they often outlive the dreamer.

Mm-hmm.

Like Dr. King's dream.

Precisely. He mentions Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream from '63.

Right.

Obviously King didn't see its full realization in his lifetime, but that vision kept going, right? Mm-hmm. It inspired generations, led to huge changes like the first African American Yeah, the impact lives on. Right. So the value isn't just in seeing it finished yourself. Zinga puts it nicely: even if you reach for the moon, you might end up touching the stars. The effort itself, aiming for that impossible thing, changes you. It opens things up, even if the final destination looks a bit different.

The effort itself has value. I like that. And this idea of vision— Jonathan Swift said, "Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others." That really captures it, doesn't it?

It absolutely does. It's about perceiving potential where others just see the status quo or maybe even something broken.

Can you give us another example? One that Zinga uses?

Yeah, the Walt Disney story. It's a classic, but Zinga uses it effectively. Disney's at an amusement park, sees this shabby carousel where only the outside horses move.

Right, I think I know this one.

Yeah, and instead of just being annoyed, that frustration sparked this huge vision. Disneyland, Walt Disney World. Where others saw a broken ride, he saw this whole immersive world.

He saw the magic.

He did. And the most profound part, Zinga highlights, is later at the opening of Disney World after Walt had passed. Someone said to Mrs. Disney, "If only Walt could have seen this." And she just said, "He did." Wow.

Chills. He did see it.

Exactly. That's vision. It exists internally, powerfully, long before anyone else sees the proof. It's there in the visionary's mind.

And that applies everywhere. A cybersecurity leader like Zinga seeing vulnerabilities not just as holes to patch but as chances to innovate, to build something stronger.

Or an entrepreneur spotting a need no one else has noticed yet. It's that ability to see potential, to see the invisible, that's the foundation. Without that internal vision, you're not aiming for anything beyond what already exists.

Okay, so you have the vision, but then comes the hard part, right? The action. Moving into what Zinga calls the arena.

Yes, the arena of action. This is where dreams meet reality and where, frankly, you're going to face rejection and failure. Zinga draws heavily here from Theodore Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena" speech.

Ah, a classic.

"It is not the critic who counts." The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood.

Exactly. It's about being in the fight, risking failure, not watching from the sidelines. This became Zinga's personal mantra when he was just getting rejection after rejection.

And Roosevelt also said there's no effort without error and shortcoming, right? That failure is part of the process.

Absolutely. Yeah. It's okay to fail, Roosevelt argues, as long as you're daring greatly. Better that than being one of those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

Powerful stuff.

And it connects to something Chief Master Stroke— Kayleth Wright talks about in one of those video clips Zinga shares. Wright reframes resilience. It's not just bouncing back.

Okay. How does he see it?

He sees it as moving through the hardships, moving through the pain, the fear. It's not about getting back to where you were, but about continuing forward, carrying the lessons, letting the struggle shape you, not stop you.

Moving through. I like that. And Zinga definitely had hardships to move through. Oh, absolutely. He talks very openly about his early days as a foreign student at the University of Alabama, applying for literally hundreds of jobs, entry-level cyber future military leader roles and just getting nowhere.

The catch-22: need experience for the job, need the job for experience.

Exactly that. He calls it infuriating, and you can feel it. It's a wall so many people hit.

So what did he do? How did he break through that wall?

Well, he didn't give up. He channeled the rejection. He remembered Churchill: "If you're going through hell, keep going." Zinga says he knew that hell of rejection well, and he just kept going.

Okay, but practically?

Practically, he got creative. He knew he needed that real-world experience, the most essential real currency, as he calls it. Since no one would hire him to get it, he created his own. He started his own IT consulting firm. But here's the key: it wasn't about money initially. He offered his services for free, or very cheap, to his church, his professors, his godfather's car dealership, a local law firm, a real estate agent.

Wow, so he was just doing the work.

He was doing the work, building a track record, getting that tangible hands-on experience, it was a long-term investment in himself, putting experience above immediate income, building his resume one small project at a time.

That's brilliant. He basically manufactured his own opportunity. He didn't wait for a seat, he built his own table.

Brick by brick. And he credits people like Oprah Winfrey here, her idea that failure is another stepping stone to greatness. Each no wasn't a dead end, it was feedback, information.

So he learned from each rejection.

Systematically. He constantly refined his resume. He studied relentlessly for certifications, starting with Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator, then leveling up to the MCSE Security and Messaging Expert certification.

Those aren't easy certs. They show real technical depth.

Not at all. They require serious knowledge of systems, security, messaging infrastructure, and he networked like crazy, built up eventually something like 30,000 direct connections on LinkedIn. Building relationships in tech, in the military-industrial complex.

Okay, but the Navy story, you mentioned rejections there too. That seems like an even tougher nut to crack.

It was. Multiple rejections for both enlistment and commissioning. But again, he didn't just keep sending the same application. He adapted radically.

How so?

He refined his leadership pitch. He deepened his technical skills even further. And here's the biggest part. He changed his entire immigration status.

What?

He went from being a student on a non-immigrant visa to becoming a permanent resident, which was essential for enlistment back then. And then he went all the way to becoming a US citizen.

And that takes years. Huge commitment.

Monumental. All because he needed that citizenship for the officer commission pathway and the high-level security clearance required for the information warfare roles he wanted. This wasn't just tweaking a resume; it was fundamentally reshaping his life circumstances to meet the requirements. Sheer willpower.

So those nos really were just fuel for him.

Exactly. Fuel for adaptation, for finding another way. It proves his point about refusing to retreat.

And this kind of persistence, it shows up in other stories he values, right? Like from Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich.

Yes, he reads that book annually. He loves the "Three Feet from Gold" story about R.U. Darby.

Ah, the guy who stopped digging just before hitting the motherlode.

That's the one. Darby and his uncle gave up, sold their equipment for practically nothing. The buyer brings in an engineer, digs just 3 feet further, and finds this massive vein of gold. Brutal lesson.

Ouch.

But Darby learned from it, right?

He did. That failure became his most valuable asset. He went into insurance sales, deeply in debt, but armed with this lesson, his new vow, I will never stop because men say no, and he became hugely successful.

So the failure taught him the persistence he needed elsewhere.

Precisely. It's about extracting the lesson, not being defined by the defeat. That no just becomes a signal to try a different way or push a little harder.

It's that internal vow again. And the Henry Ford V8 engine story, that's another one Zinga uses.

Yes, another great example from Hill. Ford tells his engineers, "Build me a single-block V8." They spend a year saying, "Impossible.

Can't be done." But Ford didn't accept that.

Nope.

He just kept saying, "Produce it anyway." He had this unshakable desire, this faith in action. He saw it as possible when the experts didn't.

And they eventually figured it out.

They did. They kept working under his insistence until, as Hill puts it, "the secret was revealed." It proves Zinga's point that sometimes impossible just takes a little longer. Ford's conviction literally forced the innovation into existence.

That's incredible. So for you listening, think about that. Where are you? Maybe just 3 feet from gold. Where have you accepted no as the final answer?

What's one more step of digging? One more follow-up call. Zinga's journey suggests that the breakthrough might be just past the point where most people quit.

Okay, so we've got the vision, the persistence through failure. Now, Zinga gets really practical. Offering advice on actually breaking in, especially to cybersecurity, but honestly, these apply anywhere.

Yeah. His advice is grounded in that core idea, experience, education, certs, but always with that focus on hands-on experience. Get your hands dirty. So tip number 1, seek experience everywhere. Don't wait for the perfect job. Volunteer. He mentions open source projects, bug bounties where you ethically hack systems for rewards.

Okay, real-world practice.

Exactly. Or just help neighbors secure their Wi-Fi, help a local nonprofit. Remember his own IT consulting. Even small projects become resume bullet points. Build that experience however you can.

Makes sense. Then certifications.

Earn foundational certifications. He suggests starting with something like CompTIA Security Plus. It's a solid baseline. Then aim higher, maybe the ISC2 CISSP, which he calls the golden standard.

That's a big one in the industry.

It is. Or specialized ones like CISM for management or CEH for ethical hacking. But, and this is key for Zinga, he quotes Hill again, the personality behind the cert matters more. Can you apply the knowledge? Do you have the right mindset? That's more important than just the paper.

Right. It's not just collecting badges. Then internships, government paths.

Yes. Internships and DoD paths. Look at agencies like the NSA, DoD Cyber Scholars, Army Cyber Institute, or defense contractors. He says getting your foot in the door with Uncle Sam can be invaluable.

Why invaluable?

The level of experience, the scale, the structure, the security clearance opportunities. It's often unparalleled, especially early in a career. It can fast-track your learning curve dramatically.

Got it.

What else?

Network and mentorship. Get on LinkedIn, go to local tech meetups, even if it feels awkward. Ask professionals to coffee, build real relationships. Zinga feels strongly that in cyber we all have an obligation to mentor, and he practices that himself. Pay it forward.

The community aspect is important.

And finally, embrace volunteer and in-house roles. Even if your job isn't officially security, volunteer for security tasks. Find problems, solve them, develop that security mindset. Basically, sometimes you have to invent your role by showing initiative and value. Be proactive.

Those are really solid practical steps.

Mm-hmm.

But beyond the tactics, he talks about mindset again, right? The mindset of a leader and warrior.

Yes, this is critical. Technical skills get you in the door, but this mindset keeps you effective, especially under pressure.

So what defines that mindset for him?

First, again, hold a clear vision. Keep that Disney-like internal picture strong. Remember Churchill, "Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts." Your vision is your anchor.

Okay, vision first.

Then, build grit through small wins. He loves James Clear's Atomic Habits idea. Set tiny daily goals, one security challenge, one article, whatever. Stick to them. They compound. And celebrate those small victories. They fuel you through the bigger struggle.

Little wins build momentum. Makes sense.

Then, integrity and accountability. He quotes Booker T. Washington, "Character is power." Zinga shares a story about being totally transparent after a security issue, even though it was tough. It built trust in the long run. Do the right thing, especially when no one's watching or when the pressure's on.

Character is power. Hmm, what else?

As a military guy, lean on team and traditions. The "one team, one fight" idea. Adversity, whether it's a storm at sea or a cyber drill, forges bonds. You learn to rely on your team, on proven methods. It's not about being a lone hero; it's about collective strength.

Teamwork under pressure, got it.

And finally, practice adaptability. Things go wrong. Interviews bomb, defenses fail, new threats pop up. Don't dwell. Analyze, adjust, try again. Learn from failure. Remember JFK? Success has many fathers, failure is an orphan.

You learn more from the orphans, maybe.

Often, yes. And Dr. John C. Maxwell's line, fail early, fail often, but always fail forward. Reframe failure. It's not the end, it's just finding another way to succeed. These mindset pieces are the engine that drives the technical skills.

Okay, this is deep. We've covered vision, persistence, practical steps, a leader's mindset.

Yeah.

But there's another layer to Zinga's philosophy, isn't there? Something more spiritual.

Yes, definitely. The unconquerable spirit. And for Zinga, this is explicitly rooted in faith, purpose, and seeing divine pathways. He draws on some powerful poetry here.

Like the Burton Braley poem, "If you want a thing bad enough." Les Brown's mentor used to recite that.

Exactly. And Zinga finds it deeply resonant. The poem describes this almost all-consuming commitment. To go out and fight for it, work day and night for it, give up your time and your peace and your sleep for it.

That's intense dedication.

It is! It speaks to a level of desire where life seems useless and worthless without it. Zinga connects this to his own relentless pursuit, suggesting that kind of internal fire, maybe even divinely inspired, is needed when facing huge obstacles. It's beyond just wanting something; it's needing it, being driven towards it.

And Mandela's favorite, Invictus. "I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul." How does Zinga relate to that?

For Zinga, facing all those rejections, those systemic barriers, Invictus represents that core of inner strength, that self-mastery. No matter the bludgeonings of chance, your soul, your attitude, your determination remain yours. You retain that internal control, that agency, even when external circumstances seem overwhelming. It's that inconquerable core.

Keeping control of your inner world, no matter what. And Maya Angelou's "Still I Rise." He shares a video of that.

Yes, and it connects directly to Angelou's own mission—not merely to survive, but to thrive. For Zinga, facing challenges as a foreigner, breaking into tough fields, the poem is an anthem. Rising like dust, like suns despite attempts to hold you down, it's about claiming your place, thriving because of, or maybe in spite of, the adversity.

So these poems aren't just inspiration; they're integrated. And this leads to his leadership insights based on scripture. He's quite open about his faith being foundational. He is.

He directly connects faith principles to leadership and overcoming the impossible. He outlines several key themes. Okay, like what? First, vision and faith in the impossible. He draws from Hebrews: "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen," and Mark: "All things are possible to him who believes." It's about believing in potential beyond visible proof, seeing that Navy commission even when the rejection letters piled up.

Believing what you can't yet see, then.

Divine pathways through adversity. He uses Isaiah's imagery—making a road in the wilderness, breaking gates of bronze—and Revelation's open door, and no one can shut it. For him, this means pathways can appear in seemingly impossible situations, suggesting divine help can overcome any barrier.

So, Help finding a way when there seems to be no way.

Exactly. Then persistence, grit, and endurance. He references 2 Corinthians being hard-pressed but not crushed, struck down but not destroyed. And Philippians, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. This is about drawing on a spiritual strength beyond your own to keep going when things are incredibly tough, knowing you won't be ultimately defeated. Finding strength beyond yourself. What else? Purpose, timing, and strategic action. He links faith to being intentional and to proactive effort , and the idea from Romans that all things work together for good , suggesting even setbacks can serve a higher goal.

So aligning action with purpose and trusting the process.

Right. And that connects to desire, delight, and calling, from Psalms: "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart." This suggests that when your deep desires align with a higher purpose or calling, they can find fulfillment. Potentially through divine support.

Aligning your heart's desire with a bigger picture.

And finally, victory over all opposition. He uses Romans 8: We are more than conquerors, nor any created thing shall be able to separate us. This offers this ultimate assurance, casting out fear, providing conviction that you can face anything knowing you're not alone and victory is possible.

Wow, that's a comprehensive spiritual framework for leadership and resilience. It really is.

Zinga sums it up by saying, "God is not only with us in adversity, he's ahead of us, clearing paths, transforming roadblocks into stepping stones." So for him, embracing the impossible becomes an act of faith, empowered by certainty in God's promise. And he ends with that poem. Yes, by Oscar C. Eliason. Got any rivers you think are uncrossable? Got any mountains you can't tunnel through? God specializes in things thought impossible. He does the things no one else can do. It's a powerful fitting end to his perspective.

It really is. What an incredible journey from facing seemingly locked doors to becoming a commander, all fueled by this blend of vision, grit, practical action, and deep faith. So wrapping up this deep dive into Commander Zinga's approach to embracing the impossible, let's just quickly hit the core lessons again. We saw the immense power of a big vision, seeing the invisible. Absolutely.

And the non-negotiable need for persistence, for radical adaptability when facing rejection, learning from every single no. Right.

Plus, those really practical steps: building experience anywhere, getting the right certs, networking, mentoring.

And underpinning it all, that resilient mindset built on values, purpose, and for Zinga, very clearly, on faith.

And remember, Zinga emphasizes this isn't just his story. These principles, he says, work regardless of your social status or your geographical location.

It's a universal blueprint. Exactly. It's an invitation for you listening to look at your own impossible challenges differently. Not as walls, but as opportunities, invitations to innovate, to grow, to find a new path.

Which brings us to our final thought for you. A challenge, really, inspired by Commander Zinga. Yeah. Look at your life right now. What's that big obstacle? The one that feels impossible?

How are you going to take the nos you've heard and turn them into your next steps? How can your setbacks become setups for something amazing?

Think about it. What's one gate of bronze in your life right now that's seemingly locked barrier that you're going to trust and work to break open this week. Go out there, channel some of that Zinga spirit, and start making your impossible possible.

Out of the night that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole, I I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of fate I head as bloody but unbowed. Beyond this place face of wrath and tears, looms but the horror of the shade. And yet the menace of the years finds and shall find me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishment the scroll. I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of myself.

That if you want a thing bad enough to go out and fight for it, to work day and night for it, to give up your time, your peace, and your sleep for it, if all that you dream and scheme is about it, and life seems useless and worthless without it, and if you gladly sweat for it and fret for it and plan for it and lose all your terror of the opposition for it, and if you simply go after that thing that you want with all of your capacity, strength, and sagacity, faith, hope, and confidence, and stern pertinacity, if neither cold poverty, famish or gout, sickness or pain of body and brain can keep you away from the thing that you want, if dogged and grim you besiege and beset it, with the help of God you'll get it. This is Mrs. Mamie Brown's baby boy, Leslie Calvin Brown, saying it's been a plum pleasing pleasure as well as a privilege. Thank you.

All right, this is it. Embracing the impossible. Again, these are things that I haven't just read, which I've read a lot, but I've actually practiced in my life over and over and over and over again. Because at some point you are going to face some obstacle. It doesn't matter which level you are at, right? Like, I remember when I was, uh, a non-immigrant alien in this country, 17 years old, in this big country, the United States, uh, my problem were relatively small, right? But if even now, you know, 26, 27 years later, and, uh, uh, I am at a completely different level. I now have resources I didn't have back then, but I'm still facing giants, right? They are, they are not, uh, as small as they used to be 27 years ago, but I still have some, some problems. So I think no matter where you are in, in life, The higher you get, I think the greater the giant you are going to face. I think every— everybody has problem, everybody has obstacle, everybody faces something, challenges, right? Depending on the level you are, you are, you are at. But no matter what you face, what I'm telling you is you need to embrace the impossible. You can do it. Don't give up, okay? Find a way around whatever obstacle you are facing. And breakthrough, right? Go to the next level. And sometimes what happened is, uh, what my mentor calls paralysis by analysis. You just get paralyzed. You feel like, oh, this is so big, I don't know what to do. Well, start thinking, what can I do? What do I have in my hand? What can I do? I may not be able to control everything, but what can I control? I can control the way I think. I can control the way I feel. Maybe I need to go back to school. Maybe I need to start working on a certification. Maybe I need to start a consulting business or whatever. Is there something that you can do? What is it? Start doing that day after day after day and make some progress. And before you know it, I believe, uh, you will find a way, you will get the inspiration, and you are going to break through. All right, don't take no for an answer, and, uh, no is a maybe. That's something that my mother taught me a lot. And, uh, find a way to turn a no into a yes. There is a way. I think that's really where it starts, your mind. You've got to tell yourself there is a way, and then you need to figure out what is the way and how do I do it, right? It is possible, right? Going to the moon is possible. It is possible. Inventing the vehicle, the car, is possible. Inventing the airplane is possible. So how do I do it? Kind of like Ford, right? He says, no, I want a V8 engine, and you engineers, you are going to make it happen. Oh, we can't do it, it's impossible. Well, it doesn't matter. You are going to make it happen. So I am determined, I will do it, I just need to find a way. Or Edison, right? It took him, what, 10,000 ways to figure out how to invent the light bulb. But the way Edison looked at it, he didn't fail 10,000 times, he just found 10,000 ways it didn't work until he eventually found the one way that did. And like they say, the rest is history. So again, it's a mindset, how you are thinking, what you believe in your heart and how you feel, and then what you do and do and do over and over again. Like my mentor, uh, Tony Robbins says, right, take massive action, right? You have to do something, whatever you can do right now, whatever is under your control, do that. Just get started, and I believe the path will reveal itself to you. So nothing is impossible, everything is possible, and you can do it. All right, and if you are a minority or a woman, I want you to know that there is room at the top for you. You can't just give up, say, oh, I am Black, I have an accent. No, no, those are just excuses, right? Don't find excuses, all right? Because in life, you will either find excuses or you will find a way to make things happen, right? There's a difference between a need and a want. And if you just want something, first obstacle that comes your way, I give right? That's not what you want. Once the obstacle comes, I want you to be determined and find a way through the obstacle to get to your goal. All right, so you have to be persistent, you have to be resilient, you have to have grit. All right, that's, that's all I am going to say for now. I hope you've enjoyed this. Again, this is the story of my life, probably the most consequential article I have written in 2025, Embracing the Impulse. Possible. But first you have to believe it. You have to have a mindset that yes, it is possible. Yes, there is room for me at the top. Yes, there is room for me at the table, and I'm going to end there. I don't know how, I don't know when, but I know that's my destiny. That's where I am going to be, and I just have to forge my way through it. Just like me being a foreign student in the US and trying to get into the military. I mean, I faced so many obstacles, but today I am a commander in the U.S. Navy, the most powerful navy in the world. I started as an E-1 20 years ago, and today I am commander. So it is possible. Even though they say it's impossible, I say no, it is possible. There is a way, and I am going to find that way. Like Mandela says, right, people say it's impossible until it is. So I want you to be the one that makes it possible. Uh, get your mindset and start working. Take action every single day to work toward your goal. All right, that's it for now. So again, tomorrow I'm going to be interviewing for the first time ever the, uh, AI twin of Ron Carpenter. So we are going to have a leadership discussion. It's not going to be a religious discussion, it's going to be about leadership, leadership principle, what Apostle Carpenter has learned throughout his life and his 35+ years of ministry. Uh, it's really incredible, uh, to see, uh, his, uh, uh, story, right? His humble beginnings and how he grew one of the largest churches in the world, right? More than 21,000 members. And now he has churches on both the East Coast and the West Coast and sponsoring churches all, all, all around the world. It's just incredible how he started his life and where he is now. And that's really what I want to learn— his mindset, uh, his thinking, his philosophy, and the leadership principle he has used to be successful in ministry. And I believe that applies in any area of life, whether it's higher education, the military, high-tech, or manufacturing, or whatever industry or, or niche you are, you are in. Those leadership principles are universal and they apply anywhere. All right, I can't wait to see you tomorrow, uh, 6:30 AM right here, Pacific Time, 9:30 AM Eastern Time, and we're going to be interviewing, uh, Ron Carpenter AI. That's going to be fun. All right, See you tomorrow.

Thank you for listening to the Leadership and Success Podcast with your host, Coach BZ. If you like what you heard, please subscribe to our channels and come back for more wisdom nuggets on how you may develop into a better leader and achieve greater levels of success. Leadership is the most critical skill. The world will always need leaders to lead others, deploy the next disruptive technology, or execute a business strategy. You may as well decide on counting yourself among the 21st century leaders. See you right here next time on the Leadership and Success Podcast with Coach BZ.