Lessons from Quicksand: Leadership in Brazil

 

When I was a kid, I used to watch reruns of Gilligan’s Island. One episode that stuck in my mind was when Gilligan found himself trapped in quicksand. I remember thinking, Is quicksand even real? And if it is, what would it feel like?

Yesterday, I found out.

I set off on what was supposed to be a beautiful 15K trek around Pituaçu Park, a massive nature preserve in Salvador. About 5 or 6 kilometers in, I came across a bridge under construction. My options were either to turn back or trust the makeshift logs someone had laid across the river. Choosing adventure, I opted to cross (of course) and tried not to think too hard about what might be swimming beneath me.

The moment my left foot hit the soil on the riverbank, it began to sink. Slowly at first, then deeper and deeper until my outstretched right leg kept me from going any further. After what felt like forever, I managed to pull myself out, but the jungle had claimed my sneaker forever. I peeled off the other shoe and walked the remaining ten kilometers in socks. It wasn’t comfortable, but I couldn’t stop laughing at how ridiculous the whole thing was. I also had to endure the strange looks from onlookers as I made my way out of the park and down the busy sidewalk to my place.

It struck me later that this was the perfect metaphor for life—and I have my new life here in Brazil to thank for the lesson. I love my job in the tropics, and I’m grateful for the amazing people I’m meeting along the way. Each day is a new adventure filled with growth. I’ve even learned to navigate the impossibly narrow streets of colonial Salvador in my car. And then there’s the language. Earlier today, I managed my first full grocery checkout entirely in Portuguese. It might not sound like much, but for me, it was a milestone. I still have a long way to go, but those small victories matter.

That’s the thing about life and leadership: you will sink sometimes. And when you take risks, you may even lose a shoe along the way. But if you keep moving forward, laugh at yourself when things go sideways, and celebrate the small wins, you’ll not only survive, you will thrive.

Sometimes I’m stuck in quicksand, sometimes I’m cruising through traffic that makes no sense, and sometimes I’m just trying to remember the right verb tense at the checkout line. But through it all, I’m reminded that leadership, like life, isn’t about avoiding the unexpected. It is about embracing it: mud, socks, and all.