Have you ever felt you just needed to step in and make a difference? What if you had the opportunity to be part of changing an entire culture of a nation? Would you just say, “I’m in!” or would you ask numerous questions about the cost, the logistics and more?

In February 2013, at an event in Orlando, Fl. an emotional story was told by John Maxwell about his recent trip to Guatemala. The average age in Guatemala is twenty years old. There are severe gaps in living conditions, education and general wealth as in numerous other Latin American countries. The biggest difference in the case of Guatemala is the country, the people, the entire nation are ready for change.

In the audience that day in Orlando there were approximately 700 hundred speakers, coaches and trainers. Some, like me, signed up on the spot without knowing any details, to join a group to travel to Guatemala at their own expense. We were going to train people in Guatemala in seven areas of influence in the country – Transformational Leadership.

These areas are government, business, education, churches, family, military, media and arts. Today, our group of over 140 coaches met with our translators in preparation for presenting to our Guatemala audiences over the course of the next three days. The goal is to train approximately 15,000 people.

Each of these people will then train approximately ten people each over the course of the next six months. Effectively we will have trained close to 150,000 people.

Every single coach paid their own airfare, room and food costs to be here. It is a pure volunteer activity. The entire group is part of The John Maxwell Team. Guatemala Prospera and La Red are part of the team who has laid the ground work for this to take place. At the Palace in Guatemala City, this evening our entire team was applauded in person by the President of Guatemala. We applauded President Otto Perez Molina for his support of his people and their best interests to allow them to grow and learn.

Every single coach is ready to present for two – four hour sessions in the next few days to people who are hungry for change. They each know their country needs change. Each of us is ready to embark on our journey to bring change to an entire nation. One step at a time all marching to the same drum, hearing our own beat, following our hearts to make a difference.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified executive and personal coach who resides in Stamford, CT.