Dian Fossey was born in 1932. She became interested in animals from a very early age and enrolled on a veterinary course. At university, she studied occupational therapy, which would help her later research. She became interested in Africa in her late twenties. She took out a loan and went to Tanzania, where she met the man who would change her life, anthropologist Dr. Louis Leakey. Dian Fossey became an American zoologist who studied gorillas in Africa. Her research and life in the mountain forests of Rwanda made her famous. She wrote a book about her work, ‘Gorillas in the Mist’. A major Hollywood studio paid her a million dollars for the movie rights. Her brutal murder in 1985 had to be added to the film.
Here are the 3 Leadership Lessons You Must Learn From Dian Fossey:
- Follow your dreams –
Dian Fossey lived her younger years in California where she stayed with her mother and step-father whose ideologies were very traditional and Dian’s interest for animals were withheld due to house rules. In college, she had to take business classes encouraged by her stepfather which she hated. When she was 19, she was offered to be a ranch hand in Montana where she got completely wrapped up in the animals or anything that walked or flew. But it abruptly came to an end due to her contracting chickenpox. She had to graduate in Occupational theory but after 20 years, she received a Ph.D in Zoology from Cambridge University.
- Be determined and ignite the burning desire inside you to achieve your goal –
Dian always wanted to go to a place where all the animals weren’t driven into little corners and roamed freely. She couldn’t financially afford the trips to reach Africa and began to accumulate literature on safari’s. One particular book “The Year of the Gorilla” by zoologist George Schaller, held the most interest for Dian. This was the start for her desire to learn more about the rare mountain gorillas which was explained in Schaller’s book. She packed her luggage with all the allergy medications she could imagine. Dian was very impressed by Dr. Louis Leakey and his work of the gorillas. Following the visit, saw her first sign of gorilla life of a sleeping area at one the volcanic mountains Mt. Mikeno.
- Deliver success through ambition and excellence –
Dian knew she was underqualified with no anthropology, biology, ethnology, or zoology background but she had already set high aim for the gorillas. She was supported from Wilkie foundation for studying chimpanzees and later supported by National Geographic for her research report. Her pioneering work with the gorillas has forever changed the ways animals are studied in the wild. Her observations of gorillas behavior, dispelled myths about the mountain gorillas violence. She sat unharmed, within a few feet of them almost everyday for 22 years. Dian set up the Digit Fund (now the DFGF) to attract international support for gorilla conservation.Â
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