Persistence

There is another saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going!” I have often told students in my classes and clients that I have counseled that there is only one thing that you absolutely must do to win a race – finish it!  Everyone starts the race, but only the finishers have any hope of winning.  You may win, or you may only place, but if you quit you will lose – this is an absolute fact!

Leaders are charged with the responsibility of leading.  This means you really don’t have the option of quitting.  If you do, you are no longer a leader and someone else will fill your vacancy.  You cannot pretend that something is stopping you from achieving your goals.  They can only stop you if you let them.  Leaders must take action.  Good leaders tend to be lucky leaders, but good leaders often make their own luck through perseverance.  B.C. Forbes, founder of Forbes magazine, once said, “Nobody can fight their way to the top and stay on the top without exercising the fullest measure of grit, courage, determination and resolution.  Anyone who gets anywhere does so because they are first firmly resolved to progress in this world, and then have enough ’stick-to-it-iveness’ to transform their resolution into reality.  Without persistence, nobody can win any worthwhile place among their fellow men.”

In the movie, “We Were Soldiers,” Mel Gibson plays the role of Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore, commander of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, in the attack in the Ia Drang valley in Vietnam.  During the battle, LTC Moore’s unit was taking a beating and it looked like they would be defeated and massacred.  I think in such a situation most of us would, at the very least, be discouraged by the events unfolding around us.  To make a long story short, the 7th Cavalry won the battle.  After the battle some of LTC Moore’s officers reported that during the battle LTC Moore seemed to “tune out” and look inside himself.  When asked about this later, LTC Moore said that at those times he had to mentally separate himself from the current situation, step back and look at it from the outside, and ask himself three questions:

1. What’s happening?
2. What’s not happening?
3. What can I do to influence the action?

Persistent leaders take action.  Like LTC Moore, we need to sometimes “step back” and ask ourselves those three questions and then act on how we have answered them.

After leading the first Malcolm Baldrige based assessment of an organization, I was given a framed, desk-sized poster titled, “The Essence of Persistence.”  It defined persistence as, “The power to shape the future is earned through persistence.  No other quality is as essential to success.  It is the sandpaper that breaks down all resistance and sweeps away all obstacles.  It is the ability to move mountains one grain on sand at a time.”

At times like this, we have to remember, there have always been times like this.  We need to find the strength to step up to our responsibilities as leaders, and take action to influence and create a positive outcome.