Surviving and Thriving in Difficult Times

“When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.”
Ralph Emerson

With our economy in peril, unemployment rates rising, and war raging around the world, it is easy to understand why so many people find themselves in a state of shock, fear, and confusion. Feelings of despair and hopelessness can easily consume us and destroy us during difficult times if we allow them to. However, we do not need to be defeated during difficult times. In fact, we can choose to thrive! Really, the choice is ours.

During the most difficult and desperate times in our lives, rather than despair, we need to increase our hope by taking action and pressing forward. We must not allow despair and fear to cripple us to “in-action”, but instead we must take action! In fact, we can get excited during difficult times, because they present us with the greatest opportunities for personal growth and success. Having perseverance and hope during difficult times will help us to succeed even in the most perilous times of our lives.

Perseverance

The old adage of “press on” has never been more important to each of us. As leaders, we must keep our heads held high and move forward with quiet determination and perseverance in spite of what may be going on around us. Setting goals, nurturing our hope and confidence, and surrounding ourselves with a positive support group will help us to persevere. Those who are most persistent and have the will to take action time and time again despite difficult circumstances are those people who are most successful in life. Never giving up through perseverance is essential during times of difficulty.

Hope

There is reason to have hope as well. When times are tough it is time to grow. I recently read that in Chinese, the word “crisis” is written by using two characters that represent danger and opportunity. Difficult situations may be dangerous, but they present us with an opportunity to show our resolve and push ourselves to greater achievements. Just as “smooth seas do not make skillful sailors,” a life without challenges does not produce a great person. History is full of tough times and major setbacks, and it is also full of people who overcame extreme challenges to come out on top. Indeed, many people have made their mark on history by taking action during their most dire circumstances. Hope and action are critical to success during difficult times!

In the end, the personal problems we may be facing and the challenges of our country and our world are not a reason to fear and despair, but they are instead a call to action—a challenge to each of us to do better, to push ourselves, to try harder, work smarter, and be prepared. We must persevere and retain hope by taking action each day to better our situation. We must prove we’ve not given up or given in by our lack of action, but instead we must go and do! With hope, action, and perseverance, we will be able to ride out challenging times in our lives and come out better than ever before. The choice is ours!

The Winner Within

“Approach every potential great achievement in a state of total confidence.”
Pat Riley

Through stories of his experiences as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and New York Knicks, Pat Riley teaches us some of life’s most important lessons on how to be successful regardless of our position in life in his book The Winner Within. Three of the most important lessons for me highlighted in the book are below:

Teamwork

Teamwork and collaboration are key to having great success in life. Riley encourages us to use the strengths of all of those around us to achieve excellence. The end results of truly working as a team are always much greater than the sum of individual efforts. We cannot reach our full potential in life and achieve greatness by ourselves. Learning to work well with others will help us to find our winner within.

Resiliency

All of us will face challenges, disappoints, set-backs, and failures—it simply is a part of life for all of us. The important thing however is not that we failed but on how we respond to the adversity we face. Do we give up or given in? Or do we learn from our set-backs and try even harder to achieve our goals. Some of the most meaningful lessons that we can learn from life occur when we are down. Being able to capture these lessons and bounce back with even more determination to succeed defines true winners. Resiliency in life often separates the successful from the down-trodden.

Belief

We must have full confidence that we can achieve greatness. Though the path may be long and curvy, we must believe that we can succeed. Riley indicates that giving ourselves permission to lose only guarantees a loss yet determination conquers any failure. Riley states that we must “reignite the belief that anything is possible.” When we truly are able to believe, that is when we are on the verge of success.

Pat Riley’s experiences as a basketball coach are perfect for elaborating on some of life’s most important lessons. As we work as a team, become resilient, and believe in ourselves, we will tap into our winners within.

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Engagement Starts With You

As leaders, one of our key responsibilities is to emotionally engage others in a cause. This “cause” whether at work, home, school, or with any group is typically defined by the goals and ultimate objectives of the organization. Inspiring others to give their all toward any cause is a heavy burden to bear, and it is not for the weak at heart. For leaders to be successful, the first person who needs to be engaged in the work is us!

It is difficult to inspire the dedication and commitment of others if we are not fully committed ourselves. Sometimes, leaders want the benefits of engaged followers without having the willingness to be fully engaged themselves. This hypocrisy will not last as followers see straight through phony and partially engaged leaders. Thus the leader’s capacity to truly inspire is limited. In the end, the commitment level of a leader will be mirrored by his or her followers.

For a leader to be truly engaged, they must evaluate the organization’s mission and objectives. Leaders are able to become most engaged to a cause when the organization’s values match their own, when they have a true belief in the organization’s future, and when the leader understands how they directly influence results. When a leader finds fulfillment in these three areas, they are typically able to fully immerse themselves in the cause and then motivate others to do the same.

As a leader, if we want to do our job successfully, we must earn the confidence and respect of those we lead by being completely engaged and committed ourselves first. As we learn to become engaged in a cause first, we can then inspire others to follow—ultimately leading to outstanding performance and results.

The Two Greatest Leadership Traits

One of my favorite topics to write about and study is leadership. I am interested in this subject for many reasons, and one of them is because I am awed by the impact and remarkable accomplishments of history’s truly great leaders. Leaders such as George Washington and Abraham Lincoln who sacrificed so much even in the face of severe pressure, unimaginable odds, and harsh scrutiny to change the history of the world. I’m inspired by such great leadership. I often wonder what made these leaders so successful and influential. And how can I, as well as others, measure up and at least capture some of the leadership abilities these great leaders possessed to truly influence others for good?! True leadership that is able to change and define the world is rare.

In studying history’s great leaders, I’ve found two qualities I believe each possesses: being selfless and being visionary. These two qualities alone seem to separate the most influential leaders—those that are able to have a sustaining and expansive impact on others—from good leaders whose influences are real, but perhaps not as extensive. Indeed, I believe many good leaders lack to some degree these two enabling qualities that keep them from being great.

Being a great leader requires a great degree of self-sacrifice and humility. Great leaders are not ego driven or self-serving. In fact, great leaders make extraordinary personal sacrifices for others with very little hope of return. Yet, they do it because of the selflessness of their nature and for what they believe to be the greater good. Great leaders are not motivated by self-interest such as fame, power, or money—but instead are committed to a cause. This selflessness mentality often results in severe lolls of lonelines, and depression; yet great leaders are able to overcome. Because of their nature and commitment, great leaders are truly motivated by self-sacrifice and service to others.

Besides being selfless, a great leader also needs to be visionary. For a leader to be successful, they have to have a clear vision of what can be accomplished and what the end results can potentially be. Often the vision of great leaders is beyond the imagination of others who can’t quite believe in what the leader hopes for and understands. Because of this vision, great leaders do not give in to cynicism or scrutiny, but rather they know what is truly possible despite the many critics and skeptics. Being truly visionary and seeing what others cannot comprehend and then working towards that vision separates great leaders from their peers. Having the ability to be visionary allows great leaders to define the world.

Unfortunately, many good leaders who aspire to be great fail, because they lack these two essential qualities. And regrettably, most people simply do not possess the ability to be as visionary and selfless as needed to truly influence the world, which explains why great leadership is so rare. I do believe however, that each of us has the ability and potential to develop the skills of being selfless and being visionary. Though we may never have quite the impact of George Washington on the history of man, we still can develop these qualities to the best of our abilities and have a profound influence for good! Trying to be the best leaders we can be, despite our many weakness and inabilities, will bless our lives and the lives of others.