Perseverance

According to Webster’s, persevering means to,” to persist in a state, enterprise, or undertaking in spite of counter influences, opposition, or discouragement.”  Vince Lombardi, the great NFL coach of the Green Bay Packers once commented that “Unless a man believes in himself and makes a total commitment to his career and puts everything he has into it—his mind, his body, his heart—what’s life worth to him?”  In fact, the author Robert Louis Stevenson stated that “Everybody, sooner or later, sits down to a banquet of consequences.”

I think what they are getting at is that perseverance is a conscious choice.  As part of any team, it is the choice that is made every day, moment by moment, to be committed to a common vision of possibility.  Everyone will face the consequences of their decisions.  The choices that you are making right now will not only impact you, but also the others within your sphere of influence.  

As leaders, we need to work with our teams to define what perseverance amid challenging circumstances should look like.  Choosing to move toward a collective goal will always create certain obstacles because consistency of action is difficult to master.  That is why it is so important to consider how we communicate, coordinate, and collaborate with others.  Any move toward success will inevitably have times of opposition and discouragement, and it is during those times we have to put everything we have into working well with others.  As leaders, we have to establish cultural norms and systems that help our teams rally around a common vision when challenges come.

We must choose to persevere.  We must choose to keep at it.  We must commit towards moving forward.  Leaders do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, regardless of how they feel about it.  

It is during those times that perseverance is so important.  

Keep at it, friends!