The reality of leadership is that it requires hard work and regular investments of energy and sweat!
As a leader, there will be times when you encounter resistance. There will be times when you question whether the time, energy, and effort are worth it. There will be times when you feel like giving up. What you choose to do in your darkest moments will define you as a leader. When adversity comes to call, will you fade into the background or will you persist in fighting to move forward?
The truth is, nobody advances in leadership by coasting to the top. Leaders are distinguished by struggling upward through the daily grind.
Consider the story of Nelson Mandela. He was convicted of treason and sentenced to a life of hard labor in prison for his anti-apartheid convictions. For 18 years, he lived in a cramped cell and toiled in a rock quarry. Each year, he was allowed 30 minutes with a visitor and could receive and send only two letters. These were his only opportunities to communicate with the outside world.
It’s reasonable for you to assume that since I’m telling you his story as a lesson in perseverance, you already know what choices he made with respect to fading away — allowing some pretty depressing circumstances to alter the course of his life — or choosing to persist.
His perseverance and strength of character over those 18 years he was incarcerated earned him the respect of everyone, including his prison guards! Rather than drifting into obscurity while in prison, Mandela boosted his image while in prison. When he was released, he emerged with a higher profile than ever and leveraged his influence to bring about liberty and a democratic South Africa.
No small feats, indeed!
As we move into month six on our Intentional Leadership journey, take a few minutes to consider your responses to the following questions:
What unfavorable conditions are making your leadership difficult?
What steps can you take to remove or neutralize the sources of resistance on the job?
How might you grow stronger by enduring these hard times?
What rewards might you receive if you persevere through the toughest aspects of your job?
We will be digging deeper into these thoughts in the coming weeks. I’m looking forward to working through them with you.
In the meantime, have an intentional day!
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