The Principle of Perseverance

(as originally posted on The Assist)

There are times in all of our lives when we feel like giving up. Circumstances and challenges can conspire against us in a way that makes it difficult to press on. For these reasons, perseverance becomes critical in the life of every leader. Perseverance is necessary for anyone passionate about living a life of purpose through their leadership. It will push you through the times in life when you feel like giving up or checking out. Any leader who is committed to transformational, life-changing leadership must embrace the principle of perseverance in order to walk in purpose. The principle of perseverance is simply this: perseverance will propel you towards your purpose.

Digging a little deeper, perseverance can be defined as simply running YOUR race well, one step at a time. Purpose can be defined as the work that only you can do. Armed with these definitions, let’s look at how we can apply the principle of perseverance to our lives.

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The Path of Perseverance

No two people ever walk the same path. History is replete with examples of men and women who persevered through the peaks and valleys on their journey to help others. Men and women like Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, and Harriet Tubman demonstrated perseverance to endure through challenging times which ultimately helped propel them toward their purposes. The path of perseverance will look different for everyone, but leaders who are committed to excellence will anticipate the inevitable valleys and prepare for the challenging times ahead. They will have the foresight to encourage their teams to run their races well, each and every day, one step at a time.

The Place of Perseverance

The place of perseverance refers to the times when perseverance becomes most critical in a leader’s journey. The two most difficult places to exercise perseverance are in the peaks and in the valleys. Everyone can relate to valleys (most people can remember a time when life was especially difficult), but why is it difficult to persevere during the peaks, when you’re on the top of the mountain? Peaks are especially challenging because when you experience success, you can lose sight of where you want to go. You can lose focus on why you do what you do. You can misplace your focus on the things that don’t really matter. Perseverance requires having an aim and a perspective that allows you to push through your present circumstances so that you start climbing towards a new peak in the future.

The Prize of Perseverance

The prize of perseverance is not a trophy, an accomplishment, or a destination. The prize of perseverance is about people. The reason we run our races well is to effect lives that echo in eternity, to gain a prize that does not perish and will never tarnish; the prize of perseverance is our motivation, our guiding light, and our reward.  The motivation to persevere comes from looking to a prize that is worth the work and challenges along the way. Leaders who understand the true prize of perseverance will learn to run their races well.

 



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Why Moderation is Essential to Strong Leadership

The word “moderate” hardly evokes sentiments of strong leadership. Yet, I believe that a direct correlation exists between a leader’s moderation and their capacity to lead with distinction. In an age where polarization has become the norm – in so many important areas of life: politics, morality, social issues, sports etc. – “moderates” have been marginalized.

Put succinctly, moderation is essential to great leadership because the strongest leaders understand that moderation is not just about finding a “middle-ground”. Put another way, moderation is not simply discovering the equidistant point between two competing extremes.

Instead, the moderate leader develops the skill to deftly navigate the inevitable complexity of leadership without becoming overwhelmed by the challenges of the moment. This “moderate” approach gives their team the stability, strength, and steadfastness that they will need in times of challenge.

Moderation is essential to strong leadership because strong leaders are able to unify the ever-shifting tectonic plates of competing personalities, interests, and half-truths that make up their team. In unity there is strength, and moderation is essential to managing the complexity and inevitable tensions within your team or organization.

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Why Humility Matters

I want to define humility by listing three defining characteristics that are true of humble people. I hope that by constructing an accurate definition of humility, we will begin to recover the crucial role that it plays in our leadership, on our teams, and in the world.

1. Humble people have an accurate self-awareness

In an era of selfie sticks and Facebook, we are more aware of ourselves than ever before. The concept of ‘self’ is constantly on the forefront our minds as we design our lives – and our social media pages – to reflect the pristine picture of how we want others to perceive us.

In contrast, humble people don’t feel the need to paint a perfect picture of an “ideal life” for others. They have the ability to zoom out and objectively assess the merits or shortcomings of their character. Humble people embody a disposition that is less concerned with the image they portray and more concerned with the quality of their work, the effectiveness of their lives, and the content of their character.

2. Humble People Think of Themselves Less

As C.S. Lewis wrote in his classic work, Mere Christianity:

The thing we would remember from meeting a truly gospel-humble person is how much they seemed to be totally interested in us. Because the essence of gospel-humility is not thinking more of myself or thinking less of myself, it is thinking of myself less.

C.S. Lewis

Humble people refuse to play the “self-esteem” game. They are not self-deprecating or self-congratulatory, but instead they are self-forgetful. Meaning, they don’t think less of their accomplishments by putting themselves down, nor do they inflate their own ego by elevating themselves over others. True humility is characterized by a quiet confidence and a genuine interest in others. Pastor Tim Keller said it best when he said humble people are like ‘toes’:

The truly gospel-humble person is a self-forgetful person whose ego is just like his or her toes. It just works. It does not draw attention to itself. The toes just work; the ego just works. Neither draws attention to itself.

Tim Keller

3. Humble People have True Freedom

As New York Times Author David Brooks put it:

“Humility is freedom from the need to prove you are superior all the time, but egotism is a ravenous hunger in a small space—self-concerned, competitive, and distinction-hungry.” (David Brooks)

Humble people have true freedom because they have learned to rid themselves of the cumbersome shackles of comparison. Achieving superiority over others is not a box that humble people are trying check. Instead, humble people have set themselves free from the need to feed their ego as it relates to comparing their accomplishments to those around them.
The burden of comparative score-keeping frees the humble person to concentrate on improving their own performance, character, and moral integrity instead of wasting their energy worrying about how they stack up against others.

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To summarize, the virtue of humility matters primarily for two reasons. First, humility gives us the freedom to become the leaders we were created to be instead of the person we believe others think we should be. Second, true humility leads to wisdom.Wisdom helps us become better leaders. Again, we turn to author David Brooks for helping us grasp the how wisdom helps us win as leaders:

“wisdom isn’t a body of information. It’s the moral quality of knowing what you don’t know and figuring out a way to handle your ignorance, uncertainty, and limitation.” (David Brooks)

Great leaders have cultivated the wisdom to adeptly handle their own ignorance, uncertainty, and limitations. They are able to navigate the inevitable pitfalls of their own pride because they have wisdom to guide their path. Ultimately, humility is the key that unlocks our ability to govern ourselves, lead others with wisdom, and navigate the inevitable blind-spots within our own character.


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