Resilience

 Happy Friday, Friends!

I hope and trust this post finds you having a great day as a glorious new day begins to dawn in my Sweet Home Alabama! What do you say we make this one a masterpiece?! 😊

I am currently reading a phenomenal book written by Carey D. Lohrenz titled Fearless Leadership: High-Performance Lessons from the Flight Deck. I have been working my way through Chapter 7 which is titled Resilience: Rebounding from Adversity. I don’t know why the chapter has impacted me so profoundly, but it has. I thought I would share a few excerpts from the chapter, a few quotes I have come across this week as I have studied resilience and let them speak to you however they may. Oh, by the way, I would highly recommend you get this book! 😊

A Few Excerpts from Fearless Leadership:

“Resilience is the ability to withstand, recover, adapt, and grow in the face of stressors and changing demands. Resilience is what you’ll need to call upon when you face a major, life-changing circumstance, one you probably didn’t see coming and probably didn’t cause through action of your own.”

“I refer to these types of experiences as “crucibles,” and every person faces them in life. They are traumatic, life-changing events that end up forming the way you lead – and the way you live. They shape what you believe to be possible about yourself and your team. Crucibles are huge, life-challenging moments. To lead fearlessly, you’ll have to develop the resilience to succeed despite them.”

“Do. Not. Panic. Panic-stricken people do not make good decisions, nor do they inspire confidence in their team.”

“The ability to bounce back when adversity strikes is one of the greatest predictors of long-term success and happiness. If you discover that you can learn from and find real meaning in the trials of life, you’ll know that you have what it takes to be a fearless leader.”

“Adversity introduces you to yourself.”

“…breakthrough experiences – the situations that you’re not fully prepared for – are extraordinarily valuable. But only if you learn from them. Leading through adversity is a marker of a successful leader. What you learn from overcoming adversity plays a crucial role in your future success.”

“Giving up is the only way to guarantee you won’t achieve your dream?”

About this time I am also reminded of the Stockdale Paradox. Do you remember it? I wrote about it in a previous Happy Friday. As a refresher about Admiral Jim Stockdale, here is the excerpt I shared at the time about Admiral Stockdale from the book, Good to Great:

“The name refers to Admiral Jim Stockdale, who was the highest-ranking United States military officer in the “Hanoi Hilton” prisoner-of-war camp during the height of the Vietnam War. Tortured over twenty times during his eight-year imprisonment from 1965 to 1973, Stockdale lived out the war without any prisoner’s rights, no set release date, and no certainty as to whether he would even survive to see his family again.”

So, wouldn’t you agree that Admiral Stockdale knows something about a crucible? Here is what Admiral Stockdale stated:

 “This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end - which you can never afford to lose - with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.”

Your situation may be difficult, perhaps brutally so. Face the facts, never lose faith that you will prevail in the end, learn, and keep living life one day at a time! According to these great leaders, if we do so, we might just find ourselves! 

I also want to share a few quotes that I found while studying resilience this week.

“Obsessing over what is wrong will not invite what is right. Dwelling in darkness keeps us from embracing the light.” – Anthon St. Maarten

“Take away your trials, and you take away the magnificent reward of overcoming.” – Richelle E. Goodrich

“Strength doesn’t come from what you do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.” – Rikki Rogers

“Beware trying to iron out all the quirks, perceived flaws, and doubts. It’s often these things that help you find strength, compassion, empathy for others, and heart.” – Rasheed Ogunlaru

“You are stronger than your challenges and your challenges are making you stronger.” – Karen Salmansohn

Remember Sweet Friends, knowledge without application is just knowledge. Knowledge with application is wisdom. Let’s be wise! Let’s learn, grow, and become all we are capable of becoming! Please, whatever you do, don’t give up!

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always help you any way I can. You can reach me at kevin@whatwillyourinfluencebe.com.

Have a great day, a wonderful weekend, please cherish your precious families, and please stay well! 😊

Kev