INTRODUCTION:
Persistence is a double edged sword. If you lack persistence you will give up on projects when a little more stick-to-itiveness could produce a good outcome. If you are excessively persistent you will hang onto projects when everyone else knows they will be dead on arrival. Success requires a balance in your persistence skills, something I refer to as appropriate persistence.
Persistence is actually composed of several sub-skills. First among these is being purposeful. There must be a reason to doggedly pursue an outcome in spite of obstacles, warnings against such actions, and numerous setbacks. To effectively use persistence a leader needs to be clear about the purpose and then be crystal clear about the alignment between that purpose and the mission of the team that is being led. When the team mission and the purpose of an action are misaligned, a persistent leader can unnecessarily lead the troops to disaster.
A second important sub-skill for appropriate persistence is aligned planning. Being persistent without an aligned plan would be akin to flying a commercial airplane without having a flight plan. Being persistent without having a plan aligned to the real purpose and mission of the team can result in fitful starts and stops and constant reassessing and changing of methods. To succeed we need to stick to an aligned plan of action not just a set of actions. There are times when leaders may get so into specific actions that they lose sight of the ultimate goal. If the action being taken runs counter to the goal the team will find itself further from the target than when they engaged in the action. I have personally seen this happen in the world of education when teachers have their favorite topics to teach and they find a way to make it fit into the curriculum when it really doesn’t fit. These bird walks, although personally rewarding for the teacher and often fun for the students, do not lead to the desired learning that was designed into the curriculum. Some teachers have cried “Academic Freedom” but I remind everyone that my freedom must always be constrained by my obligation to not harm others, either intentionally or unintentionally, through my chosen actions.
The third sub-skill is patience. Leaders can frequently become impatient with others as they charge through the activities they hope will lead to success. A lack of patience can lead to giving up on an action way too soon. If you know why you are doing something and you have a plan that appears to be very well aligned to achieving the desired outcomes, it is necessary to give it a chance to work. Tossing the plan aside at the first sign of difficulty or the first hurdle to clear sends a message that says it really wasn’t all that important anyway. Team members will begin to wonder if you have what it takes to bring a project home.
The fourth sub-skill is the skill of inclusion. Some will say that’s not a skill but I beg to differ. When we are engaged in actions that must be carried out by a team of people and those actions have impacts on those people, skillful inclusion is necessary. Some leaders want to constantly take the reins back from their team either because of impatience or a lack of trust or perhaps it’s just a control issue but the effect of that retraction of responsibility can be devastating to the morale of the team. What the leader has done with that simple act is to demonstrate “persistence snobbery.” It sends a message that says you cannot be as effectively persistent as I can so I must take over. The old saying “if you want something done well you better do it yourself” runs counter the need for inclusion.
For team persistence to work, it is essential that leaders display the clarity of visions, aligned planning, patience, and inclusion discussed here. If these are ignored leaders will find a revolving door of team membership. Team members will feel used and abused when the leader develops “persistence snobbery.” Whenever team members have a choice, and they almost always do, they will chose to work with a leader that has a clear vision, aligned plans and strategies, patience, and helps them feel like an integral part of the team.
THE ARTICLE:
PERSISTENCE: Leaders are often big picture people and frequently like the notion of starting something new. This is not always consistent with bringing the project home and seeing it through to completion. Without some persistence the great ideas of so many inspirational leaders would probably fizzle out. Having the persistence that keeps the team on task to the completion of the project is essential or else the team is continually jumping form one great idea to the next and never really gets anything of value done.
A leader may not be naturally persistent but that doesn’t mean they can’t get things done. If you know who the most persistent individuals are on your team, you can always ask them to keep the team on track until the goals are accomplished. There is a danger there. The excessively persistent can insist on sticking to the task even when it is obvious to everyone else that we’re chasing a lost cause. So setting timelines, benchmarks, and milestones is essential if progress is to be made. Being persistent is important but perseverating can be devastating when all the indications point towards abandoning the ship and taking the life boats to dry ground.
I’m not suggesting that all leaders lack persistence in fact there are great leaders that were very well known as being highly persistent. Perhaps President Lincoln was one of the most persistent leaders our nation ever had. Had he given up after his first few failures he would never have become our 16th President. In the business world, there was Thomas Edison who tried hundreds of times before he finally got the right combination of materials to produce the incandescent light bulb. His persistence resulted in the creation of General Electric.
Now consider this quote from President Calvin Coolidge: “Press on: nothing in the world can take the place of perseverance. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” And the great scientist Louis Pasteur: “Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity.” Persisting when others would quit has allowed us to achieve when failure seemed inevitable.
What I am saying in this article is that persistence is essential for quality leadership. If you are a leader and persistence is not one of your key character traits, the goal is not for you to exercise greater persistence but to make sure that you have people on your team who you can turn to and count on to be persistent. This also requires openness on the part of the leader—openness to those members of the team who will hold the leader accountable to the need to persist when the leader would prefer to move on to another idea. Good leadership requires persistence, even if the leader is not a persistent type.
SUMMATION:
Persistence is a double edged sword. Success is almost always impossible without a healthy dose of persistence but excessive persistence can lead to disaster. So much of leadership is about balance. Yet in today’s world we seem to have abandoned balance. It seems like the extremes are what gets attention. Often some of the more extreme will quote leaders from our past as evidence of their righteousness but they only cherry pick their ideals and forget the great balance these leaders actually displayed. In truth, no leader has ever been revered throughout history without the mantle of balance. It is those who have shown a lack of balance that have lead their followers to disaster. Look closely at what leaders have done who have achieved greatness and you will find individuals who were willing to persevere when others sought surrender. Yet those same leaders could also be seen pulling back when they recognized that a strategy was not working. Knowing when to fall back to regroup is an essential skill among good leaders. Never giving up but always looking for a better way to succeed.
President Lincoln wrote this passage to his nephew Quinten Campbell, a first year Cadet at Westpoint in 1862: “Adhere to your purpose and you will soon feel as well as you ever did. On the contrary, if you falter, and give up, you will lose the power of keeping any resolution, and will regret it all your life.” And Benjamin Franklin wrote: “Energy and persistence conquer all things.” John Quincy Adams said: “Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” But perhaps the most noteworthy statement on persistence goes to Patrick Henry who speaking before the Second Virginia Convention regarding the quest for freedom stated the following: “I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” That is, perhaps, the ultimate statement of persistence. Mr. Henry saw no alternative to acquiring freedom other than pursue it even if meant his own demise.
The skill of persistence is dependent upon openness. When a leader approaches a mission with a closed mind, all sorts of information and feedback fall on deaf ears and blind eyes. Being open-minded is critical in this process. It may seem a contradiction to be so steadfast in seeking ones goals yet also open to the suggestions and influences of others yet it can and must be done. Shutting out those you depend upon for success is tantamount to the invitation of failure.
One final note to consider is that persistence is that final little piece of “will” that allows us to proceed when others give in to wariness. So many times we see people give up just when they are on the verge of success. Persevering to the very end of the battle makes winners out of losers and champions out of chumps. That doesn’t mean when the chips are down and we’re at 4th and goal from the 1 with 2 seconds to go in the game we don’t pull out that trick play or change a tactic. But it does mean we give it everything we’ve got for that one last push and knowing that victory goes most often to those who persist, I like the odds for those who don’t give up.
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