Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
I again everyone, and we continue in this marvelous journey
of transformational leadership. Last week we were we're finalizing on
the principle of praising, and this week we move on
to the principle of perseverance. No less, I and my
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team have met exceptionally smart and daunted leaders who have
when confronted with adversity, they just crumble like a house
of cards in a storm. I've also met other leaders
whose talent and brilliance is less pronounced, but the persevered
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through on immaginal adversity in order to be successful. And
I guess what I take from my coaching and consultancy
work is is that when it comes to transformational performs talents,
it's a bit overrated and perseverance is under estimated. Perseverance
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has displayed in the world of politics, business, and sports.
Sney Williams one said about success, luck has nothing to
do with it because I have spent many, many, many hours,
countless hours in the court working from my one moment
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in time, not knowing when it would come. And you
could say that for all the other disciplines, that all
the other sectors, it's getting the head down, it's tightening
that chin strap and just going for it. And of
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all the principles we've been talking about, this is the one.
Perseverance is the one where they're saying is this is
where the rubber meets the road. And it asks a
very profound question, how badly do I want my purpose? Well,
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I overcome all the obstacles that will surely come my way.
Well I take no for the answer. Well, I look
through the fear of failure that's going to hit me
between the eyes, and be courageous. I believe that when
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you talk about you tell people about your big idea,
the hope, the dream, the aspiration. You feel passionate about
your perseverance. Listening links into this thing called tarn talent.
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And there's been a term been bandied about for a
number of decades, which is a war for talent. And
it's about about an executive and entrepreneurs. No matter what
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great idea, product or service you have, they're getting the
achievement of your strategic goals. Alth It happened when you've
got the right people, the right talent. Yes, talent is
essential element and all leaders success. However, success is never
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a solo activity. If you are like many of the leaders,
that we've worked with, you will have talented workers who
lacked the perseverance necessary to get over adversity. You may
have recruited for the best talent and skill set, but
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neglected a bit to recruit for the best mindset. A
friend of mine at a hospital CEO, and he recruited
one of the most prominent surgeons that was in the neighborhood.
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Always say was in his discipline. His talent was exceptional,
as was his love of doing what he's doing. He
just loved it. What was also exceptional about this chap
he didn't like. He didn't like collaboration with colleagues. His
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mindset was, I'm the best surgeon in this country and
this specialty I It was true his belief about his
talent and reputation is an exemplary specialty. Certainly for others
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looking for medical care of their own eye, talent is important,
but also equally, if not more important, it's what happens
in between the ears of each person. Your job as
a transformational leader is to recognize that talent, although essential,
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pales in comparison to perseverance. Most certainly, you want to
have talented, smart, gifted workers in your team. You also
want to look around a room. You know the talent
you have will run through the teeth of the battle.
If you need to come accomplished, get your strategic initiatives delivered.
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You can help them do that first and foremost with
the most compelling purpose. You'll never achieve transformational results without
deep reserves of grits and determination. And the next few
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podcasts will learn how to persevere in the face of
adversity and how to overcome what we would class the
four barriers of doing our very best work. Aye. And
there's no easy magic bullet steps. However, what you'll find
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is that muscle you need to train more than any other,
as a muscle resting between your shoulders and in between
your ears. Let's talk about to us some strategies and
learn more. Let's explore more about doing that. And there's
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a wee bit here about in the UK Winston Churchill,
he gave advice to some schoolboys I believe applies to
us as adults. Perseverance is a really interesting principle. Concept
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of this as well known and has been studied and dissectedly.
Bear at the feet of how our raise did we
learn positive impulse controls? A child did it come a
lot later than that? I say. Winston Churchill once addressed
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to school and talked about the last ten months of
World War two in Britain. He said, our country, Britain
has been rejected by its allies to join in the
war effort, and they were waging a war against Germany alone.
He said, But for everyone, surely what we have gone
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through in this period, I'm addressing myself to the school. Surely,
from this period of ten months, this is a lesson.
Never give in, Never give in, Never give in, never
never never, and nothing greater or small or petty, never
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gain in. Accept to convictions of honor and good sense.
But how do you never give in? Is it through
the force of will? Or is there a magic bullet?
I don't really believe in share will or magic bullets,
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but as an engineer, I believe in processes. The processes
that I my colleagues have viewsed as the same. Is
it many professional athletes use, and it's proven to increase
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you're perseverance significantly. It's called the Gidda help. Process requires
you to answer nine questions. Number one pretty simple, what
do you want? This is the jumping off point for perseverance.
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Every think back to a purpose, the principle of purpose.
What's a big idea you have mine for your personal
professional life? Does it fire yp does it inspire you?
You'll not be You'll not be persevering if you've got
a fuzzy, wuzzy idea about what you want. There are
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millions of people walking around of a vague notion of
what they want. Not you. You want crystal clear focus.
Describe what you want to what's important about that to you?
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As well as we look through the projects principle as well,
it is the persuading principle nudge you to ask the question,
what's important about that to you? The question has now
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been asked of you. If you're looking for a promotion,
for example, say vice president of sales, what is important
about that to you? Now, keep in mind that your
answers have to inspire you, light up that fire underneath
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you get that fire in the belly if you follow
each of the principles we've talked about. I'm wanted to
be rewarded of their promotion to VP of sales. What's
the payoff for you, your organization, your workers, your customers.
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Think about it? If your answers uninspiring and what you
want are doing are out of obligations because I need
to should do it, I have to do it. Then
it becomes a long, long, slow slog through enemy territy.
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I'll drain your energy. I'll sap you a energy, Just
suck it right out you sap you Three similar questions again,
what will you need to give up? I you will
have to give up something? Oh, stop, stop, you have
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to do something. Me mean you're leaving work earlier, say
five six o'clock, be home to dinner with the family.
It may require you to stop working, sport working, stop
people workers that you like, and instead employ workers who
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are comfortable, never rating the bar on the performance. It
may you may have to get rid of that negative
mindset you carry around and all the corresponding need to
please others. What are the top three or say five
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things you'll have to give up? List them and look
at them in the black and white of day for
what you need to learn to be successful? What the
additional skill sets if you need up, If you need
to give up when light or decide, you need to
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learn how to set the bar higher for you and
your team. Where will you learn how to do that.
The tension you'll always feel as a pull back to
what is known and predictable and away from the desired
yet unpredictable future. What podcasts, what class what webinarre will
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you take in in order to learn how to do something? Five?
Who you need to surround yourself with? And paralleled the
last one, who we need to have around you so
that you'll be successful in persevering if you're surround by
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people who want the opposite of what you want. For example,
many are recovering addicts. There's a time period which they
can't spend time with friends or family, family members who
drink or news drug. The pool to their they're using
days it's so strong that they have to surround themselves
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with people who are, as they say, in the recovery
movement working, That is, people on the same journey, working
the process. You may you may also need people believe
in you and will support this marvelous journey that it's
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having their right environment, a good, impowering environment. Who are
the people that you need to surround yourself with. Six
what's the story you'll tell yourself every day? There's a
couple of stories being told every day inside their heads.
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The story of yes we can and the sort of
no we can't. These two stories become the way we
see perceive the world around us. That the car pulls
out in front of you that frustrates you, it's the
story you tell yourself about the moron who needs of
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his license revote because of his innett driving. The stupid person,
of course, can't be known, but that's the story we
tell ourselves. We also tell similar stories about ourselves. What
is the dominant thought you'll carry with you as you
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move towards your purpose, priorities and promises. What's the stories
that we're telling ourself every day, empowering or disempowering? Seven?
What will you do when adversity hits? If you live,
for example, a hurricane zone, and you're told by the
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Weather Service that a hurricane is headed towards your end
of the beach and it'll make landfall saying ten hours
with winds of eighty five miles or one hundred miles
an hour, you've been through hurricanes before, and you'll have
a mapped out process for handling dangers such as this.
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The same holds true for perseverance. If you know the
obstacle you'll face for example, by junk foot when I'm
out shopping when I'm hungry. You can make plans so
I'm not going to the grocery store the supermarket when
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you're hungry, when you know temptation will be high. If
you know that not sleeping well makes you resistant to
your team's ideas for process improvement, you can plan plan
and going to bed earlier before big team meetings, or
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you develop another form of process for vetting ideas for
process improvement that does the heavy lifting for you. Eight
How you reward yourself. Far too often leaders believe that
perseverance is the price of entry to the real world
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of work. No matter what, get your job done through
thick and thin. Aye. That can be true in one sense.
As a leader, there's an expectation you're required to overcome
adversity and get these big projects done, whether you whether
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you're in fire about the project or not, get the
head down go for it. Yes I can. But on
the other hand, if your work is continually asking you
to overperform with any form or reward, or you're heading
I would say for a flaming burnout and a massive
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amount of resentment. If you think about your purpose and
its priorities and promises. What will you do to reward
yourself for the taking part in stretch leadership project and
being successful. Could be a special dinner with a loved one,
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new pen, new sport, a new sport to a jacket,
a piece of clothing, e than mire. If you don't
have a reward, there's a tendance to become a martyr
or become resentful. Could that be you or someone that
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you know? The final one nine? What's your exemplar? What's
the best example. I'm at my best with perseverance of
a mental picture someone who really is the ideal who
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I want to be or what I want to accomplish.
I me I may know the person or may have
read about them. Having someone who's the ideal exemplar helps
with the story that you tell yourself. I once met
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a chap the namer rhin Old Mester in Dundee Mountain
Film Festival. He's been one of my heroes, was the
first person to clim Everies without oxygen. He was my
hero and it was beautiful listening to him. A great
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example and what it replied is really what we're talking
about in this section about perseverance. I said, what is it?
What's that special thing? What's that special about you? And
being able to do that? It says, there's nothing really
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special about me. The answer, the answer to being successful,
to be the first person to climb Mount Everest was
the answer lies between your two years. It's what you're thinking.
It is as we're talking about here. It's the capability
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of perseverance for you. May I say to persevere in
all the important areas of your life. We need to
answer these questions. I'm suggesting to you need to think
about answering these nain questions. One what do you want? Two?
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What's important about that to you? Three? What will you
need to give up? Four? What you need to learn
to be successful? Five? Who you need to surround yourself with? Six?
What story will you tell yourself every day? What will
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you do when the proverbial hits the fan, when adversity
hits Eight? How will you reward yourself? Nine? Whose exemplar example?
Now I'd like to consider think back over the last
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three months, either personally professionally, which of these nin questions,
if I answered fully, would have been beneficial for you?
If perseverance is ticking to your goals and aspirations are
important to you. Take five minutes or so to listen
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to this list again and answer the questioning ways that
clarify your thinkings, thinking and focus your attention. When you
do this, the fog if as to what to do
to persevere and accelerate towards your destinies with so much
vim and vigor and zest. Next week we'll discuss the
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two primary ways that we can use to pros success.
For us to learn and learn how to win, to
play and respect our strengths with perseverance till then all
the best fine our s