Moments of Leadership – the one where you just keep going

I’d be lying to you if I said I knew what I wanted to write about today. I usually pull together my final draft of these posts the night before I publish them. Tonight, I was at a loss.

For a time, I thought about simply re-sharing an old post. There’s nothing wrong with that. A number of highly successful bloggers would actually recommend it as a tactic when you’re struggling to get content together. Tonight, as I’m writing this in bed, I’ve got my newest read lying open next to me on my iPad. As I was searching for the post to re-share, I read a passage on persistence.

The book, The School of Greatness by Lewis Howes compiles the stories of leaders from across many disciplines, and studies their common experiences, traits and practices that have helped them achieve greatness.

I’m new to the Lewis Howes universe still. If you haven’t heard of him before, I’d encourage you to look up his podcast, also known as The School of Greatness. Howes brings in guests with incredibly diverse backgrounds, and prompts them to share more deeply about the profound truths in their lives. He’s a great interviewer. Not because he asks the hard questions, but because he asks the meaningful questions well. He’s not searching for a gotcha moment or a headline, he’s genuinely trying to understand what has set people on a path to greatness. It’s compelling.

But getting back to the book; I just finished the second chapter which opened up the topic of adversity. Howes shares some specific lessons he learned from Angel Martinez, a tremendously successful businessman who helped launch Reebok and, at the time of Howes’ book publication, was CEO of Deckers Brands the parent company of UGG (you know, the boot brand).

In sharing Martinez’ story, Howes highlights a lesson that Martinez learned when first pursuing long distance running as a sport. Here’s the excerpt:

“In distance running, there’s no coach who is going to bench you or tell you that you can’t play. And the clock never lies. There’s no subjectivity. I remember when I started running, the older guys on the team told me, ‘We only have one rule. You can’t stop. You can go as slow as you need to go, but you cannot stop. You can never drop out.'”

Angel Martinez

On one level this REALLY appealed to me. It’s pretty simple: I am NOT a fast runner. I enjoy running – now much more than when it was required in the Marine Corps. Since leaving service, I’ve run a couple of full marathons, lots of half marathons, and typically log 12-15 miles per week in the midst of other routines.

But then I got to thinking about tonight’s post. And I realized there’d be value in just sharing this reminder with you all that sometimes, maybe a lot of times, it’s enough to just keep going. Whether it’s in advocacy, during your first marathon, when you’re studying a new topic – sometimes the simple act of showing up and following through on the routine is enough. Going slow isn’t a failure, giving up is.

For today, I hope that simply sharing this observation with you all will be enough. Enough of a reminder that it’s ok you’re tired. Enough of a boost as you continue to show up at work and for your family. Enough as you struggle to wrap your arms around what transitioning into a post-COVID world will be.

Leaders, no matter how small of a group they’re leading, have to show up. You have to place yourself at points of friction. There is power in presence – ask George Washington at the Battle of Monmouth.

That battle looms large in the American military pantheon not because it was a major victory – in fact it can largely be regarded as a stalemate and inconsequential. But the legend of Washington took on near deific qualities as he personally took charge of American troops in retreat, returning them to the front and causing the British to abandon the field of battle. By showing up, he inspired routed troops to confront their adversity and lean on the training they’d received through the cold, difficult months at Valley Forge.

Our daily adversities typically don’t compare to the battlegrounds of the 18th century. But the secret to hard won success in our daily lives, and on our own battlegrounds remains the same: Go. As slow as you must. But keep going.