Running Through the Mud
Your voice is born in solving your own struggle. Wisdom is found while running through the mud.
Struggling in the mud makes you useful.
You are the message.
Solutions emerge while running through the mud, not standing on the sidelines.
Strength hides behind:
- Disappointment with yourself and others.
- Insecurity whispering in your ear
- Failure you’re courageously facing.
- Fear gnawing in your heart.
- Doubt plaguing your mind.
- Weakness you struggle through.
- Bitterness resolved.
Strength is born in struggle.
Service is sharing what you’re learning while running through the mud.
Three marks of strength born in the mud:
- It feels inadequate. You’re never quite there. We always fear we’re missing something or falling short. Just give what you have.
- It seems obvious and simple. Solutions born in struggle feel too basic to matter, but others think they’re profound. Wisdom is simple.
- It’s still growing. You haven’t fully solved your struggle, don’t expect to. People who have it all together, don’t.
Wisdom from the mud:
- Your authentic voice is the one you speak – first to yourself – then to others.
- Personal struggle, once embraced, opens your heart. The pain you feel alerts you to the pain of others. Insulated leaders don’t connect.
- There is no completion. You’re always running through the mud.
- Those who reflect on their journey enhance their effectiveness.
- Connect over pain-points and share solutions you’re learning. It’s not necessary to share intimate details of your muddy story.
I asked John Maxwell what he learned from success and he said, “Not as much as from failure.”
What has running through the mud taught you?
Dan, Great as always
Running through the mud physically was fun as kids! Running through the mud as you describe becomes life’s trials and challenges only to be improved upon should we so desire!
Happy Thanksgiving Dan and Cheers to your family as well!
Thanks Tim. Glad you stopped in today. “Should we so desire…” I think that’s the tipping point.
Happy thanks giving!
What if you live in the desert and don’t have access to mud?
Thanks James. Cracked me up!
Ah yes, running through the dust and cactus while dodging venomous creatures. Sounds like my office, a high-learning enviroment; and I’m grateful for it. I could not agree more with Maxwell’s observation about success and failure; just keep marching and growing.
Dan, we’re thankful for all of the leadership nuggets this year; keep up the great work. Your topics are timely and associated conversations are very insightful. Happy Thanksgiving.
I was watching a nutritionist yesterday explain that the body needs stress in order to operate optimally. When we take the stress away from the food we grow (using herbicides etc.) the plants don’t develop the phytochemicals and nutrients they do in the wild. We don’t then absorb them. It’s more difficult for us to digest the wild plants but it helps us in the long run.
Thanks Stuartart. I love it when an unexpected illustration pops up. Thankful you stopped in today.
I always read that we don’t have to know everything about the jobs we oversee in order to lead a team, I agree with that, I do think there is no substitute for the experience of “running through the mud” it makes us a wiser and more empathetic leader.
I am thankful for your writing and I am always passing it on to others. Happy Thanksgiving.
Thanks Patrick. Maybe what we need to know isn’t so much about technical knowledge as it is about the common human struggle. 🙂
Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Common human struggle or constant human progression?
Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends and please keep those in Ferguson in your thoughts and prayers during these difficult times.
Thanks Lyndon. Struggle or progress. I’m seeing some of both. But, I appreciate your perspective.
Dan,
Thanks for the insights! Leaders who seem perfect and never look muddy are distant and unauthentic. Mud makes us real!
Thanks Steve. “Mud makes us real!” I love a well turned phrase.
self esteem without accomplishment is very dangerous. Self esteem earned can give a person wings.
Nicely said, Bill!
I remember once when we were doing a huge SAP conversion for a Fortune 100 company which had factories all around the world, we were daunted by the prospect as it was one of the largest in the world at that time.
I remember one of my fellow workers looked at me one day and said, “I can do this!” it was an epiphany that only comes through the hours and struggle to master the tasks at hand.
Thanks for the article, Dan. Just as doubts are creeping into my mind whether I’ m on the right track in engaging my new staff over the last two months, your article has given new courage and fresh impetus to carry on with the conversations I’m having with my new staff in the midst of me taking over the organisation. Wading through mud is the way to go to find solutions!
Dylan’s quote springs to mind – There’s no success like failure and failure’s no success at all.
We’ve tried to drive failure out of education in New Zealand and it’s resulted in a tangible sense of entitlement in many of our students.
I learned everything I know about myself from a series of failures at school. It gave me self discipline and a steely resolve.
Nice post!
Dan, love your blog. Finally the courage to jump in. Running through the mud is messy, hard, difficult to determine where to step next and the path seldom chosen for those over the age of 10. The rewards are fabulous. You leave with dirt on your hands, exhausted but with a major sense of acomplishment. Only those willing to step in and push though, knowing the next step is going to be harder than the last get to realize the victory.
How ironic – training for 2 mud run races next year! Solutions found when running in the mud or on the trails❤️
I’m not sure I agree with this post: it feels a bit too close to the idea of work harder, not smarter. The other thing (and maybe it’s a British thing?) is that slogging through mud calls to mind the futile struggles on the Western Front in WW1.