Six Ways to Move Your Team Toward Tenacity
Leaders call themselves and others to discomfort, not ease.
If it’s easy to achieve, it’s below your potential.
The more meaningful your dream, the more it requires of you.
Breakthroughs occur at the collision of discomfort and passion.
Passion doesn’t eliminate discomfort, it produces it. Success becomes possible when passion beats discomfort into submission.
Excitement is transitory enthusiasm. Tenacity endures.
Six ways to move your team toward tenacity:
Those who refuse to dig-in are doomed to stay where they are.
- Enjoy, but don’t depend on excitement. Excitement thinks about the end of the journey when the hard work is over. It fades when the rubber hits the road. Immature excitement believes success is like tip toeing through tulips.
- Connect with purpose. Pressure to get things done makes teams forget purpose. You need good reasons to go through hell.
- Include fear. Everyone one who makes a difference, fears they won’t. “What if you fail?”
- Teach people to say, “I want to earn an opportunity.” Useless phrases:
- Could I have an opportunity?
- All I need is an opportunity.
- Please give me an opportunity. (The worst!)
- Eliminate whining, but create channels to address what isn’t working. Five rules for discussing what isn’t working:
- #1. Don’t talk about an issue unless you’re prepared to do something about it.
- #2. The exception to #1 is talking to decide if rule #1 applies.
- #3. Label venting as venting.
- #4. Determine why the issue is important. Purpose fuels passion.
- #5. Identify a behavior that makes things better today. Theories aren’t solutions.
- Don’t help too much. Struggle makes you strong. Caring leaders like to help. Four tips for over-helpful leaders:
- Wait to be asked. Don’t jump in.
- When necessary, ask, “How may I help?” Wait for their answer, don’t give one.
- Help them help themselves.
- The need to “save the day,” is about your ego.
What causes teams to loose commitment?
How might leaders move teams toward tenacity?
For me, passion makes the discomfort almost unnoticeable. Our pastor once said (paraphrasing) ‘the more you are intentionally engaged in the message or worship, the less you will notice the distractions around you’ (meaning, people coughing, infants crying, etc.). That’s where I find passion making a difference – things I might see as annoyances, distractions, or frustrations all take a back seat to getting it over the goal line. On topics where my passion is low, those things can loom like giants in my path. Happy Tuesday! 🙂
Thanks Tavieallan. You said something I was struggling to find, but couldn’t. Some how, a person who has passion doesn’t notice the discomfort as much as others. No passion = everything is hard. Glad you added your insights. I also believe that it’s passion that produces discomfort and dissatisfaction. We choose the easy path without passion.
Your thought leads me to believe that passion yields focus. 🙂
Thanks Dianna. That’s a great connection.
Tavieallan, thanks for your thoughts because you added even more clarity so I can see what I’ll notice when I am truly passionate or not.
Dear Dan,
Struggle makes you strong, easy to achieve is below your potential, drew my attention. They are really powerful concept. Comfort and abundance make one weak. One can enjoy when comparing with others. One can also position better than others. But, facilities do not make one strong. In fact, person loses its power to fight adversity. Those who struggle see every aspect of life. They become aware, sensible and matured. They experience pain and pleasure both.
When people want to achieve easily without taking much pain, it can cause to loose commitment. Leaders can move towards tenacity by having resilience. One need to have potential to fight against odds. Those who struggle, inculcate such traits. Those who enjoy and do not suffer much, do not inculcate the ability to fight against odds.
Thanks Dr. Gupta. It’s great that you expanded the ideas about the importance of struggle.
The struggle makes us aware is a keen observation that reminds me to open my eyes when I’m in the battle. The opposite if also true. Sometimes the struggle causes us to lose contact.
Also, the connection between commitment and tenacity is important. Somehow, the struggle gives meaning and worth to the commitment. Willingness to press through adversity shows us our values. Cheers
I’ve many times wondered why I don’t like pressure from other people and you’ve provide light so I now see why. “Pressure to get things done makes teams forget purpose.” That’s it! Our reason for doing “it” changes from purpose to (maybe ‘fear’ or ?).
Thanks Coach Tim. Always a pleasure.
It’s exciting to see you reflecting on your journey as you read. Most of these posts are personal reflections of my own. I’m glad to be on the journey with you. Very encouraging.
This was exactly what I needed to hear on a day like today. I want to be everywhere and lead effectively, but I have to abide by the code.
I have to move strategically, that is the only way to get things done!
Thank you for this.