Success requires stubbornness. Think Winston Churchill or Gandhi.
Be pigheaded about something magnificent.
It can’t be done:
Successful leaders find energy in challenge and difficulty. Watch what happens when you tell a leader it can’t be done.
When things get hard, gritty leaders try harder.
But persistence has a dark side.
7 signs you might be a jackass:
- You never change your mind. Proving others wrong is near obsession.
- The world is filled with jerks and idiots.
- Talking loud and long is normal.
- You feel powerful when you hold people’s feet to the fire.
- The reason people don’t like you is you’re so awesome.
- You forget the big picture. Hacking in the weeds makes you frustrated and narrow.
- Teammates are competitors, not collaborators.
A persistent jackass has self-defeating stubbornness, but pushovers don’t succeed.
7 ways to be pigheaded without being a jackass:
Remarkable success requires focused persistence.
#1. Practice persistence with openness.
- How are your “not talking” skills?
- When are you “going with”? Or, are you always pushing against?
- Who speaks into your life on a regular basis?
- What unexpected people are you including?
#2. Dig in for long-term goals. Learn and adapt along the way.
#3. Expect more from yourself than you expect from others. One seduction of leadership is personal exemption.
#4. Enjoy the sparks of diversity.
#5. Evaluate progress. Are you learning and moving forward or spinning your wheels?
#6. Admit you’re wrong. Ego is always right. Humility learns and adapts.
#7. Be “for” more than “against”.
This post is inspired by my conversation with Andre’ Borschberg, co-founder of the Solar Impulse Project.
Andre’ on hiring a boat company to make parts for an airplane (3:10):
What makes persistence a bad thing?
How might leaders be stubborn without being jackasses?
