Admiral Jim Stockdale was captured during the Vietnam War and held in a P.O.W. camp for eight years. He was tortured by his captors on twenty different occasions in an attempt to obtain top secret information from him. He survived. He was released. He was brought home and resumed his military career. The story is the stuff that movies are made of. I'll let you run to Google to read about it. Admiral Stockdale was once interviewed after his release and asked if there were any indicators that a soldier would not survive the P.O.W. camp.
'Oh that's easy. The optimists didn't survive. They expected good things to happen at certain times. It killed their persistence.' Admiral Stockdale went on to describe how he was full of hope that he would be released and use the experience to his advantage. He refused to spend any energy worrying about when and encouraged others to do the same.
Stunning.
Yet, upon reflection it rings truer than I'd like to admit. We are all human. Disappointment and discouragement derail us. I find that disappointment and discouragement almost always correlate to when I expected something to happen not what happened. It's the anticipation of a good thing happening at a particular time that separates optimism and hope. Hope has no timelines only the expectation of eventuality.
This is a huge distinction for a leader, especially in times of crisis. Optimistic leaders set their people up for disappointment and that disappointment erodes trust in a leader. Hopeful leaders set the mind of their people to managing the situation at hand with the expectation that they will pull through...eventually. Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of England during World War II, was a master at this dynamic. As London was bombed by the Nazis for 57 consecutive nights, Churchill reminded his countryman that he would bleed, sweat, and cry with them. He reminded them they would fight the Nazis with whatever they had at their disposal; 'even the blunt edge of a bottle if need be', he said to one audience. He told England and the world that he would never, never, never give in (he actually said 'never' in a speech to college graduates 11 times in two sentences.) He inspired hope that their firm resolve to do whatever was necessary to defend England would ultimately win the day. He never told them when they would secure victory.
We all need to be persistent during crisis. Leaders play a huge part in inspiring that persistence. Be hopeful. Be persistent. Be relentless. Be determined. Be honest.
Just don't be optimistic.
'Oh that's easy. The optimists didn't survive. They expected good things to happen at certain times. It killed their persistence.' Admiral Stockdale went on to describe how he was full of hope that he would be released and use the experience to his advantage. He refused to spend any energy worrying about when and encouraged others to do the same.
Stunning.
This is a huge distinction for a leader, especially in times of crisis. Optimistic leaders set their people up for disappointment and that disappointment erodes trust in a leader. Hopeful leaders set the mind of their people to managing the situation at hand with the expectation that they will pull through...eventually. Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister of England during World War II, was a master at this dynamic. As London was bombed by the Nazis for 57 consecutive nights, Churchill reminded his countryman that he would bleed, sweat, and cry with them. He reminded them they would fight the Nazis with whatever they had at their disposal; 'even the blunt edge of a bottle if need be', he said to one audience. He told England and the world that he would never, never, never give in (he actually said 'never' in a speech to college graduates 11 times in two sentences.) He inspired hope that their firm resolve to do whatever was necessary to defend England would ultimately win the day. He never told them when they would secure victory.
We all need to be persistent during crisis. Leaders play a huge part in inspiring that persistence. Be hopeful. Be persistent. Be relentless. Be determined. Be honest.
Just don't be optimistic.
‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on
being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read
about it more here.
Dr. Chris Hobbs is an educational leader and Director
of Athletics at The King’s Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida. He’s earned a few
degrees and won some awards. He’s happily married to his high school
sweetheart and they have three teen age children. Life is messy and complicated
most of the time. You can follow him on Twitter
for all sorts of inspirational thoughts and good laughs.
Comments
Post a Comment